It's funny you bring up the legendary AEK II, which is one of my favorite keyboards of all time... but that too has problems. It relies on the troubled ALPS switch which is well known for key repeats. I've owned many ALPS mechanical boards and many of them have at least a minor keychatter problem. The version of the ALPS switch used in the AEK II's were dampened and more stable and tended to be less problematic, but weren't immune to ALPS chatter.
The common variant of ALPS chatter is not hard to fix though... if you know how to do it. Sadly, most people don't and they dump a perfectly good keyboard.
Interesting, I never experienced the key chatter, though maybe I'm not as picky.
Indeed, tweaking your mechanics isn't very easy to do. Some people do it more easily than others, but I can see the ultra flat style of keyboards coming out today to be a nightmare for a lot of people. I didn't start liking the butterfly switches until I learned how to tweak my mechanics on them. And this is where I have a problem with a lot of the commentary on the butterfly keyboards. Many of the loudest voices have little first hand experience with them. Tapping on them in the store or trying it for a few days doesn't count.
Some people who are repulsed by the keyboard would actually end up enjoying it if they gave it a real chance. I said this same thing to other people when the chiclet keyboards first came around.
Yeah, as I mentioned, I've adjusted in the past several times. Though, I guess in my head, there is probably some optimal that is closer to the AEK II or something similar. All these other variants seem to be tradeoffs, which are often worth-while.
I haven't spent a lot of time on the butterfly keyboard, I'll admit. We have one in our home here that my son mostly uses. I haven't spent a lot of time, though a bit more than just at the store. If it hadn't been for the issues, I had been planning to buy a MBP as my primary machine. I instead went with the 2018 mini (after waiting a couple years, undecided what to do)... so I'm actually thankful, as it is a better fit for me, I think.
I guess they are really two different issues: whether one likes and can adapt to the keyboard, and then the failures. My main point on the latter, though, is just that there are outright failures (requiring repair) and then people having difficulties that they fix themselves, or just put up with.
While you mention some issues, I still think this is far beyond anything I've ever seen in the Apple lineup.
From what I've written above, I'm sure it'll be no shock to hear that I'd totally encourage you to get something like a CODE keyboard. I switch keyboards whenever I'm in a rut or bored. If you're not well versed in mechanical keyboards, stick to to the more common configs or better known names because it really is more common to run into keyboard issues once you get into small production run high-end keyboards.
Thanks for the advice, and absolutely I'm no keyboard purist searching for some exact thing. I just want a good keyboard I can type fast and fluidly on. The 'chiclet' of the Magic Keyboard, I do feel, holds me back (on accuracy and speed). I like it otherwise... the size, portability, quietness, etc.
I've never used compressed air on a key jam, but there are two things I think the compressed air might be doing.
- If the key is jamming because the keycap is misaligned, forcing air through it could temporarily realign the keycap, but it'd only be a short term fix if there is a loose binding or a warped butterfly as the underlying reason for the misalignment.
- If there is larger debris impeding one of the butterfly levers, it might dislodge it, but I'm not a believer that this is all that common.
- It might not be doing anything. Some of the jams were pretty easy to clear. Just pressing it in a different spot a few times or giving it one firm press was sometimes enough for me, but this suggests either an alignment issue or soft debris in the way of the lever that gets crushed.
Interesting. But, whatever the issue actually is, it sure seems worse than any other Apple keyboard I can remember. How much of that is people who've decided they don't like it, so complain more, I can't say. But, there are just too many people out of the ratio of people I know who are having either repairs, or issues, for this to be just a tiny number, as Apple claims (yes, it might be a tiny number of actual repairs, but that doesn't cover the issue).
