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iFixit Teardown Suggests 2018 MacBook Pro Keys Feature a Silicone Barrier to Prevent Malfunctions Due to Dust
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Never going to happen with Cook and Ive. Thinness is what it is about, performance no, reliability no, usability no, image yes. Thats all you need to know.
Give me a break iFixit provide an excellent service to the Mac user with honest conclusions and their outstanding repair guides most useful to owners of older Macs.
NO FUD, NO SPIN just honest reporting. If iFixit offends your ingrained believe that Apple can do no wrong TOUGH.
And we are so proud of it, we built an entire gorgeous-looking computer around it for you, free of cost.
If that keyboard is fixed, Apple really, really needs a resolution bump next. Same resolution for 6 years now, and this is what we got for another year, so call it 7 years?
I'd like a resolution bump and a smaller trackpad (latter won't happen), and I'll be at the store money in hand ready to replace my mid-2010.
I'd like a resolution bump and a smaller trackpad (latter won't happen), and I'll be at the store money in hand ready to replace my mid-2010.
Most likely dust and sound.. It most likely absorbs sound as well.
No, it just looks awfully like Apple's earlier patent application for a "mechanism to prevent and/or alleviate contaminant ingress". If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck then unattributed sources claiming that it is a teapot should be treated with skepticism...
...because they've invested a ton of money tooling up to make butterfly keyboards, and since all of their current laptops are designed, to very tight tolerances, around the specific dimensions of those keyboards, they'd also have to re-tool their MB and MBP production lines to produce modified cases if they changed the keyboard. Even the new-ish slimline "scissor" keys on the current Magic Keyboards are noticeably deeper and would probably rub against the screen if fitted to a MBP.
Other laptops may have more conventional keyboards, but they've been designed around them - they've found the extra space elsewhere (and if their keyboards are rubbish, it probably won't be reported here). The MS Surface Book, for instance, has a great keyboard, but it has much greater travel than the Apple butterfly keyboard and would probably hit the screen on a 2016+ MBP (The Surface Book has that weird hinge and air gap between the screen and base).
If they do U-turn on the butterfly keyboard (not saying its likely) it will probably be accompanied by a significant case re-design after they've got their money's worth out of the current design.
They are rumored to be.
Anyone that thinks Google isn’t tracking you, only needs to see this post for proof.
Bottom line is we don’t know what was causing the issue. Way too many assumptions being made. This particular patent could have been something they were always intending to implement at some point.
I agree. Let’s hope that: 1. the new keyboard does, in practice, solve the failure issues, and 2. That replacement keyboards under the quality program use the new design. If both 1&2 are true, then Apple gets credit for addressing the issue......albeit belatedly for those that experienced repeated frustration with the earilier design.
I think IFIXIT wording of "cover up" was really on the silicone butterfly mech cover! Apple is in a difficult place here as they can't come out and say this repairs the issue as that would cost them 10 of millions is costs replacing every MacBook Pro keyboard with the better designed unit. So they have to walk a very narrow path. Frankly, this is still not a fully dust proof cover from the looks of it.
As for IFIXIT: Who is looking our for your interests in your gears repairability? Our government over sight has failed to protect the consumer! Many of the protections we once had are either being watered down or shut down. You don't need to look that far! FTC & FCC are no longer protecting us! Even the EPA has been muzzled.
Apple is already making it harder to get your system repaired at a realistic cost. Their design is to make the system throw-a-way! Are you really ready to toss out the 3 or 4k you payed after a small issue!
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I’m curious what would happen if another company copied this 3rd gen keyboard design. Would Apple sue them over patent infringement, thus validating that this noise-reduction feature is really just a side effect of fixing the previous models’ design flaw?
You're probably right, but coming to a 2017 machine from a 2010 model was astonishing.
The weight reduction, overall speed increase and slender form is absolutely incredible. Pair that with the fact that I like the keyboard and don't have any issues with it thus far, it is literally not a drama for me, or indeed the other people that have yet to have their keys fail.
For those that have been unfortunate enough to be affected, the real question is are Apple replacing the sticky keyboards with the 2018 parts that claim to be more resilient?
In the same Premium market segment how have the other OEM's faired ?
It may be only the cheaper end sales declining
Literally nothing you said is fact. It’s all opinion. The only thing that’s close to fact is the realizability, and the DATA (not anecdotes, not “everyone I know has had a problem”) collected by AppleInsider says that the reliability of the 2017 version is on par (fewer repairs, actually) with the 2015 version of the keyboard.
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Thank you for pointing this out. Not that it will do any good.
You do know you are on MacRumors don't you? Apple could announce they are giving the new MBP away for free and the basement dwellers would still hate on it. It's not really about Apple for many, it's often about some anger and resentment in their lives unrelated to Apple.
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It’s pretty obvious why Apple is refusing to acknowledge the keyboard addresses reliability issues. It would be an admission of there being a problem which would make it practically impossible to defend the legal cases being bought against them.
But, it will be addressing those issues.
It’s also funny to read all the comments about thinness and design over function and those posters putting the blame towards Cook and Ive like it’s something new in recent years.
Apple have ALWAYS been about form over function, or the very least since the early 2000’s. They’ve rarely led the field or chased top specs. They’ve always been about creating all-round decent products that look and work great. And in most cases, it pays off. Apple products aren’t often the fastest or most powerful, but they’ve often ranked highly amongst the best.
But, it will be addressing those issues.
It’s also funny to read all the comments about thinness and design over function and those posters putting the blame towards Cook and Ive like it’s something new in recent years.
Apple have ALWAYS been about form over function, or the very least since the early 2000’s. They’ve rarely led the field or chased top specs. They’ve always been about creating all-round decent products that look and work great. And in most cases, it pays off. Apple products aren’t often the fastest or most powerful, but they’ve often ranked highly amongst the best.
Personally it’s awesome that they made the trackpad larger. It might be a bit too big on the 15” now but the old trackpads were too small with lots of empty space around them. Anyone who uses the gestures regularly as I do appreciates the extra size.
Sorry I think you have this wrong other than one point
By Apples own admission :
"Apple has determined that a small percentage of the keyboards in certain MacBook and MacBook Pro models may exhibit one or more of the following behaviors
- Letters or characters repeat unexpectedly
- Letters or characters do not appear
- Key(s) feel "sticky" or do not respond in a consistent manner"
There are plenty of factual recordings and notes on the KB noise
I agree "feels better" is subjective not fact
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It's awfully fishy, though, that this was filed in Sept of 2016 and specifically suited towards keeping contaminants out of the apertures. Presumably, they were releasing a product that they knew would let stuff in there, until they could implement this patent (at some point)...You have a point, though, that we don't know for sure and a lot of assumptions are being made...some seem more likely than others based on circumstantial evidence. If the patent had said the membrane would dampen noise, and that explanation had been filed back in 2016, then that might be a different story.
Quite true, coming to think of it. The world as a whole has somehow gotten angrier.
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I have a 13" 2016 and I am now wondering if the trackpad on the 15" is larger? I think they would be the same size, or is Apple actually making two different sized trackpads !