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Ask HN: No mechanical escape key in new Macbook Pros?

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Ask HN: No mechanical escape key in new Macbook Pros?

#1

Post by mattnedrich »

I came across this photo (potential casing for new MBP): http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2016/05/macbook_pro_2016_case_top.jpg

Notice the missing top row of function keys. People have speculated that this top row may be replaced by an OLED touch screen.

Comparing the above photo to the Macbook keyboard, it would seem that the top row includes the escape key: http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2014/11/retinamacbookkeyboard-800x484.jpg

If this is the case, any software developer that uses the escape key a lot may not be very happy.

Re: Ask HN: No mechanical escape key in new Macbook Pros?

#2

Post by weinzierl »

I'm in the market for the new MacBok Pro and the OLED row makes me excited, but as a Vim user the lack of an physical escape key would be problem for me.

I have Caps Lock mapped to Ctrl and I'm glad that MacOS provides this option out of the box, but Caps Lock as Esc is not an option for me. I hope there will be an out of the box way to map Escape to something sensible. I'd trade ~ for Esc anytime, as long as ~ and ` are accessible via the OLED strip.

Re: Ask HN: No mechanical escape key in new Macbook Pros?

#3

Post by mattnedrich »

weinzierl wrote: post #2

I'm in the market for the new MacBok Pro and the OLED row makes me excited, but as a Vim user the lack of an physical escape key would be problem for me. I have Caps Lock mapped to Ctrl and I'm glad that MacOS provides this option out of the box, but Caps Lock as Esc is not an option for me. I hope there will be an out of the box way to map Escape to something sensible. I'd trade ~ for Esc anytime, as long as ~ and `…

I'm kind of in the same boat as you. I'm a heavy vim user, and a weird ESC key would really suck. I may be able to get used to ~ as escape, would take some getting used to though.

Re: Ask HN: No mechanical escape key in new Macbook Pros?

#4

Post by serge2k »

weinzierl wrote: post #2

I'm in the market for the new MacBok Pro and the OLED row makes me excited, but as a Vim user the lack of an physical escape key would be problem for me. I have Caps Lock mapped to Ctrl and I'm glad that MacOS provides this option out of the box, but Caps Lock as Esc is not an option for me. I hope there will be an out of the box way to map Escape to something sensible. I'd trade ~ for Esc anytime, as long as ~ and `…

> OLED row makes me excited

Can't imagine why. It sounds incredibly dumb.

Probably have to live with it since no one else seems to be able to make a really high quality laptop. sigh.

Re: Ask HN: No mechanical escape key in new Macbook Pros?

#5

Post by gamedna »

weinzierl wrote: post #2

I'm in the market for the new MacBok Pro and the OLED row makes me excited, but as a Vim user the lack of an physical escape key would be problem for me. I have Caps Lock mapped to Ctrl and I'm glad that MacOS provides this option out of the box, but Caps Lock as Esc is not an option for me. I hope there will be an out of the box way to map Escape to something sensible. I'd trade ~ for Esc anytime, as long as ~ and `…

this is apple, be on the lookout for the new iVimClutch. (for those who dont know what a vim clutch is: https://github.com/alevchuk/vim-clutch)

Re: Ask HN: No mechanical escape key in new Macbook Pros?

#6

Post by busterarm »

I've been using an external keyboard (Realforce 87U at work. A 104 w/ Cherry Blues at home).

Other than the coffee-shop crowd, how many of you would say you're exclusively a laptop-keyboard user? Not a dig, just wondering.

If Apple offered an iPad Pro, running OSX with USB ports (or a thunderbolt port usb hub) for a physical keyboard, I would switch over in a heartbeat.

Re: Ask HN: No mechanical escape key in new Macbook Pros?

#7

Post by busterarm »

serge2k wrote: post #4
weinzierl wrote: post #2

I'm in the market for the new MacBok Pro and the OLED row makes me excited, but as a Vim user the lack of an physical escape key would be problem for me. I have Caps Lock mapped to Ctrl and I'm glad that MacOS provides this option out of the box, but Caps Lock as Esc is not an option for me. I hope there will be an out of the box way to map Escape to something sensible. I'd trade ~ for Esc anytime, as long as ~ and `…

> OLED row makes me excited Can't imagine why. It sounds incredibly dumb. Probably have to live with it since no one else seems to be able to make a really high quality laptop. sigh.

> Probably have to live with it since no one else seems to be able to make a really high quality laptop. sigh.

My solution to this has grown more and more to be "do everything on a remote box via SSH" and then it doesn't matter what laptop I use.

I am a heavy Vim user, so this is easy!

Re: Ask HN: No mechanical escape key in new Macbook Pros?

#8

Post by mattnedrich »

busterarm wrote: post #6

I've been using an external keyboard (Realforce 87U at work. A 104 w/ Cherry Blues at home). Other than the coffee-shop crowd, how many of you would say you're exclusively a laptop-keyboard user? Not a dig, just wondering. If Apple offered an iPad Pro, running OSX with USB ports (or a thunderbolt port usb hub) for a physical keyboard, I would switch over in a heartbeat.

I actually use my laptop keyboard almost exclusively (my setup is MBP + external monitor). I have an external keyboard that I use every now and then, but I love the portability of being able to pick up and move.

Re: Ask HN: No mechanical escape key in new Macbook Pros?

#9

Post by blcArmadillo »

weinzierl wrote: post #2

I'm in the market for the new MacBok Pro and the OLED row makes me excited, but as a Vim user the lack of an physical escape key would be problem for me. I have Caps Lock mapped to Ctrl and I'm glad that MacOS provides this option out of the box, but Caps Lock as Esc is not an option for me. I hope there will be an out of the box way to map Escape to something sensible. I'd trade ~ for Esc anytime, as long as ~ and `…

Have you ever considered mapping 'jk' or 'kj' to Esc? This seems to be a somewhat common mapping from what I've seen looking at others' vimrc.

Re: Ask HN: No mechanical escape key in new Macbook Pros?

#10

Post by mattnedrich »

busterarm wrote: post #7
serge2k wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> OLED row makes me excited Can't imagine why. It sounds incredibly dumb. Probably have to live with it since no one else seems to be able to make a really high quality laptop. sigh.

> Probably have to live with it since no one else seems to be able to make a really high quality laptop. sigh. My solution to this has grown more and more to be "do everything on a remote box via SSH" and then it doesn't matter what laptop I use. I am a heavy Vim user, so this is easy!

The MBP is nice b/c of the retina screen. Most laptops have crappy screens. In fact, I would go as far as saying that the MBP has the best screen by a decent margin.
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