After a couple weeks of owning this brand new computer I am wishing I didn't purchase it. I have never had so many typos in my life. Can anyone offer advice on how to better use it? Not only do I have a lot of typos, usually missed keystrokes, but i cant keep my palms away from the HUGE trackpad which is way too sensitive. I'm going insane. I am writing a book and this this is killing me...
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MBP, Touch Bar generation keyboard, I hate it! How can I use it without typos?
- Thread starter theLemur
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Return it and buy the 2015 model like I did. Here was my review of the 2016 model: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...pro-inititally-convince-me-otherwise.2083674/
In short:
In short:
- USB C ports-only made life harder
- Keyboard harder to type than before and space key malfunctioned on 2nd day of use
- Resting palm on unnecessarily large trackpad was annoying
- Battery life worse than 2015 model
- Not noticeably faster than 2015 model
- Useless touch bar
Unfortunately I purchased it in Malaysia and I am traveling through Indonesia now
I'm sorry then. Apple's newest laptops have really stunk it up. The 2015 MBP is still the best laptop in the world for what I do.
It's sad when I see a company like LG make a laptop that has more than twice the battery life, faster processor, more ports, and cheaper than the MBP. If they're going to make a piece of **** every year, they should just license out MacOS out.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/12160/lg-gram-2018-laptops-unveiled-22-lbs
I would have bought a 2013-2015 model used but I was traveling and didn't have that option. Oh well.. I guess I just need to beat the hell out of this keyboard to make sure the keys are actually pressed. It will bother everyone in a 20ft radius.
You either need to keep or sell and replace with a 2015 design. You will either adapt to the new keyboard or not as the case may be. Personally I can adapt, equally I don't care for it, being what I consider to be a very poor typing experience, nor one for paying premium for items that I don't like or work for me...
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I'm traveling for over a year so I guess I will have to find a way to accept it. I can pound on it to make sure each key is definitively pressed but it annoys everyone around me. It sounds like a desktop keyboard from 1998.
Give it time, your fingers may very well adjust to the new keyboard. Another option while not ideal, would be to use a BlueTooth keyboard.
You can sell it and buy something else - they hold a very high resale value.
Do you like the computer otherwise?
If no...then selling it may make the most sense. The 2015 is still a perfectly good machine. Different strokes for different folks!
If yes...I think it is more of just adapting than anything else. It took me a little while to adapt, and now I probably type as fast or faster on the new mechanism as I do on the old. I don't really have much of a preference for the feel of one versus the other - personally I think all laptop keyboards suck compared to mechanicals.
Based on when you joined, I am guessing you have owned Macs for over a decade. Their keyboard design has remained unchanged for the past 10-ish years. Our muscle memory has adapted over that time to expect a very specific amount of travel and a very specific feel with very specific key placement/spacing. Change that up even a little and it's not unusual to have typing errors that are enough to drive you mad. I am going to take the guess that you type without looking at your hands and that one issue you are running into is accidentally pressing two keys at the same time? This is the issue I had at least!
Give it a little time and new muscle memory develops in response to the change. My work Lenovo was such a shock to me that I literally spent a little time performing typing exercises on it - it's a solid keyboard that is considered to be among the best, but again I subconsciously was expecting a key to be located in a certain area, require a certain amount of pressure, and be a certain size, which it wasn't, driving me to drink (and subsequently, type worse because now I was drunk.)
Do you like the computer otherwise?
If no...then selling it may make the most sense. The 2015 is still a perfectly good machine. Different strokes for different folks!
If yes...I think it is more of just adapting than anything else. It took me a little while to adapt, and now I probably type as fast or faster on the new mechanism as I do on the old. I don't really have much of a preference for the feel of one versus the other - personally I think all laptop keyboards suck compared to mechanicals.
Based on when you joined, I am guessing you have owned Macs for over a decade. Their keyboard design has remained unchanged for the past 10-ish years. Our muscle memory has adapted over that time to expect a very specific amount of travel and a very specific feel with very specific key placement/spacing. Change that up even a little and it's not unusual to have typing errors that are enough to drive you mad. I am going to take the guess that you type without looking at your hands and that one issue you are running into is accidentally pressing two keys at the same time? This is the issue I had at least!
Give it a little time and new muscle memory develops in response to the change. My work Lenovo was such a shock to me that I literally spent a little time performing typing exercises on it - it's a solid keyboard that is considered to be among the best, but again I subconsciously was expecting a key to be located in a certain area, require a certain amount of pressure, and be a certain size, which it wasn't, driving me to drink (and subsequently, type worse because now I was drunk.)
You're spot on. Ten years ago I got tired of dealing with software/hardware conflicts in the windows computers I would build, and at the time never found a linux variant that wasn't time consuming, and so I bought my first new macbook in 2007, the classic white 13". I fell in love with it and kept buying 2 or 3 year old models ever year or two as upgrades. So, I've had 5 or 6 I suppose. Finally I bought my first new one again, ten years later. I love them mostly for the OS.
I type a LOT, and I type FAST. 80wpm without typos, 100+wpm with some typos.
Selling isn't an option as I'm traveling the world and am in places where it's just not that easy to sell a $2000 computer, let alone get another one in a timely manner. I'm in rural Bali now... So, I'll have to try to learn. Your post is incredibly helpful and gives me hope that I can adjust. You make great points about the amount of time I spent on the old style keyboards. Otherwise, the computer is good. Love the touch ID, touch bar I can't find a benefit for and in fact I would rather have the solid buttons back but maybe ill find a way to utilize it, and I miss magsafe, but I can tolerate USB C and dongles and lack of SD slot and whatnot. If the trackpad wasn't so darn big that would help too. My palms have to rest on top of it.
It's a good machine. I do still get marks on my screen from where it touches the keys. I hope it doesnt leave permanent marks on there like my last one. (I pack my laptop in a soft sleeve in a tightly packed backpack for travel.
As far as typing while drunk, I'd actually like that, but this country makes it tough to find liquor lol. Hindu island but Muslim country still.... Love it but am eager to keep moving on. New country each month...
One of the reasons why I rushed the purchase was that I was in Malaysia at the time and they actually had regular english keyboards, vs. Thailand where I'd have Thai characters for life. I figured I might have to wait a year to find that opportunity again... It did come with a silly Malaysian power plug (yeah malaysia your plug sucks! you know it too! lol) but i swapped it with my old US style.
I type a LOT, and I type FAST. 80wpm without typos, 100+wpm with some typos.
Selling isn't an option as I'm traveling the world and am in places where it's just not that easy to sell a $2000 computer, let alone get another one in a timely manner. I'm in rural Bali now... So, I'll have to try to learn. Your post is incredibly helpful and gives me hope that I can adjust. You make great points about the amount of time I spent on the old style keyboards. Otherwise, the computer is good. Love the touch ID, touch bar I can't find a benefit for and in fact I would rather have the solid buttons back but maybe ill find a way to utilize it, and I miss magsafe, but I can tolerate USB C and dongles and lack of SD slot and whatnot. If the trackpad wasn't so darn big that would help too. My palms have to rest on top of it.
It's a good machine. I do still get marks on my screen from where it touches the keys. I hope it doesnt leave permanent marks on there like my last one. (I pack my laptop in a soft sleeve in a tightly packed backpack for travel.
As far as typing while drunk, I'd actually like that, but this country makes it tough to find liquor lol. Hindu island but Muslim country still.... Love it but am eager to keep moving on. New country each month...
One of the reasons why I rushed the purchase was that I was in Malaysia at the time and they actually had regular english keyboards, vs. Thailand where I'd have Thai characters for life. I figured I might have to wait a year to find that opportunity again... It did come with a silly Malaysian power plug (yeah malaysia your plug sucks! you know it too! lol) but i swapped it with my old US style.
LOL! I love this. Actually, I think Steve Jobs is trying to figure out a way to come back to life and make things right at Apple. We're rooting for you, Steve!
OP wrote:
"I do still get marks on my screen from where it touches the keys. I hope it doesnt leave permanent marks on there like my last one. (I pack my laptop in a soft sleeve in a tightly packed backpack for travel."
Then.... you're going to get "key impressions" on the screen.
There is very little clearance between the two when closed.
A "tightly packed backpack" is going to exacerbate this problem.
If you don't want impressions, you had better change your method of "packing"...
"I do still get marks on my screen from where it touches the keys. I hope it doesnt leave permanent marks on there like my last one. (I pack my laptop in a soft sleeve in a tightly packed backpack for travel."
Then.... you're going to get "key impressions" on the screen.
There is very little clearance between the two when closed.
A "tightly packed backpack" is going to exacerbate this problem.
If you don't want impressions, you had better change your method of "packing"...
I can understand that, but they are really very compact. I can imagine how tough that must make it to carry all you need, but if you get the chance, and can always try to put one inside your backpack in case it fits.
Regardless, best wishes for you finding a solution that works for you!
Thanks, its not an option. Im living out of a 46L backpack. Every space is precious. Every item carefully selected. Plus, I do most of my work laying in such a way that I can use a keyboard like that. Thank you though.
[doublepost=1514305889][/doublepost]Im stuck with this terrible MF keyboard and i will have to get used to it...
[doublepost=1514305889][/doublepost]Im stuck with this terrible MF keyboard and i will have to get used to it...
The fact that you insist on putting an extra Bluetooth keyboard in his backpack suggests otherwise: you can't understand because you have never travelled through Asia with a backpack. I have done that and trust me: space is more than limited. You have to carry every single ounce around and you get incredibly picky on what to take and what to leave behind.
@theLemur: I think the only two alternatives are selling it on the road and getting a 2015 MacBook Pro or a MacBook Air instead or trying to figure out a way to live with it. Given the bigger dimensions and higher weight of the 2015 model you might end up better off with a MacBook Air instead.
I was very sceptical of the buttefly switches in the beginning but my fingers and brain adapted very quickly. After a few weeks of daily use I was typing just as fast and accurate as on my previous Lenovo ThinkPad keyboard or the older MacBook Pro keyboards. If that new butterfly keyboard was more reliable I would have gladly kept using it but it keeps breaking so I was forced to return to the older 2015 MacBook Pro until Apple fixes the butterfly mechanism for good by making it robust enough to withstand a single speck of dust without breaking.
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Give it some time to adjust. I wasn't a huge fan of the keyboard when i first got it. But after getting used to it (about a month), its the best keyboard I have used. Hands down.
If you can manage to adjust your strikes to be light, the keyboard is super quiet and is buttery smooth to use. My accuracy and speed are actually now faster on this keyboard than the previous generation. In contrast, going back to the old keyboard feels mushy, less accurate and requires more 'effort' to type on
If you can manage to adjust your strikes to be light, the keyboard is super quiet and is buttery smooth to use. My accuracy and speed are actually now faster on this keyboard than the previous generation. In contrast, going back to the old keyboard feels mushy, less accurate and requires more 'effort' to type on
Isn't that the standard UK plug? I've only been to the UK a couple of times but it looks awfully familiar...
They are the same, just need to swap out the "Duckhead" for US, EU etc. most compact being the US style.
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Realistically you just have to get used to it. I'm based in Asia and travel significantly so am well versed with the region. If you sold you would take a massive loss as Mac's are not perceived in the same light. The power supply plug is an easy fix as you should be able to pick up a US type one in any approved reseller, even possibly online, or airport.
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I don't know where you are in asia but everywhere ive been macbooks are prized possessions. I sold my macbook air on a malaysian classifieds site for way more than i could have gotten in the US.
The power supply is not a problem, I already swapped them, it was just a comment
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That would make sense since there is british/malaysian history. It's been a decade since ive been to the UK so i didn't remember it was used somewhere else and thought it was just malaysia that had to deal with that massive chunk of a plug