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Butterfly Keyboard Generations
- Thread starter adnan645
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The started in 2016 and got better over time. But at the end of the day they are still butterfly keyboards and IMHO inferior to the 2015 and 2020 keyboards.
Well there were actually 5. The original on the 2015 rMB. Then 2016, 2017, 2018 and finally 2019. The 2019s seem to be more sturdy. In our office fleet of laptops, only about 20 mind you, almost every single 2016 & 2017 had some kind of failure while the 2018s and 2019s have not.
Do you know if 2018 feels closer to the 2017 or the 2019 one?
I love my 2017 keyboard (except for the noise) and dislike my wife's 2019. I'm considering buying a 2018 MBP, thus the question...
1st gen: 2015 Macbook
2nd gen: 2016 Macbook Pro
3rd gen: 2017 Macbook Pro (Apple never acknowledged this, although there is slight change in key design, and some indications that it was also a mechanism redesign), same change for 2017 Macbook
4th gen: 2018 Macbook Pro (additional silicone barrier)
5th gen: 2019 Macbook Pro (dome redesign) - most probably the final redesign
2018-2019 are interchangeable, also 2016-2017. To 2018 keyboard feels more or less like 2019.
2nd gen: 2016 Macbook Pro
3rd gen: 2017 Macbook Pro (Apple never acknowledged this, although there is slight change in key design, and some indications that it was also a mechanism redesign), same change for 2017 Macbook
4th gen: 2018 Macbook Pro (additional silicone barrier)
5th gen: 2019 Macbook Pro (dome redesign) - most probably the final redesign
2018-2019 are interchangeable, also 2016-2017. To 2018 keyboard feels more or less like 2019.
I have the 2018 and they are quite loud to type on, not sure how the previous generations are. But from reviews, the 2019 are slightly more quiet but I think that's a placebo effect or something. I had my 2018 keyboard replaced twice and I see a lot of dust and debris in the keys (large gaps), but no chronic failure yet, just the occasional stuck key thats easy to free. Will sell once the warranty ends and see what's best on the market or get the ARM version.
Edit: Not exactly sure if my keyboard got "upgraded" to the 2019, but it is quite possible. I know to tell the difference between the 2016 and 2017 was to look at the option key and see the symbol (changed between those years).
Thanks.
I found an article where a guy prefers 2017 to 2018 for the same reason that I do. The 2017 is a joy to type, though loud (the 2019 is just marginally quieter).
MacBook Pro 2018 Keyboard: How Good (or Bad) Is It?
Based on our testing, the 2018 MacBook Pro's keyboard offers slightly more speed and accuracy, but that's not the whole story.
P.S. I am wondering - why has Apple, gone back to the smaller size of the keys on the 16"? I much prefer the size of the butterfly keys - they are easier to hit...
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Thanks.
I found an article where a guy prefers 2017 to 2018 for the same reason that I do. The 2017 is a joy to type, though loud (the 2019 is just marginally quieter).
MacBook Pro 2018 Keyboard: How Good (or Bad) Is It?
Based on our testing, the 2018 MacBook Pro's keyboard offers slightly more speed and accuracy, but that's not the whole story.www.laptopmag.com
I owned all of them. Initially a 2016 MBP, keyboard replaced with 2017 a couple of times, then Apple replaced the whole laptop with a 2018 model, where keyboard also failed and got replaced (twice already) with 2019 version.
Personally I prefer the 2018/2019, but I also prefer 2016/2017 before the new Magic Keyboard version. Short keytravel makes typing very comfortable, precise and less prone to fatigue.
Loudness is a big issue and 2018/2019 is, as you said, just marginally quieter and much louder than the new Magic keyboard.
As much as I hate the butterfly keyboard for their failure rate I regret that Apple couldn't fix the reliability problems. They are really nice to type on.
i had the opposite experience, the butterfly's short travel made my fingers numb and left me frustrated, i had to relearn how to type and slow down my wps. i'm glad apple killed off this type of keyboard.
That's personal preference. It seems that the butterfly is better for fast short bursts instead of a day-long typing marathon.
What I am NOT getting - why has not Apple kept the larger size of the butterfly keys while giving people the mechanism of the scissor keyboard that is more reliable.
Absolutely, keyboards are very personal. Some like the clicky mech Keytronics, some like soft keys.
I'd guess that probably the scissor mechanism cannot support such a short key travel.
I'd guess that probably the scissor mechanism cannot support such a short key travel.
perhaps the larger keys = larger holes for possible crumbs or dust to fall into. i mean i get it, i have pretty big hands so bigger the keys would suit me better, but if i had to choose between bigger butterfly or smaller scissor, scissors all day my friend.
2016 (Introduced in October), 2017 (Introduced at WWDC 2017), 2018 (Introduced in May), and 2019 (Introduced in Spring) are your Butterfly generations of MacBook Pro. (All 12" Retina MacBooks and both the 2018 and 2019 MacBook Air are also butterfly models.)
The only 2019 Mac notebook to NOT use the butterfly keyboard is the 16" MacBook Pro. Every Mac notebook released in 2020 has had the Magic Keyboard instead.
The revisions of butterfly keyboards were only marginal improvements. The first generation (only in the first couple 12" MacBook releases) was garbage. The second gen (in all 2016 and 2017 non-Air Mac notebooks) was only a little better. Third (2018 MacBook Pros and Airs) and fourth (2019 Pros and Airs excluding the 16" MacBook Pro) added a silicone membrane, but that was proven to not make enough of a difference. Point is that it doesn't really matter which generation of butterfly keyboard you go with because they all have reliability issues. Furthermore, if you get a second or third generation butterfly keyboard repaired under warranty or under the repair program, you'll get a fourth generation keyboard replacement (because all preceding generations are THAT bad).
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When the butterfly keyboard first launched, Apple said one of the design strengths was that it was much better at registering off-centre keystrokes. And it's true - you can press a key right at the corner with your fingernail and the whole key will go straight down. The newer keys have probably become narrower again because the new (old) design isn't so good at that.
So I bought a 2018 15" and like the keyboard. It's so much quiter than keyboards on both of my 2017 MBPs that I forgive it being less clicks. And True Tone is such a great thing that I forgive the computer extra heat from 6 cores vs 4 cores.
4 years keyboard warranty - very easy to get it replaced in the US. I use 2 computers in my home office so it's OK for me to wait like 5 days until it get replaced.
So I just had the batteries replaced on my 2017 MBP. As part of the repair, they said they had to replace the top as well. Glad I have AppleCare+! I should have the newer generation keyboard but it looks like it's my original! Why replace the top without the keyboard? (I can tell based on the option key - still the two horizontal lines in parallel). Too bad - I did have an issue periodically with the keys before. Guess I'll see if after the batteries got replaced, it continues.
With that said - I had to go back to my 2008 MBP while this one was in the Apple Store being repaired. I did not like the keys. It took more effort to type.
With that said - I had to go back to my 2008 MBP while this one was in the Apple Store being repaired. I did not like the keys. It took more effort to type.
See above. The newer buterfly keyboards (2018 & 2019) are not compatible with older devices (2016 & 2017)
Yeah - but I seem to recall someone posting in these forums they had a '17 and did have their keyboard replaced with a '18. So I'm not completely buying the '18 won't work on a '17 thing.