Another stubborn Apple move. They tried to force a crap kb that few liked on everyone, insisting for 4 years that the problem was with you, not them.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
RIP Butterfly Keyboard: Apple Finally Completes Transition to Magic Keyboard
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Another stubborn Apple move. They tried to force a crap kb that few liked on everyone, insisting for 4 years that the problem was with you, not them.
Well, I’m holding out for the 14” display....
[automerge]1588605819[/automerge]
I think poster meant that the ”new version” is just a new keyboard, bigger drive, more RAM. The top tier has a faster processor, but that is called a “speed bump”, making this really just spec bump, not a new computer. New would be a different case, a new display ....
[automerge]1588605972[/automerge]
Already out. Big clue was last week when Woot was selling the previous version at a deep discount.
Last edited:
As someone who had to pick through used MacBooks last year when all the current ones had bad keyboards, it feels good to have the shoe be on the other foot. Let the butterfly apologists pick through eBay and clearance racks. It’s their turn to “get used to” a normal keyboard.
LOL at the people treating this like it's a return to past keyboard designs. It's not. The scissor mechanism that Apple is using now is a new design. Nobody actually knows if it's more reliable than other previous designs.
The best way to identify the size of the issue from the outside, is to listen to any group with sufficient data points to make a statistically significant conclusion. So, that would be IT departments where they saw 10s to 100s to 1000s of computers with these keyboards and what percent had keyboard issues.
I actually grew to prefer the feel of the butterfly keyboard, and it’s taking a while to get re-used to the spongier new keyboards. I won’t miss the reliability issues, though. I never had a complete keyboard failure, but did need to get individual keys fixed on a 12” MacBook, though.
The good thing is that they acknoledged their mistake
the bad thing it took them 3.5 years to do it.
378/2200 is 12%, that not too bad, I thought the issues were more like 70%
the bad thing it took them 3.5 years to do it.
378/2200 is 12%, that not too bad, I thought the issues were more like 70%
12% is ridiculously high, though.
The problem with referencing IT departments is that a lot of companies buy refurbished hardware from the previous model year in order to save $$.
Yeah, and that picture of the membrane being lifted with the forceps…
Just reminded me too much of Ash mucking around with the face-planter in Alien.
Not a good look to sell you on a laptop.
Just reminded me too much of Ash mucking around with the face-planter in Alien.
Not a good look to sell you on a laptop.
Yes, its all about your personal preference and how you feel, not the tens of thousands of people impacted by topcase replacements or the damage it did to Apple's brand. Do you always make everything all about you?
I'm one of the lucky ones, I've had my MacBook since August and haven't had an issue with the keyboard yet. But this is the right move. If something isn't broken, don't fix it.
Now the digital escape key on the other hand is annoying. But I don't hate the Touch Bar as much as most, it's a great way to skip video ads
Now the digital escape key on the other hand is annoying. But I don't hate the Touch Bar as much as most, it's a great way to skip video ads
Yet the transition to the beloved inverted-T arrow keys is not complete. The standalone Magic Keyboard currently on apple.com still has the worthless arrow key design from butterfly key days 😖
They need to update it and add backlit keys and a space gray option.
They need to update it and add backlit keys and a space gray option.
I don't particularly mind the butterfly keyboard as my 2017 MacBook had it and now my 2019 MacBook Pro has it. I don't do a lot of typing as I'm typically working in Lightroom and Photoshop, but when I do use the keyboard I haven't had any qualms about it. Though I do really like the magic keyboard that my wife's 2020 MacBook Air has.
What damage to the brand? The laptops from the butterfly era were more reliable overall than the older scissor design models. Yes, there was a lot of press focused on the keyboard, but in the end the overall quality was better. Now Apple has another new keyboard design. It's not a duplicate of the 2015 and earlier scissor designs.
Worthless? I guess I'm in the minority here, but I prefer the "old" (non-inverted T) configuration. Why would you want pokey half-sized ← and → keys when you can have full-sized, easier to press ones?
(Similar reason to why the otherwise-superior European keyboard layout sucks compared to the US layout. Stupid narrow "enter" key makes it more difficult to press)
Thanks for sharing this. There’s been a remarkable absence of data in this discussion over the years.
Can you share any more metrics with us?
When all you have is a population of one (which is a lot of members of this forum) when you don't have any issues its the greatest device of all time. But if you have a problem then it becomes the biggest piece of crud ever manufactured.
It would be very interesting to read about the trends you've seen in both the Macs and the Latitudes you maintain.
Definately damaged the brand reputation in terms of laptop build quality. Just do a You Tube search for crying out loud. The reputation of a brand is only as strong as its weakest link.
I heard about murder hornet today, and this was just the news needed to raise my spirits. Thank you MacRumors!
I mean, personally I wish they’d have found a way to make it work (and ideally, of course, found it before it ever shipped). With limited experience I actually quite enjoyed the low-profile look and feel while typing, but in fairness I never got to use it for more than a couple hours as I own an iMac. I also have an iPad with the Smart Keyboard cover (which I’m typing this on right now), but it didn’t experience the major reliability issues that the Mac keyboards did because it’s more sealed.