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Kuo: Apple to Use New Scissor Switch Keyboard in Future MacBooks, Starting With 2019 MacBook Air Refresh

MacFather said:
Jony Ive’s arrogance and obsession with thinness has cost Apple a ton of money and reputation. I’m glad he is leaving the company later this year, primarily because his editor and curator is no longer there.
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What? Ive is half the reason why Apple even exists today. This company wouldn’t be where it is without the Jobs & I’ve. Nearly every electronic product is slimmed down over time. It is why Apple has sold so many iPads and many don’t even buy notebooks anymore. It’s one thing to say that the butterfly design wasn’t ready for release and another to suggest that Apple should still be making MBPs with the pre-retina unibody chassis.

The reality here is that many people got so attached to the unibody and original retina designs and didn’t want to entertain any change. And it wasn’t just the keyboard. Some were not happy losing upgradability, others losing the lit up Apple logo, others MagSafe and others did not want to move to USB-C and still don’t.

Whatever Apple releases next expect something very similar to what we have now. It may have a scissor mechanism once again but the overall chassis is not getting fatter and none of those other ports are making a comeback.
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apolloa said:
Ah I see, well maybe, that’s kind of the suggestion of the WSJ story.
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But they did ship something that was problematic, in THREE DIFFERENT UPDATES!
So the proof for what you are saying is ‘absurd’ is kind of in your face no?
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It was not done on purpose man. Apple engineers and employees testing products is one thing and it’s another when millions get their hands on them. Millions of people with all sorts of different habits using them in all sorts of different climates. Some that eat all kinds of stuff while typing, some that never clean their stuff, never wash their hands, etc.

Of course a percentage of products shipped will always have problems regardless of how how expensive they are or how they’re treated.
 
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jlc1978 said:
Interesting. I'd ditch the USB-A for a microSD card and stick with a 15" screen. 16 is too big, IMHO, to carry around and the extra weight would be a pain.
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There is a very good chance that going from 15.4" to 16" is primarily a matter of shrinking the bezels on the current size/volume display lid and not much more. Swapping some glass for aluminum for less than a inch of width. (some of the bezel was covered in glass anyway). That probably won't lead to a big increase in weight.

I think folks are mistaken in thinking that Apple is bring back the old 17" chassis here somehow. Probably not. Pretty good chance this is more so a 15" chassis with a more expensive backlight that doesn't need edge lighting or bezels (and some other trick for Wi-Fi antenna). There won't be a huge uptick in outer perimeter for a couple more ports or thicker ports. They may backtrack a bit thicker for a bit better cooling (and maybe more battery capacity (if backlight soaks up more energy) or maybe more separation between keyboard and other internal parts. ) but "bring back the 17" desktop replacement it probably isn't except for the "more expensive than the 15" aspect.

The micro SD card has the same problem as it does with current 15" in that there isn't much extra internal volume now to recess the card into. If not making the case wider then that volume isn't really growing.
 
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great news... BUT only on 2020? have to wait another year for a new laptop with new keyboard.. or get the new AIR thats supposed to be updated...
 
Wonder how much money the whole butterfly keyboard fiasco has cost Apple.

Fingers crossed Apple refreshes the 12" MacBook this year with the new scissor keyboard too.
 
bleak7 said:
Headphone jack back in 2 years or so then, I assume.
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Headphone jack missing from which Mac now?

If it never left why would it take two years to come back?

Why that disappeared from the phones ( volumes for haptics to offset removal of button and environment ingress protection ) has little to do with the moves made on the Mac keyboard.
 
I’d buy a new one with a scissors keyboard that worked properly, like the old ones. And I’d buy it with the Touch Bar, which I find very useful now that I’m used to it. Don’t understand why people want to drop from the line: if you don’t want it, just don’t buy it. I’ve been holding onto my 2016 MBP until Apple comes out with a new model with a better keyboard.
 
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If this is true, I’ll be selling my Surface Laptop 2 immediately and buying one. I would LOVE to come back to MacOS. Just can’t stand the butterfly.
 
remember when Apple fans boo-ed and denied anyone who suggested the new keyboard was problematic ... diminishing the scale of the problem ...

peple ignored this key news that didn't suffer from "individual anecdote" .. it was a large company with thousands of employees who had a massive fleet of MacBook laptops .. and they sad that the mean time to failure for the keyboards was 3 months!

anyway - I think people are still ignoring the poor thermal design which means that the "pro" laptops (1) can't utilise the expensive CPU before throttling down within seconds, and (2) crazy fan speed and noise for basics tasks like youtube hd ... and (3) in some cases damage to the keyboard and display (in clamshell mode)
 
arch1t3cton said:
Back in 2015 I started saving for a new top of the line MBP. I thought to myself hey I might pay a bit extra up front but it’ll probably last for a good 5 years...

5 years and 4 severely problematic MBP revisions later I still don’t own a MBP...

Piggy bank is full! Thank you Apple!
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Ha! I'm holding back since 2015 too :)
Too pricey, especially the SSD north of 1T is a rip-off.

After this news, If the new MBA has the right updates (i.e. more powerful, USB ports left & right instead of both left) I might not buy it at all.
 
johannnn said:
The MBA is amazing for multiple reasons.
- It’s cheaper than MBP (and most people don’t need the power of the MBP)
- It has a physical Esc-key
- It still has touchID

Unfortunately the current MBA don’t have the “fixed” keyboard. Which means I’d absolutely never order it.

A scissor-key MBA will definitely make me buy one. My next request would be to make the screen just a bit brighter.
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I agree, apart from the keyboard, it's the best Apple laptop currently.
 
I just bought a MBP but it's still sealed and with the talk about a 16" and new keyboard I'm thinking about returning it...not sure what to do. What do you think? I'm surprised Apple is making these updates in such quick succession (if these rumors are actually true).

Jeremy
 
lec0rsaire said:
What? Ive is half the reason why Apple even exists today. This company wouldn’t be where it is without the Jobs & I’ve. Nearly every electronic product is slimmed down over time. It is why Apple has sold so many iPads and many don’t even buy notebooks anymore. It’s one thing to say that the butterfly design wasn’t ready for release and another to suggest that Apple should still be making MBPs with the pre-retina unibody chassis.

The reality here is that many people got so attached to the unibody and original retina designs and didn’t want to entertain any change. And it wasn’t just the keyboard. Some were not happy losing upgradability, others losing the lit up Apple logo, others MagSafe and others did not want to move to USB-C and still don’t.

Whatever Apple releases next expect something very similar to what we have now. It may have a scissor mechanism once again but the overall chassis is not getting fatter and none of those other ports are making a comeback.
[doublepost=1562271698][/doublepost]

It was not done on purpose man. Apple engineers and employees testing products is one thing and it’s another when millions get their hands on them. Millions of people with all sorts of different habits using them in all sorts of different climates. Some that eat all kinds of stuff while typing, some that never clean their stuff, never wash their hands, etc.

Of course a percentage of products shipped will always have problems regardless of how how expensive they are or how they’re treated.
Click to expand...
Jony was great when Steve would say no to him, so Jony would have to revise and edit his ideas.
Without Steve, everyone was letting Jony have carte blanche with design and now we have a thinness problem.
 
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x-evil-x said:
People hate on something they have no idea what use it could be. Most of these people don’t own the machine they just hate because it’s not physical keys and can’t see the benefit of it. They want old ports. Old keyboards. Old startup chime. Old light up Apple logo. Old trackpads. Even if the new technology is better these people won’t want to admit it is.
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Okay, I'll bite.

I can see that the current generation MBPs might be a great laptop for individual, perhaps slightly nerdy users (I mean that in a flattering way), who treat computers well, and are highly technically competent.

But I support over 20 of these MacBook Pros (and many other Macs) in an advertising agency, and in that context the "butterfly keyboard" MacBook Pros are an ongoing disaster. They are the most unreliable, yet expensive Mac laptops ever, and everyone here who has one, hates it. I've yet to see any of them use their Touch Bar.

Almost all of ours have some dodgy keys, and we've had cracked screens, and logic board failures too. They are just generally much more delicate than previous generations. And being dependant on USB-C/Thunderbolt hubs for networking, monitors and peripherals is a usability disaster for regular users. Half of my day is occupied dealing with issues with these machines.

Ironically, when our newer MacBook Pros are out for repair, as they so often are, I replace them with one of our old 2012 MacBook Pros, or old MacBook Airs, which are still rolling along like tanks.

I'd describe myself as a "nerdy" user, and I'm quite happy with my 12 inch MacBook, with it's USB-C hub. I just hate the butterfly keyboard because it is so darn unsatisfying to type on.

So bring on these new keyboards - and quickly. And I hope they ditch that useless Touch Bar while they're at it.
 
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And they kept pushing this junk on us for three years +. Supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread.
Yeah....sure. Only the cool-aid drinkers would agree to that.
Fanboys insisted this was a good design.
 
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x-evil-x said:
People hate on something they have no idea what use it could be. Most of these people don’t own the machine they just hate because it’s not physical keys and can’t see the benefit of it. They want old ports. Old keyboards. Old startup chime. Old light up Apple logo. Old trackpads. Even if the new technology is better these people won’t want to admit it is.
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What use is a keyboard that doesn't work? What use is thermal design that throttles an expensive cpu and damages the display adhesive in clamshell mode? What use is dongle-life with overheating hubs/adapters and even more wires? What use is overheating that damages the keyboard and display adhesive?

What use is the warranty time bomb?

(I owned it, it caused me pain and cost, and I took legal action against Apple, and won. No back to 2015.)
 
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x-evil-x said:
People hate on something they have no idea what use it could be. Most of these people don’t own the machine they just hate because it’s not physical keys and can’t see the benefit of it. They want old ports. Old keyboards. Old startup chime. Old light up Apple logo. Old trackpads. Even if the new technology is better these people won’t want to admit it is.
Click to expand...

If Apple made a car and removed the steering wheel with a 10-button ‘touchpad’ for various degrees of turn and that was causing a bunch of accidents, you would say ‘people just cant keep up with the times’.

You know what bud? Sometimes its good to not try to re-invent the steering wheel.
 
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koruki said:
The 2015 was the pinnacle of not just the Macbook Pro's but of laptops in terms of balancing looks, reliability and practicality. It's almost as if it was so good that Apple got bored and decided to change it.
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I'm with you on this.

I've reverted to 2015 11 inch MacBook Airs for my personal use for this reason. You can buy 2015 models, still in great condition, and stick more modern, faster M.2 SSDs into them. They're the best tiny laptop ever, and have real keyboards and ports! The glowing Apple logo is a nostalgic bonus.

I think in retrospect you can see Apple laptops of that era as the final iteration of the perfect synthesis of Jony Ives minimalist aesthetic, and Steve Jobs good taste and instinct for usability. That's the problem with the newer models, Jony Ive off his leash, and dweeby Tim Cook unable to connect with him on any level to intervene, and unable to even see there's a problem.
 
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This absolutely amazing news! I really hope that this new keyboard will even be able to be replaced in the older machines since they probably will be keeping the same form factors who knows but that would be sweet to keep my 2018 MBA form factor and get a 2019 scissor switch keyboard.... ohh the dream!
 
bleak7 said:
Headphone jack back in 2 years or so then, I assume.
Click to expand...
Definitely not on the iPhone.
However, personally I still don't quite understand the need to remove the jack on the iPad. Space is not an issue on the iPad.
 
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