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Ask HN: Does anyone know if Apple plans to address the MacBook keyboard issue?

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Re: Ask HN: Does anyone know if Apple plans to address the MacBook keyboard issue?

#21

Post by protomyth »

Clubber wrote: post #6
lkurusa wrote: post #2

Actually, the current version is v3, found on 2017 MBPs. v2 appeared on 2016 MBPs, and v1 on the first 12" MacBook. I have the v2 version, and this is my third top case, if it were not for consumer laws here, I would have moved to another laptop. As far as I'm aware there are no plans to address them, we have to wait until the next Apple event to hear more, hopefully.

I currently have a 2017 MacBook Pro and the keyboard isn't giving me much trouble. Sometimes something will get in the key mechanism, but blowing into the gap between the key and the case fixes it. After using it, my wife's 2013 MacBook Pro feels really spongy (a keyboard I loved).

Same model with compressed air and an Apple Store visit not fixing the issue. I am waiting a bit to send it in since there is no real fix and I have an external keyboard at work (with an LG monitor) so it stays closed all day anyway.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone know if Apple plans to address the MacBook keyboard issue?

#22

Post by jessep »

amarka wrote: post #15
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #7

My guess is the touch bar along with haptic feedback is going to replace the whole keyboard.

My guess is that your joking, if not then you must be one of the few touchbar fans ("there are dozen's of us...dozens!").

I hate the touchbar, but love touchid on my laptop

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone know if Apple plans to address the MacBook keyboard issue?

#23

Post by lkurusa »

ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #18
lkurusa wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was thinking of either the Lenovo X1 Carbon, or the Dell XPS 13. They seem robust, lightweight and run Linux.

Would you get the Developer Edition on the XPS 13? Does anyone know why there isn't a Developer Edition on the 15 inch XPS?

I haven't looked too much into the differences, but I suspect DE since it seems to support Linux better.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone know if Apple plans to address the MacBook keyboard issue?

#24

Post by beat »

xenophonf wrote: post #12
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #7

My guess is the touch bar along with haptic feedback is going to replace the whole keyboard.

I can't tell if you're joking, but I've long wondered about keyboards transmuting into touch pads of some kind. Haptic feedback is only part of it, though. I really depend on affordances like the nubs on the F and J keys or the valleys between keys to orient my hands above the keyboard properly without constantly having to look at them. The lack of such affordances on your average on-screen keyboard make high-speed t…

I don't know about formal research, but there's definitely a track history of membrane keyboards and other such "advances" that kill the physical feedback becoming miserable market failures. Given Apple's usual attention to detail about the importance of such tactile feedback, I can't imagine them going to a system that rejects it. Moreover, we're not seeing non-Apple PC vendors moving in that direction too, even though it's hardly expensive or technically difficult these days.

To the extend that tactile feedback is important for efficient typing, I imagine keyboard design for laptops is a tradeoff between good feel, durability, and making the mechanism as lightweight and shallow as possible. I'm typing this on a recent-model Thinkpad, and the key throw is about 2mm, substantially less than a high-feedback clicky-key type keyboard.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone know if Apple plans to address the MacBook keyboard issue?

#25

Post by fusiongyro »

ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #18
lkurusa wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was thinking of either the Lenovo X1 Carbon, or the Dell XPS 13. They seem robust, lightweight and run Linux.

Would you get the Developer Edition on the XPS 13? Does anyone know why there isn't a Developer Edition on the 15 inch XPS?

The Precision 5520 is exactly what a Developer Edition XPS 15 would be, and you can get it with Linux preloaded. I did, and I'm very satisfied with it.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone know if Apple plans to address the MacBook keyboard issue?

#26

Post by txcwpalpha »

greglindahl wrote: post #10

I have the 12" MacBook, so it's the v1 keyboard, and after I got used to it, I was OK with it.

I'm not exactly sure which "issues" the OP is talking about, but one of the biggest issues isn't just "getting used to" the new keyboard, but the fact that the new keyboard breaks so easily and then costs so much to replace. At that point it doesn't matter how much you like the new style of keyboard, because if your S key is broken, the keyboard is practically unusable.

I have a v2 butterfly keyboard and I actually do prefer the tactile feel over older MacBooks, but the fact that a single piece of hair/dust has broken my keyboard is really unacceptable and something I definitely would like to see addressed.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone know if Apple plans to address the MacBook keyboard issue?

#27

Post by nine_k »

zaroth wrote: post #16

Well when the internals don’t provide meaningful productivity differentiation for 90% of users for the last about 6-8 years now, and the MacBook Air design circa 2012 is virtually indestructible, how else are they going to get their users to upgrade machines every 2-3 years if not for shitty keyboard redesigns?

The glued-in battery (not endemic to Apple) genuinely wears down and forces people to upgrade. Not in 2-3 years, though.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone know if Apple plans to address the MacBook keyboard issue?

#28

Post by randlet »

rodwyer wrote: post #11

I got sick of it myself and switched to a Lenovo X1 Carbon. Comparison here: http://blog.richard.do/index.php/2018/05/2018-macbook-pro-vs...

I moved to an X1 Carbon (running Ubuntu) from a MBP too. Very happy with it. Keyboard and trackpad are both great.
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