Pool - Macbook Pro 13/15 2017 Keyboard Issue

[stigman]

Hi guys

I'm going to replace my old laptop and I'm thinking of switching to MacBook Pro 13 from 2017. All we know that many people have experienced issue with faulty keyboards in their 2016 models, but we've heard that this problem still exists in newer ones. If this turns out to be true, it will be keyboard gate which apple is covering up for known reasons. The fix won't be easy as there might be a lot of machines affected with this or...it's just bad design what I truly believed in. Apple just messed up I guess.

Let me know what you think of that and give feedback about your machines. It will help me as well as other people to think choices over.

 

[orbitsi]

I personally, had no issues with the keyboard but I got the used one from work. However, I remember a friend of mine had some "troubles" with a few keys - right after he bought it. They were a little hard to push. He then just sent it back and got the keyboard repaired and they live happily ever after

 

[Hand_Model]

My keyboard worked perfectly for 15 months, now several keys are working intermittently. B, H, Space Bar

• Apple Store removed the keys to check for dust/debris ... no dust or debris
• Apple Store replaced my Space Bar... did not work

New Top Case is on the way for $478... out of warranty repair

 

[Mockletoy]

I have a 13” 2016 Pro w/ Touch Bar. Awhile back my ‘x’ key randomly stopped working and didn’t feel quite right. If I pressed it very slowly and deliberately (and way too hard), it would register, sometimes repeatedly. But there was no click, and the key basically felt bottomed-out with no give or feedback, if that makes any sense.

I tried turning it upside and giving it a good shake, tried compressed air, but, no joy. So I gently — gently! — pried up the top right corner of the key with a plastic card thinner than a credit card. It was some grocery store loyalty card or something, very flimsy, but it worked. It was both nerve-wracking and stupid. I never did see what, if anything, was beneath the key causing the trouble.

Thing is, I baby my computers. I’ve sold machines that were years old and people would marvel at how they looked and behaved as if they were fresh from the factory. No crumbs, no grime, no nothing. I’m not weird and OCD about it or anything, I’m just mindful. Careful. These are expensive (and in this case, finicky) tools, so I treat them that way.

Anyway, I got lucky. I blew the socket out with some compressed air while holding the machine upside down, and VERY gently and carefully replaced the key cap. It’s been fine ever since. But it hasn’t felt fine, I guess. I don’t trust it anymore. That’s a weird feeling to have about a “premium” product.

But it was super stupid of me, since it was Apple’s problem to fix and if I’d broken something they’d have (rightly, I suppose) hung me out to dry, AppleCare or not. So, I wouldn’t recommend it, and I won’t be doing it again. I wasn’t aware of just how crazy thin and brittle these key caps are until I had that one loose. If it happens again, Apple can deal with it and I suppose I’ll just have to be without a machine for X number of days (X — see what I did there?) while they fix it.

I feel very sorry for anyone who bought these without AppleCare. I fully intend to sell mine well before the warranty expires, that’s for sure. Between living in fear of the tiniest flecks of dust and having it just randomly panic and reboot if left connected to an external display overnight, this has not been an optimal ownership experience so far.

I’m not ready to jump ship to Windows just yet, because the grass is definitely not always greener, but Apple’s continuing obsession with thinness at all costs is really starting to wear thin. So to speak.

 

[stigman]

My keyboard worked perfectly for 15 months, now several keys are working intermittently. B, H, Space Bar

• Apple Store removed the keys to check for dust/debris ... no dust or debris
• Apple Store replaced my Space Bar... did not work

New Top Case is on the way for $478... out of warranty repair

That's ridiculous. It's just badly designed. Milions of MacBooks with affected keyboards. Yet another gate and this is...Keyboard Gate in 2018.

Well, this what your're talking about seems to be true since many people who gave feedback noticed that problem still exists after they got their keyboards replaced.

I'm wondering if this problem is possible to solve in this generation but...anyway this is ***** ridiculous that people spent so much money on apple machines and they got products which presumable ripp them off.

If your keyboard worked well for 15 months and suddenly something bad started happening with it it only proves that this problem might turn up even after a long period of time. It's because this mechanism is inefficient.

 

[MichaelDT]

Here I thought I was entering a thread about using the MacBook Pro keyboard while in the pool....

 

[stigman]

Please, vote only who have 2017 models. We all know that 2016 has this issue, but we need to get more feedback on 2017 models.

 

[Mockletoy]

That's ridiculous. It's just badly designed. Milions of MacBooks with affected keyboards. Yet another gate and this is...Keyboard Gate in 2018.

Well, this what your're talking about seems to be true since many people who gave feedback noticed that problem still exists after they got their keyboards replaced.

I'm wondering if this problem is possible to solve in this generation but...anyway this is ***** ridiculous that people spent so much money on apple machines and they got products which presumable ripp them off.

If things go the way they normally do, then at some point Apple will finally be forced to acknowledge this mess and they’ll institute a repair program. That, of course, won’t do anything for the many folks who will have to deal with all this crap in the meantime.

If there is one thing I’d change about Apple, it’s this continuous, stubborn reluctance to accept reality and own up to their mistakes. It comes across as very callous and arrogant. You KNOW they know this is a problem, you KNOW they know they’re going to be forced to fix it eventually, so why do they insist on pretending nothing is wrong until the last possible second?

 

[csurfr]

2017 15" base model and 2017 13" Touch Bar. . . neither one has keyboard issues.

Too bad I can't vote twice!

 

[Sebastian79]

That's ridiculous. It's just badly designed. Milions of MacBooks with affected keyboards. Yet another gate and this is...Keyboard Gate in 2018.

Well, this what your're talking about seems to be true since many people who gave feedback noticed that problem still exists after they got their keyboards replaced.

I'm wondering if this problem is possible to solve in this generation but...anyway this is ***** ridiculous that people spent so much money on apple machines and they got products which presumable ripp them off.

I believe this is a 2016 model.

 

[stigman]

I totally agree with you so that's why people have to literally shout this issue our in public. Well, I'm not technician but I'm thinking that this repair program might cost a lot since they'll have to redesign top case and keyboard as well.

All in all many people will end up selling their machines and that might be only solution.
[doublepost=1520492867][/doublepost]

2017 15" base model and 2017 13" Touch Bar. . . neither one has keyboard issues.

Too bad I can't vote twice!

I corrected this. Thanks!
[doublepost=1520493016][/doublepost]

I believe this is a 2016 model.

Look it up on internet. Many threads with 2017 model as well.

 

[Sebastian79]

[/QUOTE][doublepost=1520493016][/doublepost]
Look it up on internet. Many threads with 2017 model as well.[/QUOTE]
I know. I meant this user's specific case.

 

[Koh Phi Phi]

Letter "b" broke in my 2016 15" MBP TB about 14 months after purchase (warranty expired )

Considering the number of threads reporting keyboard issues, it is obviously a bad engineering design.

 

[memento mori]

I've had couple of close calls - got two keys stuck two different times, but thankfully some canned air came through and fixed the issue. Not sure how to feel about this - I really like this machine otherwise, but the potential of $500 repair because of a design flaw really doesn't float my boat, and I'm thinking of selling my MBP while the resale value is still good. Decisions, decisions...

 

[Eddsterrrr]

There are more than just keyboard issues with this generation, unfortunately.

My 2017 MacBook Pro 15” kept having kernel panics and it also had issues with they keyboard. I have owned it a little under one year. Also, when I would charge the laptop, the fans would go bonkers with no programs running and the CPU would get completely absorbed by kernel tasks.

So, I sent it in for repair last week.The advisor processing my repair told me herself that kernel panics are issue with these devices.

While the repair was on hold for ordered part, I was offered a new replacement due to “part constraints”

Now stuck waiting for new replacement and hoping it’s not another lemon.

It’s not a question of IF Apple will openly address their flawed MacBook Pros, it’s only a matter of WHEN. They definitely won’t do so until the tail end of this generation’s lifecycle as to not hurt their sales i.e., a cost-benefit based decision. Although, I wonder if the amount of consumer trust lost will be more than they gambled for.

 

[BEC60]

I have a 2016 15 inch MBP with touch bar that I got last November from B&H (on what, at the time, seemed to be a killer deal). I am seeing the beginnings of this flaky key behavior today with the "k" key (which just double-keyed when I typed "k" both above and here). That key doesn't feel different....it just occasionally doesn't register or double-keys.

The machine is not running warm - it's barely above room temperature on the bottom of the case

I hope turn-around times for a repair are better than those reported at the beginning of this thread. I will probably wait until it gets worse before I head for one of the Apple Stores within striking distance.

I had the Smart Keyboard on my first-version iPad Pro go wonky a few months ago and they just replaced it, and the replacement didn't work, so they replaced it again. That one has been fine since. If the Mac is down for days getting fixed it will get even more use than it does now.

I passed my 2011 13 inch MBP on to my wife....the only thing I ever needed to do with that was put a battery in it a couple of years ago, and replace the hard drive with a bigger SSD (I did that myself, and before the drive actually failed).

*sigh*

 

[BananaX]

No problem at all. Type all day everyday. I clean my MBP weekly as well. 13 Base MBP

 

[eriklindahl]

It's obvious that there are serious quality problems with the keyboards, and of course both Apple and their service organization is well aware of it, but if they acknowledge that in public they will get a lot more requests and/or a class action lawsuit.

I first got a 2016 15", which had the keyboard replaced three times. They usually worked 1-3 months, after which a key start developing some issues in one of the corners. It might even be reasonable to live with that for a $500, but not a $3000 one

After three repair attempts, Apple agreed to replace it with a 2017 model last summer. In october I had the keyboard replaced once more, and a week ago they replaced it again. Now I've noticed that the right-hand side of the enter key isn't always responding. That makes three strikes again, so I guess I will be asking for a new machine again. Not that it will fix the keyboard once and for all, but the 1-year warranty period will start over from scratch.

Still, at this point I mostly find it a bit sad to see how a formerly great laptop line being ruined by a company obsessed with design and margins instead of focusing on users. It's not a coincidence that Apple just dropped to 7th place in Laptop Magazine's ranking of notebook brands.

 

[zinlioren]

After three repair attempts, Apple agreed to replace it with a 2017 model last summer.

Could you share the detail about how did Apple agree on replacing ur laptop with the new version?
I bought my 2016 maxed out mbp15 just 1 week before they announced the 2017model. It's been only 10 months and already been in repair for two times. top case replace and logic board replace.
Really appreciate it if you could share the process of it since I might need to go through the same thing soon or later : /

 

[Garrett998]

I have the 2017 model. My "B" key starting acting up back in the fall. Genius Bar checked for dust and ended up replacing the keyboard under warranty for free. However, I was still without my laptop for six days.

My "B" key is starting to act up again intermittently, but we're not to the point of always doubling typing which was the case back in the fall. I do use my laptop under heavy load for several hours at the time to add to the theory that the keyboard issues could be tied to heat.

 

[ahmedouvix]

I have the 2017 model. My "B" key starting acting up back in the fall. Genius Bar checked for dust and ended up replacing the keyboard under warranty for free. However, I was still without my laptop for six days.

My "B" key is starting to act up again intermittently, but we're not to the point of always doubling typing which was the case back in the fall. I do use my laptop under heavy load for several hours at the time to add to the theory that the keyboard issues could be tied to heat.

most of fails happen in B and N keys not sure why

 

[Donnation]

I've intermittently had issues with the space bar on my 2017 15" MacBook Pro. Sometimes it just doesn't work. I've not looked at or ever tested other 2017 pro keyboards, but my space bar feels weird compared to the other keys. It sounds almost hollow when I press it and is certainly louder than the other keys on an already loud (in my opinion) keyboard.

 

[saynax]

I had intermittent issues with 2-3 keys (I think H, G, F). They either didn't register, or double registered when pressed. I was able to 'fix' it by pressing them a few dozen times. Has only occurred 2-3 times so far, not since a few weeks. MBP17 is about 9 months old. Let's hope it stays that way.

While I still think the MBP17 was the best computer for me to buy, I am very unhappy with the TB (aside from its mere existence, the fact that it often blacks out and doesn't come back until the laptop is restarted), the keyboard issues and the lack of MagSafe. For £3300 they could definitely have created something a little bit more well-rounded.

 

[eriklindahl]

Could you share the detail about how did Apple agree on replacing ur laptop with the new version?
/

I've actually always been happy with how Apple handles their support (the quality of product in this case is a different matter). Just be very polite, but firm. Of course even good products can have problems, and once in a blue moon it can be so unfortunate that a spare part also has the same problem and requires repair again. However, by the third time it's either sloppiness or lacking quality control.

It also helps if you are in a jurisdiction with some sort of lemon laws - I simply offer them to either take it back and refund the purchase price, or make a new delivery, but I will not allow them to try to repair it again after the third time.

I would also recommend you not to focus on upgrades or a new model. Apple will likely do that automatically if they make a new delivery (but it won't improve the keyboard) - but keep the discussion focused in that they can do whatever they want, but not more repair attempts.