Macbook 2016 - disappointing experience.

[joelank]

My eighth Apple laptop in the last 12 years, 7 of them were all wonderful.

a bit about me .. developer using XCode, Eclipse, IntelliJ, MySQL and other backend applications (ElasticSearch, Postgres, MongoDB etc). Youtube and browsing. No gaming, no Photoshop, no video-editing, no movies, no music.

Wanted to move from a 15 inch Macbook Pro to a Macbook 12 for mobility reasons.

The goods: powerful, I did not experience any slowdown on any of the applications that I was using. Wonderful screen, good speaker.

the bad: the keyboard: I read a lot about the butterfly keyboard. tried it at the apple store. didn't like it, but was confident I'll get used to it, so bought the machine last week.

This is the worst keyboard I've ever set my finger on. The more I used it, the more I hated it. (despite the individual keys being 17% larger!) , I press a wrong key every 5 keys on average, there is no feedback and worse yet, some of the keys needed to be pressed a little harder for them to be registered ( 4,5, S and 7 - this is really surprising: is it all the macbooks or just mine, and if that's the case, the first lemon in my 25+ Apple hardware so far )

And then, a couple of times, when the computer woke from sleep, it started showing the 'flashing folder with a question mark' screen!

Needless to say, I returned the macbook today, my first ever Apple rejection.

So, the wait continues..

 

[sallenthornton]

That's discouraging. I have been contemplating this machine to replace my 2013 Air, but I may have to wait a while longer. The keyboard is not a concern for me, but flashing question marks make me think twice.

 

[DougFNJ]

Hey Joe,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. My thought is that it may had been the keyboard on yours, I don't experience any issues with letters not registering keypresses. Perhaps try typing again at the store, open the notes app and start typing something long to see if it's possibly your typing style? (Your typing on it wrong ) Just kidding of course, but my pinky will not hit a key with the same way my other fingers hit it.

It really is a great computing experience in such a small package, it would suck if you returned it based on the experience of 1 faulty device. The consensus seems to be that the keyboard does take some people a little time to get used to it.

On a side note, I have not experienced any question marks or errors, just the natural first little while of a little lag while everything my Macbook indexes.

Good luck.

 

[happyslayer]

Sorry to hear it as well. I love this keyboard! But the other issue sounds like a bad drive or connection to the drive. Sounds like you may wanna wait for the possible new refresh of the rMBP.

 

[izzyfanto]

My eighth Apple laptop in the last 12 years, 7 of them were all wonderful.
This is the worst keyboard I've ever set my finger on. The more I used it, the more I hated it. (despite the individual keys being 17% larger!) , I press a wrong key every 5 keys on average, there is no feedback and worse yet, some of the keys needed to be pressed a little harder for them to be registered ( 4,5, S and 7 - this is really surprising: is it all the macbooks or just mine, and if that's the case, the first lemon in my 25+ Apple hardware so far )

And then, a couple of times, when the computer woke from sleep, it started showing the 'flashing folder with a question mark' screen!

That's completely opposite of my experience. This is my favorite keyboard in all of the laptops I've ever owned. I bought the MB because of the keyboard. I type faster and more accurately with it than my MBA. The low travel is one of my favorite features because it is less response time than the mushy MBA. Feels more precise. Obviously, just my opinion.

Sorry, but you musta got a lemon, mine has had zero issues. It's been exactly what I expected it to be. Never had the flashing folder issue. Further proof yours was a lemon.

 

[maxsix]

My eighth Apple laptop in the last 12 years, 7 of them were all wonderful.



the bad: the keyboard: I read a lot about the butterfly keyboard. tried it at the apple store. didn't like it, but was confident I'll get used to it, so bought the machine last week.

This is the worst keyboard I've ever set my finger on. The more I used it, the more I hated it. (despite the individual keys being 17% larger!) , I press a wrong key every 5 keys on average, there is no feedback and worse yet, some of the keys needed to be pressed a little harder for them to be registered ( 4,5, S and 7 - this is really surprising: is it all the macbooks or just mine, and if that's the case, the first lemon in my 25+ Apple hardware so far )

And then, a couple of times, when the computer woke from sleep, it started showing the 'flashing folder with a question mark' screen!

Needless to say, I returned the macbook today, my first ever Apple rejection.

So, the wait continues..

I've been a huge fan (not fanboi) of Apple laptops since the PowerBook 170. Once they became powerful enough to do my work computing on, I often used a 15" or 17" MacBook Pro when away from one of my many Mac Pro models over the years.

Fast forward to my latest MacBook, l too initially found the shallow keyboard difficult as you have. While I've adapted, it's very important to note that I have a full compliment of other current MBP models. Therefore the actual usage of my Retina MacBook is quite small.

I bought it for the same reason I buy all of Apple’s laptops, I love the laptop form factor. My iPads are for entertainment, reading, casual surfing. Nothing more.

I cannot argue, I understand why you haven't enjoyed yours. It's not a mainstream product no matter what Apple claims.

 

[cwosigns]

This is my favorite Mac laptop since the PowerBook G4 12" laptop (and I've had many). The 13" Black MacBook was also good. But I really love this. I love the keyboard (I have the iPad Pro with the keyboard cover and the mechanism is the same).

It does sound like maybe you got a bum laptop; I would give it another shot.

 

[0983275]

My rMB is getting delivered tomorrow, so it'll be the first time I get to use the keyboard properly, seemed fine when I tried it out in store.

 

[Davidkoh]

I wonder why the keyboard is dividing everyone so much. I really love the keyboard and I want this keyboard at work instead of the one I got for my desktop as I find this one much nicer to type on. No key travel means I don't have to move my fingers as much meaning it is easier on my hands when typing, I also don't have to lift my hands/fingers when going from one key to another because there are no real edges to the keys since they are so low. Feels more like I am sliding on these keys than on other keyboards. I have only had the computer for a few days and the different size of the keys still throw me off a bit sometimes but it is only the occasional error, and it is getting better all the time.

 

[izzyfanto]

I wonder why the keyboard is dividing everyone so much. I really love the keyboard and I want this keyboard at work instead of the one I got for my desktop as I find this one much nicer to type one. No key travel means I don't have to move my fingers as much meaning it is easier on my hands when typing, I also don't have to lift my hands/fingers when going from one key to another because there are no real edges to the keys since they are so low. Feels more like I am sliding on these keys than on other keyboards. I have only had the computer for a few days and the different size of the keys still throw me off a bit sometimes but it is only the occasional error, and it is getting better all the time.

Completely agree

 

[throAU]

Sounds like you should get a 13" Macbook Pro Retina..

IMHO they're small enough, more ports, more battery, bigger screen... same keyboard you're familiar with.

 

[Picapau21]

I agree with a lot of the comments on here. this keyboard is fantastic for touch tying and so i make fewer error than with my previous MBP keyboard.

i haven't done any long writing sessions on it yet (1000s of words) and so can not comment on how comfortable it is for prolonged use but will know soon.

 

[Buerkletucson]

No issues here......but does take a bit of getting used to.

After maybe a couple of days I can honestly say I'm typing faster and more precise than before.
I love the new MacBook keyboard.

 

[applesith]

No problems with mine. Keyboard is the same as last year's so I don't know what you were expecting. The flashing folder thing seems like a lemon.

 

[PTLove]

The keyboard is the show stopper for me as well. My friend has one and I tried using it over a 3 day period (he was out of town and did not need it so he let me use it). I could not get used to it. Its just terrible.

 

[zhenya]

The keyboard provides excellent feedback. It's one of the best features, and telling as to how much thought went into its design. If you hate the keyboard and don't think it has any feedback, it's because you are typing with very high force, blowing through the tactile feedback, and bottoming out the key against the hard, un-cushioned base. Type lighter, as is recommended by every training method I've ever come across, and the keyboard works extremely well.

 

[deeddawg]

when the computer woke from sleep, it started showing the 'flashing folder with a question mark' screen!

You expericned a failed/failing SSD -- hardware faults happen to all manufacturers, even Apple. That's why warranties exist.

The keyboard is definitely a YMMV item; some love it, some hate it, and for others its a matter of getting used to it. (This doesn't make it inherently "bad" except to those who are unable to comprehend that others may hold different preferences.)

Sounds like this just wasn't a match for you. With luck perhaps they'll have something suitable at WWDC.

 

[double329]

When I had the 2015 rMB, I think the keyboard was great. It did, take a few days to get use to, but it is good to me.

 

[SethBoy]

Wasn't a fan of the keyboard at first, but I quickly liked it after testing it out at the stores.

My fingers get fatigued quite easily and I get tired typing on my old MacBook Pro sometimes, so I really love how effortless typing is on this while still having some tactile feedback.

 

[where is it]

Just got my MB today and I'm just installing all my bits and bobs.

As far as the keyboard goes. Typing on it right now, I think it's great.

As far as going from 15 to 12 inch screen size, I'm totally forgetting I'm on such a small laptop.

It is almost hypnotic.

 

[izzyfanto]

The keyboard provides excellent feedback. It's one of the best features, and telling as to how much thought went into its design. If you hate the keyboard and don't think it has any feedback, it's because you are typing with very high force, blowing through the tactile feedback, and bottoming out the key against the hard, un-cushioned base. Type lighter, as is recommended by every training method I've ever come across, and the keyboard works extremely well.

Yep! I think you nailed it Some guy over in the "reasons to not get the rMB" thread was saying the keyboard "was exhausting" and that he ended up "banging away". People are typing wrong if it is exhausting and you have to bang on the keys.

 

[kis]

Hate the keyboard as well. Even prefer the apple keyboard for the IPP over the one on the MacBook. Feels like typing on a block of wood sometimes. I'm not necessarily slower on that particular keyboard than on others, but it certainly isn't a pleasurable experience. I understand they had to make it thing, but couldn't they have use the same mechanism Microsoft uses on the Surface pro 4 keyboard? That one is extremely thin and still feels absolutely fantastic.

 

[Boston007]

Love the keyboard on this.
If you are banging away at the keyboard this laptop is not for you

 

[BenTrovato]

I don't mind the MacBook keyboard when I have used it. I don't think it's "better" than the MBP keyboard but also thought if I ever bought one I would get used to it. With that said, I did buy an Air a few years ago and the keyboard was faulty. It bothered me a lot, I had to compare it to someone else's to figure it out it was faulty. Could be a possibility on your MB.

 

[Leon88]

To each his own. Typing on the MB keyboard is a joy, going back to my 13" MBP keyboard kinda feels like i'm typing on mashed potato. I like the fact that the keys are so stable and they have zero wobble. My colleague at work had just purchased a MB too and she prefers typing on the MB keyboard. I think being able to touch type helps a lot with the overall experience too