"Rev B" Keyboard for 2017 MacBook Pro?

[AppleHaterLover]

Until last week, I had a mid-2017 nTB MacBook Pro with a very OK keyboard, purchased in Oct 2017 (so probably one of the "early" mid-2017s". I liked it a lot.

It was stolen last week (RIP - I hope that oxygen waster dies a slow, painful death inside a poorly ventilated carboard box). I thought long and hard about what to do (including purchasing a beater 2012 MBA to wait for a 2018 MBP) and bought another identical 2017 nTB MBP.

However, the keyboard seems a lot better than my old nTB, with sensibly more "travel" and feedback (and the keyboard in the original 2017 is already better than the 2016's). I hadn't had it for a week but as soon as I started working on the new one the difference was very noticeable.

So could it be that:

A) I'm going crazy;
B) My old laptop's keyboard was slowly failing, and I should be very worried about my brand new laptop as well?
C) Apple actually silently introduced a new revised keyboard for the 2017 MBP?

Has anyone with a 2017 had their keyboards replaced and noticed any difference?

 

[iGobbleoff]

On a side note, did you have Find My Mac turned on?

 

[AppleHaterLover]

I did, but it never came back online - lock is still pending. I need it for work (and personal reasons), so I had to write that one off and buy another one.

I did a little research and it seems that Macs are not forever linked to their iCloud account like iPhones are - i.e. if you're able to do a firmware-level or something restore, you're able to reinstall OS X and sell it like it was always ours.

Or it may just be a keyboard donor for someone's failed OOW 2016 MBP somewhere.

 

[jksu]

yes 2017 keyboard is better.

slightly more sensation of travel, quieter and has changes to the labeling of the apple key. hopefully more durable/resistant to dust and debris but we’ll see...

 

[pshifrin]

Until last week, I had a mid-2017 nTB MacBook Pro with a very OK keyboard, purchased in Oct 2017 (so probably one of the "early" mid-2017s". I liked it a lot.

It was stolen last week (RIP - I hope that oxygen waster dies a slow, painful death inside a poorly ventilated carboard box). I thought long and hard about what to do (including purchasing a beater 2012 MBA to wait for a 2018 MBP) and bought another identical 2017 nTB MBP.

However, the keyboard seems a lot better than my old nTB, with sensibly more "travel" and feedback (and the keyboard in the original 2017 is already better than the 2016's). I hadn't had it for a week but as soon as I started working on the new one the difference was very noticeable.

So could it be that:

A) I'm going crazy;
B) My old laptop's keyboard was slowly failing, and I should be very worried about my brand new laptop as well?
C) Apple actually silently introduced a new revised keyboard for the 2017 MBP?

Has anyone with a 2017 had their keyboards replaced and noticed any difference?

My 2017 15 (purchased in August 2017) recently was passed down to another employee. I replaced it with another 2017 manufactured in April 2018 and I too noticed a different feel to the keyboard.

 

[Glockworkorange]

yes 2017 keyboard is better.

slightly more sensation of travel, quieter and has changes to the labeling of the apple key. hopefully more durable/resistant to dust and debris but we’ll see...

What Apple key?

Command key?

 

[Beau10]

I had 2 late 2016 nTB computers in my possession bought weeks apart, they felt different insofar one was softer/quieter than the other. My impression is there is a similar range of difference when I try out a variety of the latest MBPs at my local Apple store. It's not quite like the difference between the 1st and 2nd gen butterfly designs where there is a distinctive change in the action of the key.

I'm skeptical Apple had further revisions for the butterfly keyboard past the late 2016 updatee. I think people are detecting differences due to tolerances and/or suppliers.

 

[smbu2000]

What Apple key?

Command key?

For the 2017 models keyboard, Apple added the symbol on the left CTRL key, previously it only had CTRL on it without any symbols. The left and right Option keys were also changed. The small "alt" was removed and replaced with the symbol.

You can see the original style 2016 keyboard here:
https://smcomemory.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/MacBook-Pro-2016-41.jpg

The 2017 updated one you can see at Apple's website.
https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/

My 2016 15" MBP recently had the keyboard replaced recently and it went from having the original 2016 keyboard layout to the updated 2017 model keyboard layout.

 

[eddjedi]

Apart from the printed decals on the top, I've seen zero evidence that there is mechanically any difference between the very first 2016 keyboards and the latest ones. I'm sure if you typed on any two keyboards they would feel slightly different, especially like in your case one is brand new and the other was not.

 

[Glockworkorange]

For the 2017 models keyboard, Apple added the symbol on the left CTRL key, previously it only had CTRL on it without any symbols. The left and right Option keys were also changed. The small "alt" was removed and replaced with the symbol.

You can see the original style 2016 keyboard here:
https://smcomemory.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/MacBook-Pro-2016-41.jpg

The 2017 updated one you can see at Apple's website.
https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/

My 2016 15" MBP recently had the keyboard replaced recently and it went from having the original 2016 keyboard layout to the updated 2017 model keyboard layout.

Ahhhh....I see it.

 

[537635]

Apart from the printed decals on the top, I've seen zero evidence that there is mechanically any difference between the very first 2016 keyboards and the latest ones. I'm sure if you typed on any two keyboards they would feel slightly different, especially like in your case one is brand new and the other was not.

Here's some evidence:

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Retina+MacBook+2017+Teardown/92172#s172395

 

[eddjedi]

Here's some evidence:

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Retina+MacBook+2017+Teardown/92172#s172395

That's a Macbook. NOT a Macbook Pro. We all know the 2015 Macbook had the v1 butterfly mechanism, and then was upgraded to the v2. Here's a quote from the article you posted:

"Rumor has it that the second gen butterfly mechanism inherited from the Pro makes this MacBook way more usable"

The Macbook Pro has had no changes to its keyboard. Please will people stop spreading nonsense.

 

[537635]

Sorry, wrong link.

https://ifixit.org/blog/9185/2017-apple-laptop/

• The keyboard trigger looks like a more classic switch this go-around. The plastic butterfly mechanism appears to have thinned out to accommodate the new switch form factor. The keystroke and travel feel about the same to us, so perhaps the real change is reinforcement for repeated use.

 

[maflynn]

The plastic butterfly mechanism appears to have thinned out

Wouldn't that be a cause for concern? I was under the impression that the butterfly mechinism is breaking due to debris and now its even thinner

 

[eddjedi]

Sorry, wrong link.

https://ifixit.org/blog/9185/2017-apple-laptop/

• The keyboard trigger looks like a more classic switch this go-around. The plastic butterfly mechanism appears to have thinned out to accommodate the new switch form factor. The keystroke and travel feel about the same to us, so perhaps the real change is reinforcement for repeated use.

Again you are confusing the MB and MBP.

"The only real change, beyond fan coloration, seems to address the lackluster keyboard action from last year’s MacBook. Users now inherit the more-responsive, second-gen butterfly key switches already found in last year’s MacBook Pro with Touch Bar."

In other words the 2017 Macbook has a new keyboard compared to the 2015 version. The 2017 Macbook Pro has exactly the same second gen butterfly keyboard as the original 2016 version, apart from different decals on the top.

There is no redesigned Macbook Pro keyboard.

 

[537635]

Macbook keyboard:

2015 first gen
2016 second gen revision 1
2017 second gen revision 2 (with icons on control/option)

Macbook Pro keyboard

2016 second gen revision 1
2017 second gen revision 2 (with icons on control/option)

Or am I missing something?

 

[Trey M]

Again you are confusing the MB and MBP.

In other words the 2017 Macbook has a new keyboard compared to the 2015 version. The 2017 Macbook Pro has exactly the same second gen butterfly keyboard as the original 2016 version, apart from different decals on the top.

There is no redesigned Macbook Pro keyboard.

That is incorrect, the 2017 MBP has a slightly modified key switch as compared to the 2016 MacBook Pro. In fact, the decals on the top of the keys I presume are there so that Geniuses, etc are able to more easily differentiate between the models.

While both 2016/2017 share the butterfly mechanism (which is very much different than the original 12'' Macbook's implementation), the 2017 has some improvements, mainly a thinner switch mechanism in comparison to the 2016 MacBook Pros.

Not sure why you're insistent there haven't been changes if you haven't done a quick Google search on the topic. Sounds like you're being a little defensive of your particular model. And if you don't believe me, there's YouTube videos and other sources which illustrate the difference. In general, it seems the 2017 models have fared better in real world usage (less issues), however it still seems there's a fair amount of issues for both 2016 and 2017 models.


From iFixit (regarding specifically the 2017 MBP in comparison to 2016):
"The keyboard trigger looks like a more classic switch this go-around. The plastic butterfly mechanism appears to have thinned out to accommodate the new switch form factor. The keystroke and travel feel about the same to us, so perhaps the real change is reinforcement for repeated use."


Source:
https://ifixit.org/blog/9185/2017-apple-laptop/

 

[radus]

I own a maxed out late 2016 15 inch TB MacBook Pro.
Recently I bought a Thinkpad X1 Yoga 3.Gen in addition (i7 4-core).
The Keyboard of the Keyboard of the Yoga is much much better - wouldn t it be good for Apple to license the Lenovo Keyboard ?

 

[eddjedi]

Well as the saying goes, you can't argue with stupid. I've already posted this quote from the article you just linked to, but here it is again:

"The only real change, beyond fan coloration, seems to address the lackluster keyboard action from last year’s MacBook. Users now inherit the more-responsive, second-gen butterfly key switches already found in last year’s MacBook Pro with Touch Bar."

Nowhere in that article, or on the internet in fact, does it say there is a "revision 2" second generation butterfly keyboard. There is just a first generation one found on the 2015 Macbook, and the second generation one found on the 2016/2017 MBP and 2017 MB. The keyboard changes on the MBP in 2017 were purely cosmetic (decals.) Read the article again.

 

[537635]

But the part of the article is talking specifically about the 2017 Pro and that keyboard changes are beyond just cosmetics (icons on keys).

Does it really make sense that they would only change two keycaps and that's it?

I believe I also made a mistake and Macbook only got 2nd gen butterfly in 2017, while the Pro got it in 2016.

So:


Macbook keyboard:

2015 first gen
2016 first gen
2017 second gen revision 2 (with icons on control/option)

Macbook Pro keyboard

2016 second gen revision 1
2017 second gen revision 2 (with icons on control/option)

I think this also puts the article in a different perspective.

 

[socialwill]

Until last week, I had a mid-2017 nTB MacBook Pro with a very OK keyboard, purchased in Oct 2017 (so probably one of the "early" mid-2017s". I liked it a lot.

It was stolen last week (RIP - I hope that oxygen waster dies a slow, painful death inside a poorly ventilated carboard box). I thought long and hard about what to do (including purchasing a beater 2012 MBA to wait for a 2018 MBP) and bought another identical 2017 nTB MBP.

However, the keyboard seems a lot better than my old nTB, with sensibly more "travel" and feedback (and the keyboard in the original 2017 is already better than the 2016's). I hadn't had it for a week but as soon as I started working on the new one the difference was very noticeable.

So could it be that:

A) I'm going crazy;
B) My old laptop's keyboard was slowly failing, and I should be very worried about my brand new laptop as well?
C) Apple actually silently introduced a new revised keyboard for the 2017 MBP?

Has anyone with a 2017 had their keyboards replaced and noticed any difference?

I think what people are missing here is that OP is asking if there has been a possible revision to the 2017 MBP keyboard mid-cycle as he had an earlier 2017 model and just got a new one. I think I got this right

Personally I have no idea if they updated the keyboard but if someone with any access to Apple parts knows if the part number for a replacement keyboard changed then that might give some clue.

More like a 2017.1 hardware update to the computer maybe?