MBP 2018 - keyboard replaced, but not sure what's in it now

[snifferdogx]

I'm one of the suckers who bought the MBP 2018 13" (4 thunderbolts) and had terrible trouble with broken or soft keys. Just had the keyboard replaced by an authorised Apple repair service and it feels much springier now.

However, when I made a specific request to have the scissor keyboard installed, no one at the repair centre could tell me if the replacement keyboard is still the butterfly mechanism or the scissor one.

I was wondering if anyone in here has/had any knowledge of the mechanisms in the replacement keyboards.

 

[nicho]

hen I made a specific request to have the scissor keyboard installed

That request can only be actioned by giving you a 2020 model...

You have the final/most recent version of the butterfly mechanism.

 

[Cookie18]

Yeah, you can’t get the scissor keyboard just added. They usually do update it to include the year newer keyboard. When I got my 2016 fixed they added the 2017 keyboard. You most likely have a 2019 keyboard.

 

[snifferdogx]

Yeah, you can’t get the scissor keyboard just added. They usually do update it to include the year newer keyboard. When I got my 2016 fixed they added the 2017 keyboard. You most likely have a 2019 keyboard.

Damn... Was so hoping to get away from the flutterby* mechanisms.

Oh, well, they must have done some upgrade to it, because the keyboard feels a lot more springier than before.


(*Flutterby is a word!)

 

[Cookie18]

Damn... Was so hoping to get away from the flutterby* mechanisms.

Oh, well, they must have done some upgrade to it, because the keyboard feels a lot more springier than before.


(*Flutterby is a word!)

Yes they will have. Each butterfly keyboard is better than the last. They improved it with each year.

 

[Sterkenburg]

Same here (I had the replacement done on a 15" but that makes no difference). You likely have the 2019 butterfly switches, i.e. their last iteration. They do feel better indeed, and reliability has been improved little by little every year. At the end of the day it's still a butterfly keyboard, though. Unfortunately you can't get the scissor one unless you upgrade to the 2020 model.

 

[Fishrrman]

Butterfly and scissors keyboards ARE NOT interchangeable...

 

[Natzoo]

Butterfly and scissors keyboards ARE NOT interchangeable...

What is even worse is that 2016/2017 users cannot use the "upgraded" and "improved" 2018/2019 keyboards. Is there anyway to know if the 2018 keyboard has been upgraded with a 2019 one? I know the 2016 and 2017 had different designs for the options symbol.

 

[ght56]

My 2017 did not have the silicon liner on its original keyboard, but I am 99% sure my replacement keyboard from a few months ago does...it is a vastly different feel. I am not sure how many internal generations they have, but my guess is quite a few. I'm probably selling the computer before the keyboard coverage ends.

 

[Natzoo]

Definitely sell the device, it is impossible to install a 2018/2019 version into the chasis of the 2016/2017 version. At least from what we know at the moment.

 

[ght56]

Definitely sell the device, it is impossible to install a 2018/2019 version into the chasis of the 2016/2017 version. At least from what we know at the moment.

That was my understanding as well. But my 2017 replacement keyboard is very different from the original. Apple may have changed the 2016/7 replacements (presumably they would be financially inclined to do this as a relatively small R&D investment would likely save them money if they could make something less prone to failure...no idea how that plays out in practice.)