Its funny, everyone who actually has one, loves it. Except of course the people who write-up lots of complaints in articles. Buy a sleeve, don't trust your laptop to dust in backpacks, et, and you will be fine. And, if not, free repairs for 4 years! Thats way better than Dell
I have two 2016 15" MacBook Pros and I don't
love the keyboard. The lack of travel makes long periods (3-4 hours) of typing slightly numbing on the tips of my fingers, even with breaks. The keys are spaced too closely together compared to my Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad by just enough to make my fingers feel as though they are too close together which makes typing feel as though I am on the verge of losing the rhythm I have going on because once a finger brushes with the adjacent finger, I end up having to reorient my hands back to the
ASDFGH
JKL; to ensure that I don't lose too much time looking down at the keyboard. The keys also don't tend to like being struck at an off-axis position and are less than forgiving when I am not able to strike them dead-center. The crispness I like, but they are the most unforgiving when you aren't precise enough, while the keys on the 2012-2015 Retina MacBook Pro keyboard have a bit too much wobble in them and feel slightly mushy, but I can keep on typing quickly and accurately, even with an off-axis strike and I seldom ever trip over my own fingers because the spacing between keys is just right, so I don't tend to feel the sides of my fingers rubbing against each other like I do with the 2016 MacBook Pro.
I have been able to reduce my striking force on the butterfly keyboard, because it simply doesn't need as much, which does drive mechanical keyboard aficionados a little bonkers as it is almost the complete and total opposite of how they type. I briefly used a Matias Tactile Pro way back when they first released it and I liked it, but it made so much noise, my co-workers banned me from using it in the open office bullpen we shared as it sounded like a 1930's TeleType machine. My 2016 MacBook Pro is not that loud, but it is loud enough to be annoying when it doesn't really need to be.
The keyboard in the 2016 MacBook Pro is too clicky clacky on a day in day out basis for most people’s taste. While I don’t hate it, it takes practice to get into a good rhythm with it and I think that is where it falls down for most people. I would rather have a keyboard that is not only more reliable, but one that is more enjoyable. I am typing on it now as a demonstration to myself and I know that I am out of practice since I have been using the Magic Keyboard with the Numeric Keypad as my daily driver since I finally coughed up the cash for the Space Grey model (in a fit of weakness).
Switching back to the Magic Keyboard is effortless and I can move back to an old wired Apple Aluminum Keyboard without an adjustment time. Just typing on the 2016's keyboard, I was making mistakes and fumbling over my fingers. Now, once I get adjusted and get in my groove, I can hustle on it, but it's that ramp up time that I question, "Is it worth it?" And truly, my answer is, meh...I'll live with it, but it doesn't really net me anything other than a slimmer profile, which I do like in the 2016-2019 MacBook Pro, provided I don't have to worry about the battery life (which is less than stellar) or the possibility of a stuck key, and while I have had a one "flat", sort of dead feeling key (Vv) and a mushy feeling key (Tt), a quick blast of air fixed it. So I haven't had the same issues as everyone else, but my lack of use comes from lack of desire to
endure the keyboard, which sometimes is what I feel like this is...endurance. This is my only nod to the form over function critics on this site...the slim profile is awesome, I love it, but the compromises (battery, heat, keyboard) are hard to take. The other "compromises" don't bother me in the least.
Now, on the flip side, my Apple Smart Keyboard for my 2015 iPad Pro, which also has a keyboard similar to the Macbook Pro, has been a trooper for me, but lacks backlighting and iOS specific keys and led me to switch to a Logitech Slim Combo. I have not looked back.
I don't love or hate the butterfly keyboard in my 2016 MacBook Pro, but other than a slim profile, it brings nothing earth-shattering to the table that would make me hang on to this laptop for dear life. It's not the $#!7 keyboard people here say it is, but it sue ain't a Rolls Royce either. Just my 2¢.
PS-If you really want to know what pain is, try using the 9.7-inch Smart Keyboard...that's just Apple's version of a medieval torture device, and my hands aren't exactly bear paws. What a POS!
