Apple Now Prioritizing MacBook Keyboard Repairs With Quoted Next-Day Turnaround Time

[anshuvorty]

This just provides even more evidence that the "small number of users" experiencing keyboard issues with the latest gen MBP keyboards is higher than Apple would like to admit and thus, rather than admitting it outright, they have decided to take this course of action. In a way, stealthily, to avoid media blowback. Amazing, just amazing.../s

 

[TimFL1]

They should just connect all the key caps to the aluminum chassis with a thin layer of silicon so it’s IP67. They will find a way, hopefully soon

Dust is the least of the issues. It's the mechanism itself breaking. No idea how a sealed/IP67 keyboard would fix the key butterfly mechanism to break (e.g. the 2 pieces being deformed).

 

[PickUrPoison]

They were still producing mid-2015s into 2018. Isn't the vintage classification based on when production stops, rather than the model year?

Yes, five years from last production date. If everymac.com is correct, those dates and their vintage date are:

2015 13” June 2017/June 2022
2015 15” Integrated Graphics July 2018/July 2023
2015 15” Discrete Graphics Oct 2016/Oct 2021

 

[Romeo_Nightfall]

On the upside... they've made these things so hard to repair that my single sticky key became a new top case with a battery, heh.

Says the environmental friendly,apple, it’s a disgrace!

 

[Ries]

This is why I love Apple.
They are always working to put customers first.
You won't get this level of customer care from a Samsung, Dell or HP.

Yeah, no, Apple only does this after lawsuits. The three class action suits is the motivator for this, they know they won't win it. Heck even thou the 2018 keyboard is almost identical, except the "sound" membrane, it wasn't included in the repair program. My 2011 GPU issue was a "not our fault", until the lawsuit.

 

[predation]

"small number of users"

laughable

 

[farewelwilliams]

keyboard problem is extremely overblown.

 

[LizKat]

And why did you people even buy a MBP after the 2015 one which was perfect?? Go buy that one not this trash.

Mine's the mid-2012 MBP tank, so the kb is perfect except I managed to snake some falling objects onto it while flipping the power adapter cable out of my way one day... don't ask, I dunno how I did that, takes a special talent,,,, anyway busted the L key's underpinnings irreparably, plus some adjacent keys that died of cardiac arrest, I guess, at the same time.

With all the competition for repair time from later MBP models, I keep wondering if I can even get this thing scheduled for a no-warranty kb replacement before the machine itself croaks of old age!

So far I just set my magic kb on top of the busted one and let Karabiner disable the internal kb ( a hat tip there to @turbineseaplane ) as long as the bluetooth one is connected. Could be time to deal with the repair though, I didn't want to ship it out while it was -25º outside sometimes during winter.

 

[Dave245]

keyboard problem is extremely overblown.

Sorry but tell that to the number of people who have had the issue.

 

[Marconelly]

They should just ask people to pay the difference and upgrade to the 2018 version which has 3rd gen butterfly keyboard

I have read somewhere that a 2017MBP owner had his keyboard / top case replaced very recently, and he swears that the new keyboard feels "nothing like the previous one" and suspects that they started implementing the silicon film protected keyboards into 2015-2017 models now. I wonder if that's really the case or if he's just imagining the difference - or maybe they just gave him the whole new replacement laptop, 2018 model, and he didn't realize that.

If you take advantage of this are you going to get another keyboard of the same generation as your laptop or will it be replaced with a 3rd Gen keyboard?
Seems stupid to replace it with the same flawed design only to repeat this all over again.

I had my 2017MBP top case replaced because of the keyboard problem last year, and the new keyboard was exactly the same as the old one - it does not have the protective silicone film. However, if you read my quote above, there's a possibility they starting implementing 3rd gen keyboards into 2015-2017 MBPs recently.

 

[dingobiatch]

I know it’s anecdotal, but the three people I know with 2016-2017 MBPs have all had major issues with the keyboard. Sooo.. not comforting.

 

[AnonMac50]

I love my 2015 keyboard....problem is, next year it might be classified as "vintage"

May, my guess is not anytime before 2023, since the device was last sold in Apple Stores in 2018.

 

[spazzcat]

Says the environmental friendly,apple, it’s a disgrace!

I'm sure they don't throw them in the trash, they get refurbished or recycled.

 

[jamツ]

am i the only one that loves apples new keyboard compared to 2015 models

 

[Darth Tulhu]

Maybe some of us bought a new MBP in '12, '13, or '14 and only needed a new MBP in '16 or later? Though in my case I'm just suffering with a slowly dying, well loved 2012 pre-retina relic until Apple overhauls the MBP.

I'm in the same boat here, with a 2011 17-inch and a 2012 15-inch hi-res matte.

However, Apple's upgrade pricing is so exhorbitant that I'd have to pay $7K for a $3K machine. And the value proposition goes down across all lines once you get to a decent storage or RAM configuration. In some instances Apple charges around 4X the market value for upgrades.

So my only option is to repair my machines until it's not possible. Thankfully I'm not doing any serious heavy lifting or business work with them (I have a work-issued ThinkPad for that), so paying $700 to keep my MBPs alive is an amazing value in comparison.

 

[Marshall73]

What does the repair involve for a 2016 model? I only ask because if its a top case replacement then I might get one before the 4 years is up as I have a sort of 'shined' up spot where my palm rests.

 

[gnipgnop]

It depends on how much money they are spending repairing the machines. If it's really eating into the unit profitability, then there will be an incentive to replace it with the next redesign. If it is not (as in the repair rate is far lower than people have speculated), then they may not.

Valid point. Apple has no incentive to continue to produce something that was critically flawed. The interesting thing about the butterfly design is that, despite all the tech media attention, I've yet to see anyone provide a convincing explanation of where the flaw in this specific mechanism is supposed to be. It's all just reports of repair issues (sticky keys, keys that work intermittently, keyboard failures) that can happen with any brand of laptop keyboard using any type of key mechanism.

 

[smithrh]

If you have the keyboard problem, this will almost certainly help:

Unshaky

It's a app/service that debounces keyboard presses.

Google it.

It has made my two MBPs usable again.

Sorry for the big text, but Unshaky had been a game-changer, trying to spread the word.

 

[Glideslope]

Well, the stress level just went up significantly in the back of the Apple Stores. It will be interesting to see where the customer service suffers from the added time constraints?

Just redesign the gosh darn keyboard Tim Apple.

 

[BornAgainMac]

This makes sense. They just need to slap on another rubber and the customer is good to go.

 

[smithrh]

keyboard problem is extremely overblown.

This is a bannable post IMHO.

 

[Juicy Box]

Apple did not provide a reason for this change, but the company is known for customer satisfaction, so it could be trying to speed up the process a bit to alleviate frustration.

I sometimes wonder if having keyboards that don't have as many problems would be a better way to achieve higher customer satisfaction and would alleviate frustration?

That program remains in effect, but Apple has yet to extend free repairs to the still-under-warranty 2018 MacBook Pro or 2018 MacBook Air, which are still prone to keyboard issues to a lesser extent - despite both having third-generation butterfly keyboards with a silicone membrane designed to mitigate the issues.

I thought the "official" reason was to have a more quiet key strike than to fix the issue. Did I imagine that?

 

[ksec]

This is why I love Apple.
They are always working to put customers first.
You won't get this level of customer care from a Samsung, Dell or HP.

You wont get this crappy keyboard in place for 3 years from a Samsung, Dell or HP either.

 

[JayJohnPaul]

And why did you people even buy a MBP after the 2015 one which was perfect?? Go buy that one not this trash.

I second that. The 2015 one is the last real MBP anything after that is just pure crap.

 

[ksec]

I sometimes wonder if having keyboards that don't have as many problems would be a better way to achieve higher customer satisfaction and would alleviate frustration?



I thought the "official" reason was to have a more quiet key strike than to fix the issue. Did I imagine that?

Exactly I thought your quote in the article was just rubbing it a little too much.