Can't get used to the shallow keyboard, what should I do?

[Uplift]

I absolutely love it.. It just works for me. I can type so much faster and adjusted to it quite quickly. Typing on my iMac keyboard at the moment it feels so much heavier and requires more effort. You can let your fingers glide across the keys and apply light pressure to get a press.

I wouldn't say it's much louder than previous gen keyboards but it is a more noticeable 'clicky' sound.

I think the trackpad click sound is much worse, such a hollow tinny sound to it, rather than clicky as you would expect. Don't like it at all.

 

[lowendlinux]

keyboards are personal, I like red switches and hate browns most people think I'm crazy but meh. I was never a fan of chicklets and still prefer the pre-unibody keyboards but keyboards like that are hard to find now. OP your either going to have to learn to like it or return/sell it but I don't know if you are going to find a keyboard you actually like.

 

[therealseebs]

Adaptability is an important aspect of a smart creature. If you can adapt to a simple thing like a keyboard imagine what else you can adapt to.

Physical adaptability is more a matter of physical traits than cognitive traits. I can't use keyboards like that because they cause me serious injury. So I returned the machine, and got a year-old hand-me-down, and that'll probably be my last Mac laptop, and unless something changes soonish, I may be done with macs entirely now. Sorta sucks, but Apple's shift to focusing on iOS devices and general contempt for the Mac user base has won me over to the brave new world in which I use other software.

 

[tubeexperience]

The new keyboard is really really bad.

In fact, it's like a cruel joke.

I can imagine it now:

Tim Cook wants to know how many Mac fanboys are really out there so he put the worst keyboard he can make on the Mac.

He then tells everyone that it's the best keyboard that Apple has ever made and watch to see how many people would toe the line.

 

[macintoshmac]

The new keyboard is really really bad.

In fact, it's like a cruel joke.

I can imagine it now:

Tim Cook wants to know how many Mac fanboys are really out there so he put the worst keyboard he can make on the Mac.

He then tells everyone that it's the best keyboard that Apple has ever made and watch to see how many people would toe the line.

If that were to have really happened, I think he would be amply satisfied with the numbers.

 

[ipponrg]

Just got my mbp yesterday, and the keyboard is fine to me. I actually don't mind the butterfly switches. With the way I type, it's quieter than my 2015 work mbp, and I type a bit faster.

 

[jerryk]

Can you use an external keyboard when you have to do your heavy typing? In am pretty picky about my keyboards because I spend lot of my day writing or coding. So I use an external keyboard (and mouse and monitors) at work. When I travel or sit in front of the TV I use the laptop keyboard.

 

[Ma2k5]

Just got my mbp yesterday, and the keyboard is fine to me. I actually don't mind the butterfly switches. With the way I type, it's quieter than my 2015 work mbp, and I type a bit faster.

I actually returned mine because while it was fine when working, the keys now and then get stuck intermittently which although I ignored initially, just became too much of a hassle. It was more of a problem for me due to how much typing I do (coding).

 

[Baldrake]

You're not alone. My fingers ache after a day using this keyboard. I've been assuming I'd adapt over time, but it's been very slow coming.

 

[GtrDude]

You're not alone. My fingers ache after a day using this keyboard. I've been assuming I'd adapt over time, but it's been very slow coming.

That's also what I felt.

I think maybe the people who like this keyboard are not the kind who need to use it all day.

Maybe they mostly consist of forum commandos who type short things like this or emails and such but don't spend almost every minute of the day typing. Certainly if they did they would know how attached to a good keyboard one can become.
They keyboard is the main tool for so many of us.
How high the screen resolution is or the mouse pad, how thin the lap top is, etc. is all secondary.
Matter of fact, for some of us it never even enters the picture.

Just wondering.

 

[skids929]

The new keyboard is really really bad.

In fact, it's like a cruel joke.

I can imagine it now:

Tim Cook wants to know how many Mac fanboys are really out there so he put the worst keyboard he can make on the Mac.

He then tells everyone that it's the best keyboard that Apple has ever made and watch to see how many people would toe the line.

Do you own one of the new MBPs?

 

[AppleSmack]

If you're at home, attach your choice of external keyboard and mouse.

If you're out and about, carry the keyboard and mouse with you or get used to it.

 

[5to1]

That's also what I felt.

I think maybe the people who like this keyboard are not the kind who need to use it all day.

Maybe they mostly consist of forum commandos who type short things like this or emails and such but don't spend almost every minute of the day typing. Certainly if they did they would know how attached to a good keyboard one can become.
They keyboard is the main tool for so many of us.
How high the screen resolution is or the mouse pad, how thin the lap top is, etc. is all secondary.
Matter of fact, for some of us it never even enters the picture.

Just wondering.

Is that a touch of hubris I detect there. Just wondering

My 2 cents. I think a keyboard just happens to be something you're particularly anal about. Having worked in some very large offices surrounded by coders, secretary's, network engineers, etc I can assure you it's a rare affliction rather then an indication that those without it just don't type enough.

I'm not trying to insult or ridicule you. We all have something or another we're anal about. If most people around you can adapt, the truth is so can you. It's just a case of retraining your muscle memory/typing style so its optimal for the new keyboard. You likely do the equivalent in many other circumstances where you haven't developed a fixation.

Obviously if you go back and forth between keyboards that are very different that becomes harder. But again most people I've encountered can do that without complaint as well. I've worked in comms where we used to go from site to site and bash away at completely different keyboards for weeks at end and not once heard anyone even mention an issue. I've worked with road warriors that use their laptop keyboard for months on end and then come back to the office, dock and go straight to using the discrete keyboard for weeks.

BTW I've used the MB keyboard a bit and only tried the tbMBP keyboard a few times whilst evaluating it. Personally I didn't get on with it, my Wife on the other hand loved it immediately. However, it seems to be consistent in terms of feedback, travel and spacing so I know from experience I will get used to it quite quickly.

 

[therealseebs]

Is that a touch of hubris I detect there.

[...]

If most people around you can adapt, the truth is so can you.

These two sentences really need to be next to each other more.

Not everyone is exactly identical. Not everyone gets carpal tunnel, but some people do. The people who don't can just go on doing whatever, the people who do have to change how they type or suffer permanent nerve damage.

In general, if someone is experiencing pain from using a computer, it is incredibly bad advice to just say "oh, you'll get used to it" or anything like that. It indicates that something is wrong. Maybe they need to change how they type. Maybe that keyboard or mouse just won't work for them. But if they ignore it and keep using it without changing something, they can be permanently injured.

There's definitely keyboards which are more likely to work badly for people, or more likely to work well for them. The super-thin keyboards on recent Macs have gotten a lot of positive and negative feedback, because they're very far outside the usual design envelope for keyboards. That means some people really like them, and others really hate them.

And advising them to just "adapt" is pretty much reckless. Please leave the advice on ergonomics to people who have more experience with it.

 

[Wildkraut]

I'm seriously trying to like it but I hate typing on it (seems like I'm slower and less accurate with the lack of feedback) a month after getting it. Maybe I'm typing wrongly? Am I alone in this sentiment? Thanks!

Well, return it and done.
Our answers won't make you get used nor like it.

 

[GtrDude]

Do you own one of the new MBPs?

I said earlier that I did but got rid of it after about a month of using it and trying to get used to the joke keyboard on it. Which is one step away from typing on the glass screen of the iPad.

Been using Mac's since the early 90's.
[doublepost=1482453300][/doublepost]

I'm not trying to insult or ridicule you. We all have something or another we're anal about.

Yeah. I'm so anal about it that I'm going to move to Windows and get a Lenovo X1 Carbon as my next computer.
Talk about adaptability. Bet that's quite a bit more adaptability than many here seem to have.
Especially those who buy Mac no matter what and try to justify their purchase, or future purchase, by trying to convince others that they did the right thing when they bought it and all they have to do is just "get used to it".
I'm done. Tim Cook has lost me as his bellboy.
I'm going to "get used to" a Windows computer after my MBA craps out and NEVER be subject to this or whatever Apple decides to throw my way again.
If I don't like any given computer for whatever reason, I'll just get another one. They're all running the same OS anyway.

Apple has lost me.

Been using them since the early 90's, spent tens of thousands of dollars on them since I also do pro recordings.
I've had just about every Mac computer that's been on the market since about '91 or '92.

I won't get another one after my Air craps out and I will certainly not get another Mac Pro either, talk about being in jail...lol
I'm on a 2013 Mac Pro and I'm in jail compared to if I had gotten an HP Workstation for Pro Tools to run my studio.

It may sound like it but I have no hard feelings. They're just not for me any more.
Much of that is because I am an actual pro (not a semi-pro or some pseudo-pro who says he is a pro). I am a pro who uses and needs his computers all day long!
Apple left the pro's out in the dust there back about 7-8 years ago when they refused to upgrade their old Mac Pros until they came out with the new Mac Pro in 2013, which at the time of release consisted of a year or two year old technology in it when it first came out.
Today it's ancient in computer years. Still no upgrades.

 

[Lucifer666]

Do not stick with something that's not right, just because.

 

[Baldrake]

I think a keyboard just happens to be something you're particularly anal about.
...
I'm not trying to insult or ridicule you.
...
BTW I've ... only tried the tbMBP keyboard a few times whilst evaluating it.

Speechless.

 

[mac_in_tosh]

I don't get some of the responses here. This is supposed to be a pro machine. Do people expect pros to lose productivity while they "get used to" using a keyboard? ("Sorry, I can't edit that video today - I'm practicing on my new keyboard.") Especially when the only reason for the keyboard was to make the whole thing a little thinner.

Unless Apple does a 180 degree with the next MB Pro update (and the promised desktop updates), I'm afraid many will regard this as the time Apple jumped the shark.

 

[ipponrg]

That's also what I felt.

I think maybe the people who like this keyboard are not the kind who need to use it all day.

On the contrary, I am a software engineer and am typing all day long on it, including emails, code C++/Javascript/Java, and lots of unix commands. It reminds me of my brown switches from my DAS keyboard just with much less travel. I know some people like to hammer on the keys for some unknown reason, but I don't have a problem with it.

I can see how your fingers ache. If you have bad hand/wrist posture, this keyboard is definitely very unforgiving because of the lack of travel.

 

[GtrDude]

On the contrary, I am a software engineer and am typing all day long on it, including emails, code C++/Javascript/Java, and lots of unix commands. It reminds me of my brown switches from my DAS keyboard just with much less travel. I know some people like to hammer on the keys for some unknown reason, but I don't have a problem with it.

I can see how your fingers ache. If you have bad hand/wrist posture, this keyboard is definitely very unforgiving because of the lack of travel.

I'm definitely not a hammerer.....lol
Don't really touch the keyboard any harder than I have to.

The new keyboard, and the MacBook keyboard, simply don't work for me.

Out of all these people who love this keyboard so much what are they going to say next year or the year after that when Apple comes out with an update to this?

 

[ipponrg]

I'm definitely not a hammerer.....lol
Don't really touch the keyboard any harder than I have to.

The new keyboard, and the MacBook keyboard, simply don't work for me.

Out of all these people who love this keyboard so much what are they going to say next year or the year after that when Apple comes out with an update to this?

I don't necessarily love the keyboard, but I definitely don't hate it as much as some people on the forums. I just needed to update my 2011 MBP for project purposes. FWIW, I hated the chiclet keyboard when it first came out, but I got used to it

 

[Lucifer666]

you people will argue about anything.

No, you can't just say "try another keyboard". That would be too easy. No, it's gotta be "Your typing wrong". Or, "your hands are wrong... or something is wrong with you".

People coming here asking questions would be better served banging their heads against a wall.

 

[GtrDude]

Hey Lucifer......I thought you were supposed to thrive of arguments.
You're supposed to be encouraging this and hope this will all lead to a war with chaos and killing and blood running the streets...LOL!!! and NOT to try settle the situation and bring on peace and calm.

 

[Lucifer666]

Hey Lucifer......I thought you were supposed to thrive of arguments.
You're supposed to be encouraging this and hope this will all lead to a war with chaos and killing and blood running the streets...LOL!!! and NOT to try settle the situation and bring on peace and calm.

I want the sheep calm before I lead them off the cliff.