Guaranteed you don't have this machine.
As I've noted in previous threads, I had a nTB, I own a rMB, several MBPs, and work part time at an AASP. As I've also noted, I did not personally have keyboard issues with either of my machines.
The people trying to drum up doubt virtually never have the machine.
This is simply as ridiculous as the fake news craze - it's dismissing something someone does not like regardless of other factors.
Undoubtedly the best laptop ever made.
It's a very nice laptop. I've said many positive things about it, but I've also had some criticism regarding it. I've consistently said on this forum and encouraged customers at the store to purchase one, use it some, come to their own decision, and return it if they are unhappy.
[doublepost=1510786616][/doublepost]
Can the 2017 MBP run OS Yosemite off of a bootable external drive? I need to run my current version of Avid and don't want to spend more money on upgrading the app right now if I don't have to.
No. It can run down to Sierra (the newest versions may not even allow this). To run Yosemite, you could use a free program like Virtualbox - all model MBPs can virtualize quite well.
[doublepost=1510787153][/doublepost]
I brought back to life my 2011 MBP and I'm even running Avid right now. I was so close to getting the new machine. Damn thing just won't give up!
It is probably going to - progressive failures with these are extremely common. I am going to take the wild guess that it is currently running on the iGPU. If so, it is possible that as soon as you open an App that activates the dGPU, attempt to restart the system, or attempt to bring the system out of a state of sleep that the issue will present itself again. Alternatively, it might function correctly for a little while longer, but I wouldn't expect it to last IMHO.
If the Apps you need the most can run on the iGPU (some automatically activate the dGPU), you can use a program like GFXcardStatus to disable the dGPU (IIRC the App works correctly on Yosemite, for the most part - although I might be off by one revision and Mavericks may be the last OS it functioned correctly on), and then just never shut the computer down or put it to sleep (so that it always remains on the iGPU - as on boot and wake it temporarily activates the dGPU before switching back to the iGPU). Alternatively, there is a thread here about using isoLinux to permanently disable the iGPU. Obviously, with the 15-inch dual GPU models, you cannot use an external display with the iGPU, and having only the iGPU means significantly reduced graphics performance over the already very obsolete dGPU.