RIP Butterfly Keyboard: Apple Finally Completes Transition to Magic Keyboard

[MacRumors]

After years of complaints over sticky or unresponsive keys, Apple has finally finished transitioning its notebook lineup away from its issue-prone butterfly keyboard.

With the new 13-inch MacBook Pro featuring the same scissor switch Magic Keyboard as the 16-inch MacBook Pro, Apple no longer sells any new MacBook Pro or MacBook Air models with a butterfly keyboard. If you are browsing Apple's refurbished store, however, be aware that many of those models are still equipped with the butterfly keyboard.

Image: iFixit​

First introduced on the 16-inch MacBook Pro last year, the Magic Keyboard features a redesigned scissor mechanism with 1mm of key travel, an inverted-"T" arrangement for the arrow keys, and a physical Escape key next to the Touch Bar.

Models with more reliable Magic Keyboard:

• 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro
• 2020 13-inch MacBook Pro
• 2020 MacBook Air

Apple's butterfly keyboard suffered from issues with sticky, repeating, or nonfunctional keys. The company continues to offer free repairs to affected customers as part of its worldwide service program, and it even apologized over the matter last year, although it downplayed the issue and said that only a "small number" of customers were impacted.

Article Link: RIP Butterfly Keyboard: Apple Finally Completes Transition to Magic Keyboard

 

[joelhinch]

You won’t be missed.

 

[zombierunner]

The real new laptop will arrive later in the year or maybe spring next year.

 

[Skeith]

Thank you for beta testing everyone.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

No doubt there'll be contrarians lamenting its death...

 

[Blackstick]

I manage a small IT department, on a population of 2200 Macs, we had 378 keyboard (top case) repairs logged through GSX in 2019. Don't buy butterfly keyboard Macs, folks. On a population of 6300 Dell Latitudes, we submitted 41 keyboard repairs for 2019, respectively.

Hoping these Magic Keyboards take us back to 2015, 12 MacBook top case repairs out of ~900 Macs - for the year.

 

[recoil80]

I still like the butterfly keyboard more when it comes to key travel compared to my new 16", but after a while I'm getting used to the magic keyboard.
Reliability is too important, so I think they made the right choice. As I said I used to like the feeling of the butterfly keyboard, but I experienced issues with it on my 2016 MBP (solved by cleaning it, I didn't need service) and now that my wife uses it I told her to be extra careful about eating or even having small debris while working on the laptop. I take care of my devices, but I don't want to be in constant fear of damaging a keyboard, so good riddance butterfly keyboard

 

[dantracht]

To quote an old friend:

"It's been real, it's been fun, but it hasn't been real fun."

Used a few on different MB and MBP models. While I luckily never had any issues with them, they just weren't the same as the old keyboards.

Mind you: I am typing this on my home office iMac with an old school wired keyboard with numeric keypad, which, to me, is the BEST keyboard apple ever made.

Fare thee well butterfly. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

 

[ouimetnick]

Another quality Jony Ive innovation. He had a good run as well😂

 

[sofila]

I just recall a long list of forum members explaining us why this keyboard was incredible and any issue mentioned was just a form of unjustified hatred. "Mine works perfectly" attitude.

Now I wonder, what weight should I give to them from now on?
All this arrogance, all these irrefutable certainties thrown into the toilet.

 

[powerslave12r]

Will be interesting to see the prices on the butterfly keyboard models now.

 

[StuBeck]

I just recall a long list of forum members explaining us why this keyboard was incredible and any issue mentioned was just a form of unjustified hatred. "Mine works perfectly" attitude.

Now I wonder, what weight should I give to them from now on?
All this arrogance, all these irrefutable certainties thrown into the toilet.

For anything, you need to avoid people who are super negative or super positive and take the middle. Fanboys don't make good indicators. There are going to be people who are fans of anything who act like everything they make is great no matter what.

 

[calstanford]

The only butterfly I ever enjoyed typing on is my iPad (Pre-“Magic”) keyboard. Works perfectly (as no dust can get under the keys). Feels good to type on too unlike my Macbook Pro which I sold because it pissed me off so much. New 16” MBP is okay but not as good as the iPad butterfly.

 

[otternonsense]

I hope this quagmire of horsedung does not fade away into some distant embarrassing memory, but will continue to serve as a sore reminder for Apple to not beta test half baked "innovations" onto their customers, and said customers to exercise caution since they've been unwittingly turned into caveat emptors for the trillion dollar company. I also hope TouchBar goes down into obsolescence with the butterfly.

And come to think of it, if you remove the keyboard, the touchbar, and the abysmal T2 chip, what was it really that Apple "innovated" upon with the MacBook Pro after 2016? The #donglelife gift that keeps on giving?

 

[Dwalls90]

I'm sure the simple answer to this is: "No", but it would be amazing if Apple could now openly admit the design failure of the butterfly keyboard (since all models transitioned away from it), and start retrofitting them with magic keyboards. Not only would it give a better user experience, but would cut down on future repair costs that Apple is forced to honor under the extended/special warranty.

 

[martyjmclean]

The real new laptop will arrive later in the year or maybe spring next year.

So the new laptops are in my imagination?

 

[chrono1081]

This is sad. I absolutely loved the butterfly keyboard. Luckily my work machine still has it.

 

[matthew12]

After sticking with my late 2013 13” Pro for so long, I can finally upgrade! I would probably have bought one two years ago, but I was waiting for the Butterfly keyboard to die.

I’m very excited because when I bought my 2013 model, I was still in my senior year of high school. Now I’ve been done with college for three years, haha. Now I probably need to get a USB C adapter too, but whatever.

 

[Expos of 1969]

For every year Apple flogged computers with this problematic keyboard it was an arrogant "screw you" to customers. Terrible way to run a company.

 

[AngerDanger]

For anybody particularly torn up about this, I'm working on an app that allows you to use a semi-broken Blackberry as a keyboard and recapture the magic.

 

[appahappa]

I liked the butterfly keyboard when it was new but now it's a nightmare. One one of the command keys and several letters are totally unreliable. And I don't think that it's because of dust. Those are the keys a used the most, so it seems that the keys are just not made to handle too many key strokes.

 

[Bug-Creator]

This is sad. I absolutely loved the butterfly keyboard. Luckily my work machine still has it.

++++

Yeah I know I'm kinda sitting on a time bomb (if all the naysayers are to believed) but as long as it works (and it does for close to 3 years) it simply is my favourite keyboard.

 

[audiomatt]

This keyboard was worse than the puck mouse.

 

[Jury]

Apple butterfly keyboard set a new world record in unreliability test.

 

[Reason077]

You won’t be missed.

I will personally miss the arrow key configuration, which I think looks nicer and avoids the pokey half-sized left and right keys. I'll also miss the option to buy a non-touchbar keyboard.

However, these things are greatly overshadowed by the butterfly's unreliability and tendency to get gummed up with dust and debris. Welcome, new (old) scissor-switch keyboard!