New MacBook Pro Keyboard Has All-Black Design, Full-Size Function Keys, and Touch ID Ring

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

The implication from the video was that it would enhance the backlighting effect of the keys—i.e., for working in dark environments. It is true that the current version leaks quite a bit of light around the keys. I'm not so sure that's a bad thing, but either way it's my understanding that this is the motivation for the black background.

Maybe? And to be fair, I didn't watch the video. My thought process was that folks should be able to find "home" on the keyboard easily enough, if they're proficient, and backlit keys should be plenty adequate for any sort of hen-pecking or key seeking that needs to be done for the less-used key.

I have an aging MacBook Air which I use for astrophotography. That's about as low-light as it can get. And I do hen-peck at that keyboard because I'm just tapping a key here or there rather than touch typing. Even in that case, the light that protrudes around the keys isn't really doing me any favors. I'd rather just see the backlit glyphs. But it's also not really slowing me down or bothering me.

Really I'm just kind of marveling at how some people have strong opinions about this. It's like they don't really use their computers and keyboards all that much. Someone just likes the aluminum accents? Sure, that's a style thing. But how on earth is it impacting their ability to use the computer...

I'm happy for full-size keys, and good key travel. And I'm hopeful it is a great design given Apple has already backpedaled from the iffy keyboard design they used for several years of the MacBook Pro. It seems like this model represents an extent of de-Iveing of the MacBook Pro. A lot of style concern has shifted back to genuine functionality and usability without walking away from the broader design language.

 

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

2017 space grey model here and the coating is still in good condition, even the butterfly keyboard I have had no issues and no shine so far but I really like to keep my Mac's clean.

Me too, I'm kinda split about the new keyboard but it's not a deal-breaker.

I burned through two generations of that kinda crumby keyboard generation. I forget the year, but I had the model where it was originally introduced. Keyboard problems in months. Replaced later on with an iteration of the keyboard which was supposed to fix the issues, and issues cropped up again a year later. They introduced one more generation from that point, but yeah... it was not a good design.

And I'd go so far as to say most people didn't really appreciate the travel and handling of the keyboard either. It sacrificed a lot to shave height in the chassis and keyboard itself. But I can see how some people might have liked it, sure. I did type just fine on it, and it didn't slow me down.

But good riddance to that fragile form over function keyboard design.

 

[MRU]

ya know?
why are there notches on all J and F keys?
for non-fingerprints on the screen?

To assist touch typists

 

[johnsc3]

Removal of Touch Bar is frustrating (for me). I was hoping it would be larger / more useful. Regular function keys are so antique in appearance, though I know a subset likes to use them.

Just wished Apple provided the option for customers to BTO one or the other. Use the bar on a few apps I love, and the function keys would be nice when using terminal.

I wouldn't be surprised if it comes back just above the 'F' keys.

 

[sudo-sandwich]

It's not Sleep, it's Do Not Disturb!

Oh, haha. Looks exactly like sleep on those old keyboards.

 

[Mchuv]

Removal of Touch Bar is frustrating (for me). I was hoping it would be larger / more useful. Regular function keys are so antique in appearance, though I know a subset likes to use them.

Just wished Apple provided the option for customers to BTO one or the other. Use the bar on a few apps I love, and the function keys would be nice when using terminal.

we predicted, Apple's new MacBook Pro models unveiled today feature a redesigned keyboard with an all-black design, a row of full-size function keys, and a Touch ID ring that provides a more tactile experience for unlocking the Mac with your finger.

The function keys include new shortcuts for Spotlight, Siri, Dictation, and Do Not Disturb, in addition to usual shortcuts for display brightness, media playback, volume, and more. These keys replace the Touch Bar, which was removed on all new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, five years after it was introduced.

Apple didn't comment on its reason for removing the Touch Bar, but during its "Unleashed" event, the company said that the return of physical function keys brings back the "familiar, tactile feel of mechanical keys that pro users love."

The keyboard is now surrounded by a black anodized aluminum inset, whereas there used to be silver or space gray aluminum between the keys.

While some users are disappointed that Apple removed the Touch Bar, the new MacBook Pro is likely to be a crowd-pleasing design given not only physical function keys, but the return of additional ports like an HDMI port, SD card slot, and MagSafe. The new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models also feature Apple's next-generation M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, mini-LED displays with a ProMotion adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz, and more.

The new MacBook Pro models can be ordered now and will start arriving to customers and launch in stores on Tuesday, October 26. Pricing starts at $1,999 for the 14-inch model and at $2,499 for the 16-inch model. Apple said macOS Monterey will be publicly released one day earlier on Monday, October 25, following over four months of beta testing.

Article Link: New MacBook Pro Keyboard Has All-Black Design, Full-Size Function Keys, and Touch ID Ring

 

[Mchuv]

I'm going to miss to TouchBar , the return to physical keys will make users to remember the functionality of every function key in every different application, the TouchBar makes me more productive, I can use it to select options faster, at least this is what I feel us a software developer. For example: Every time a use my wife 2017 MacBook Air I don't know how to make an screen shot , because I already forgot the key combination to do it (I used it with my old MBP 15”), with my current 2019 MBP 15" , i don't need to remember the shortcut i just has to touch the camera icon. Before I got a MBP 15" with TouchBar I had a MBP 15" with physical function keys and i was skeptical with the TouchBar because many users criticized it, but after a few months using it I change my opinion about it (at the beginning i always criticized it because many times i accidentally was touching options), it is useful, it shows you options in a graphical way that are easy to use.

The return to physical keys is a step back for me, it’s not to a better way, but to a less productive way of working.

I’m going to miss the TouchBar but not in the near future, I’m not going to buy a new MBP with M1 Pro or Max, because Apple made me buy a Linux Worstation, yes Apple did it, 3 years ago, it stopped the support for external GPUs, and for AI developers like me, it was a very bad new because the only way to train neural networks with an Apple computer in a fast (7 to 10 times faster than using Apple native hardware) way , then i had to buy a WorkStation just for it, and my current configuration will last 3 years, then i will buy my new MBP.

Thank you Apple for not hearing all of the professional users, for me Apple is only listening to creative professional users that works with pictures , videos or music, but not to developers or scientists that needs a mobile device.

 

[cable]

This is the area that looks bad design wise. It looks outdated and cheap at the same time.

Mock a better one up, I'd love to see how you could do better

 

[bluespark]

Also wasn't changing volume and brightness slower with touchscreen compared to just tapping keys? It looked purty tho.

No, it was much faster. With the TouchBar, you simply touched anywhere on the slider and moved your finger one direction or the other — no lifting of your finger or any additional taps required. You could go from 9-2, for example, in under a second. Without the TouchBar, you have to tap all the way down to achieve the same thing.

 

[Philip_S]

Does anyone have a space gray colored macbook from 2016 or so? I read that the silver color may last longer because it is the base metal, while the space gray is an coating on top of it the bare aluminum. Curious how the coating has held up for 5 years.

I had one for 4 years before I needed a top case replacement. The colour polished a bit and went noticeably paler, but there was less pitting than on my previous silver one at that age.

My real question is... why did they make the left/right keys half-heigh? It's inconsistent with the desktop keyboards (and my 2019 MBP).

It’s much easier to recognise them by touch when reaching for them.

the full-height side-arrow keys and the way the keyboard touched the screen when closed are my two biggest peeves with recent Apple keyboard designs.

 

[MedRed]

Mock a better one up, I'd love to see how you could do better

Easy, No large Function keys, return the color in-between the keys to chassis color. Tone on tone keys or do something like gray instead of black.

 

[SiriusExcelsior]

Biggest (only?) thing I'll miss about the TouchBar is being able to move the Lock Screen and Volume buttons to the left side of the keyboard (ya know, near where the Fn key is and not the furtherest possible location... why Apple?).

Would've been interesting to get the TouchBar above the Fn row instead of being entirely removed, but given the significant opposition to it and how little space Apple leaves in their 3D-puzzle-esque product designs...

 

[incoherent_1]

Given that they only ever had the Touch bar on a MBP, it was destined to fail.

It may have stood a better chance if they'd released an external keyboard with it on as well, but I'd imagine they probably have wanted sonething like $399 or more.

It's a shame because it could have been a contender but Apple never moved on from the base idea and they were saddled with it for a while.

Time to move on.

Exactly. Honestly, I think it was a feature before it’s time and largely unsupported. I kept waiting and waiting for the eventual support for truly contextual buttons on the Touch Bar that learned about my most common workflows and presented short cuts to the features I use most in every app. Instead, it was just another clumsy widget that required third party software and too much time and effort to customize enough to be useful.

But as you say, time to move on. Maybe it’ll return one day in a better form.

 

[Spectrum]

Exactly. Honestly, I think it was a feature before it’s time and largely unsupported. I kept waiting and waiting for the eventual support for truly contextual buttons on the Touch Bar that learned about my most common workflows and presented short cuts to the features I use most in every app. Instead, it was just another clumsy widget that required third party software and too much time and effort to customize enough to be useful.

But as you say, time to move on. Maybe it’ll return one day in a better form.

My touchbar only ever looks like this...I could never get on with what to expect would pop up so I made a simple control bar with brightness, backlit, and volume. I happen to have always used brightness up/down keys more than anything.

 

[buckwheet]

2017 space grey model here and the coating is still in good condition, even the butterfly keyboard I have had no issues and no shine so far but I really like to keep my Mac's clean.

Me too, I'm kinda split about the new keyboard but it's not a deal-breaker.

View attachment 1870809

Is it possible that part of the reason is that the new keyboard is a replaceable component? They must have shelled out a fortune in top-panel replacements since 2016 (I had two replacements on my horrific, garbage 2016 MBP—both on Apple's dime), so I can imagine them wanting that part separated going forward... I mean, I realize those were due to the scissor key mechanism, but still, having to replace the top-panel always seemed insane to me.

In fact, I'm very curious whether these machines will have higher iFixit repairability scores. Since they seem less thinness-obsessed than they previously were, it's possible that they'll improve in that category (also with the whole right-to-repair debate getting more heated lately).

 

[goobot]

I don’t understand why they didn’t just put the Touch Bar on top of the function keys, also don’t understand why they took so long to roll it out to other machines and did such a bad job updating the bugs and such. Touch Bar is just like 3D Touch, a great technology that Apple couldn’t be bothered to implement and update properly

 

[Surak]

Because the aluminum BEHIND the keys are black; the keyboard is recessed in a black abyss.

Is it still part of the top-case? Or now can they replace the keyboard without replacing the whole top of the computer?

 

[Prof.]

Is it still part of the top-case? Or now can they replace the keyboard without replacing the whole top of the computer?

I would reckon that hasn’t changed, you’ll probably need to replace the whole top.

 

[iamutkarshtiwari]

For all those doubting whether the keyboard is still a unibody design or a separate chassis fit into the main body like other PC laptops, here is a closeup of a youtube video frame where you can closely see that it's still a unibody design that is just colored black (different from the body) yet still a single piece of metal.

 

[ErikGrim]

For all those doubting whether the keyboard is still a unibody design or a separate chassis fit into the main body like other PC laptops, here is a closeup of a youtube video frame where you can closely see that it's still a unibody design that is just colored black (different from the body) yet still a single piece of metal.

I don't know why anyone was confused about this in the first place? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[lambertjohn]

Could care less what it looks like. it's a nice keyboard. Types really well. Has a nice feel to it. A positive click with each key pressed. For what I do, it's perfect.

 

[szilske]

Hey folks, I noticed that, when looking at the MacBook from a certain angle, the keyboard backlight is visible _under_ the keys, e.g. when it sits on the notebook stand next to my monitor.

Any opinion if that is common for this keyboard generation? It was not the case with the 2017 butterfly keyboard.

 

[Buck987]

Hey folks, I noticed that, when looking at the MacBook from a certain angle, the keyboard backlight is visible _under_ the keys, e.g. when it sits on the notebook stand next to my monitor.

Any opinion if that is common for this keyboard generation? It was not the case with the 2017 butterfly keyboard.

I have seen other posts mentioning this. I'm not sure if it is common to all of the systems.

 

[jefish]

Hey folks, I noticed that, when looking at the MacBook from a certain angle, the keyboard backlight is visible _under_ the keys, e.g. when it sits on the notebook stand next to my monitor.

Any opinion if that is common for this keyboard generation? It was not the case with the 2017 butterfly keyboard.

This was always the case, but wasn't as noticeable as the surrounding case was "light colored." The kb lighting is visible under the keys on our 2020 MBA, but "light on silver" doesn't stand out as much as "light on black".

 

[szilske]

Yeah, that might be the case. For some keys it is more noticeable than for others, but I assume that not all the keys are perfectly even.