Macbook keyboard?

[colonel179]

What do you guys think about the new keyboard? I read a lot of reviews that had it as a con and reviewers not liking it.

I tried it in an apple store and I thought it was great. You can still feel the key going down enough to feel satisfying. It took me no more than 5 minutes to get used to it, and I actually thought it was amazing. Am I really in the minority?

Since apple created the butterfly mechanism, I am pretty sure that this is the keyboard they will use from now on. It would allow them to make the Macbook Air and Macbook Pro thinner. For me the biggest issue of a slim mac is the ports (as seen on the Macbook). I hope Apple also invents a way to reduce ports, so they don't have to axe them (like using USB C instead, HDMI mini, etc).

All in all, the keyboard is great, and I would love to see it as standard in Macs (iMacs would probably have it optional).

What are your opinions/impressions on the new keyboard?

Have a great day

 

[johngordon]

I thought it was a bit weird at first, but got used to it very quickly. My wife loved it straight away.

That's coming from a MBP. For me the keyboard on that already feels like the weird one with big squishy wobbly buttons.

I wonder if a lot of the reviewers maybe just didn't use it for long enough to get used to it.

Wasn't it the same when the chiclet keyboards were new, i.e. a lot of people thought they were a bit weird, not so good etc?

 

[nearlycried]

What do you guys think about the new keyboard? I read a lot of reviews that had it as a con and reviewers not liking it.

I tried it in an apple store and I thought it was great. You can still feel the key going down enough to feel satisfying. It took me no more than 5 minutes to get used to it, and I actually thought it was amazing. Am I really in the minority?

Since apple created the butterfly mechanism, I am pretty sure that this is the keyboard they will use from now on. It would allow them to make the Macbook Air and Macbook Pro thinner. For me the biggest issue of a slim mac is the ports (as seen on the Macbook). I hope Apple also invents a way to reduce ports, so they don't have to axe them (like using USB C instead, HDMI mini, etc).

All in all, the keyboard is great, and I would love to see it as standard in Macs (iMacs would probably have it optional).

What are your opinions/impressions on the new keyboard?

Have a great day

I honestly have no idea what some reviews were on about. Ive had my Macbook about a week now and I thought it would take me ages to get used to, or even potentially be a deal breaker.

Like you I think it was great. I think some people just hate change and will find anything to whine and complain about. People were like "oh I can barely feel the movement" but this is perhaps one of the clickiest keyboards I have ever used and it feels very satisfying to me.

I am pretty sure anyone who had used the keyboard in a setting outside the awkward Apple store benches for more than 5 mins does like it, unless they are a committed misery-guts. But I guess its all preference.

But personally i'm not bothered about ports at all, if I wanted ports I would have bought a pro or a air. Only time I use my usb-c port is when charging. All preference I suppose, and people are bound to hate change.

 

[johngordon]

I honestly have no idea what some reviews were on about. Ive had my Macbook about a week now and I thought it would take me ages to get used to, or even potentially be a deal breaker.

Like you I think it was great. I think some people just hate change and will find anything to whine and complain about. People were like "oh I can barely feel the movement" but this is perhaps one of the clickiest keyboards I have ever used and it feels very satisfying to me.

I am pretty sure anyone who had used the keyboard in a setting outside the awkward Apple store benches for more than 5 mins does like it, unless they are a committed misery-guts. But I guess its all preference.

But personally i'm not bothered about ports at all, if I wanted ports I would have bought a pro or a air. Only time I use my usb-c port is when charging. All preference I suppose, and people are bound to hate change.

Agree completely. A lot of reviews went so far as saying it was very close to typing on an iPad.

I know what you mean about clicky - my wife who isn't usually bothered about gadgets loves it. I asked her about the keyboard as I thought she wouldn't like it. But that's exactly what she said she does like about it - how it sounds nice and clicky "like in tv shows". Which, if you knew my wife, is actually a pretty odd thing to be impressed by, but hey.

The ports don't bother me at all either - at most I'll occasionally need to use a USB drive, but pretty much nothing apart from that. I don't believe for a second that makes me unusual in 2015. And having a little USB - USB-C dongle for those rare occasions seems a reasonable trade for such a portable and - lets face - great looking computer. All the talk of rendering it useless, or turning it into an octopus of cables was utterly ridiculous.

 

[Glenn.eu]

I just got my macbook yesterday and was a little worried about the new keyboard... but i actually like it, feels sturdy and it registers the keystrokes very good. But i think this is a very personal taste.

Just try it out in the store if you think it is going to be a problem.

 

[mgipe]

I think the keyboard is fantastic. I don't understand why some people complain.

 

[elithrar]

I like it even more than the standard MBP/Apple Wireless keyboard. By a long shot.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

I tried it for the first time Yesterday, and I am not really sold yet. I like that you need less pressure the push down the key, but I am not sold on the short traveling time yet. Mind you, the table they were standing on where quite low, so I had to bend over the machines, so it was far from being the optimal writing position. But fact was that my typing errors spiked ten fold.

The large keys was also hard to get by, but I am quite sure that is just typing experience needed, or again, the bad position I was standing in.

I will for sure try it out again, and make up my mind about a Rev. B model.

(And a side note: Damn, that new trackpad is pure unicorn magic! No way that thing isn't moving exactly like the older trackpads! )

 

[Beau10]

What do you guys think about the new keyboard? I read a lot of reviews that had it as a con and reviewers not liking it.

I tried it in an apple store and I thought it was great. You can still feel the key going down enough to feel satisfying. It took me no more than 5 minutes to get used to it, and I actually thought it was amazing. Am I really in the minority?

I recall the same thing happened with the original Macbook (circa 2006) - the flat chicklet keys originally inspired much hate. People saying they preferred the new design might be called Apple apologists... similar pushback w/ the transition to the unibody.

Nowadays there still are people who prefer the original Macbook Pro keys/design, but in general it's not a weird thing to say it's a great keyboard.

Ultimately I think this is one of those time will tell things. The key travel is reduced, the key size is increased, and the feedback seems to be a bit firmer. It's an odd experience IMO after trying it out on three separate occasions.

I've all sorts favorite keyboards over the years, from an IBM Model M, to an Apple Extended Keyboard II, to a Dell that had unusually nice keyswitches, to the original Macbook Pro, to the current chicklet keys on Apple's laptops. What I mean by that, is that along the way those changes became my overall fav - I've actually tried to used a model M on a few occasions since I stopped using one in the mid 90s and found that while it feels great, it's just a bit too much force for fast typing. I am more efficient on a standard Apple chicklet keyboard than anything else.

I have a feeling everything will move to the new design and eventually it will be seen as superior - that the 'other' Apple keyboards will begin to seem mushy and imprecise by comparison.