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My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

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Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#281

Post by dahcryn »

MostlyStable wrote: post #42

>Here’s hoping governments regulate laptop manufacturers to actually make repairable machines in the future. No, this is a bad solution. If you want a repairable machine, buy one. They exist. Others have already mentioned Framework, but there are other options that aren't that far down the spectrum either. One of the things macbook users praise the most is "build quality", which often means the solidity of the device…

also, let's not conflate easy to repair with cheap to repair.

The macbook is quite easy to repair, it's just insanely expensive because they made the choice that, for user experience, they attach the keyboard to the machines body.

You can have ease of repair and build quality, but then you give up portability I guess (bulky and heavy). And also cost goes up

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#282

Post by aurareturn »

0xbadcafebee wrote: post #68

This is like complaining that BMW maintenance is expensive.

No this isn't even like that. Frameworks are 2x the price of a Macbook without the performance, battery life, build quality, screen quality, touch pad, speakers, etc.

If Apple is the BMW here, what is Framework? It's definitely not a Toyota.

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#283

Post by nandomrumber »

MostlyStable wrote: post #42

>Here’s hoping governments regulate laptop manufacturers to actually make repairable machines in the future. No, this is a bad solution. If you want a repairable machine, buy one. They exist. Others have already mentioned Framework, but there are other options that aren't that far down the spectrum either. One of the things macbook users praise the most is "build quality", which often means the solidity of the device…

No.

You are wrong.

There are Apple laptops, and other devices, that were relatively easy to service and were lauded for their build quality.

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#284

Post by wolvoleo »

catlikesshrimp wrote: post #264
wolvoleo wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even here in Europe, most of Southern Europe was a bunch of Dictatorships up into the late 70s! Spain, Portugal, Greece... Not to mention Eastern Europe until the wall fell. All dictatorships in different forms. So yeah we've had our share as well. The problem with the EU is that it seems to be becoming more susceptible to industry lobbying. As of late they are reducing environmental laws (the banning of ICE cars), w…

I hope you don't live to see the return of dictatorships in Europe. And I don't mean Hungary. https://jacobin.com/2025/05/ve-day-wwii-fascism-liberalism There's a storm coming.

I know :'(

In my origin country too unfortunately. But not where I live.

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#285

Post by nandomrumber »

egeozcan wrote: post #214
hnfong wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s time to accept regulation actually does work when you have a competent government. Given that it's the EU making those regulations, it looks like the government only has to be semi-competent. Maybe the only requirement is that they're not totally in bed with the big corps making money.

> Given that it's the EU making those regulations, it looks like the government only has to be semi-competent Context: I'm not a EU-native, I've migrated to here. It disturbs me a lot when people keep repeating the "incompetent government" narrative when it comes to the EU, but when you compare it to the dictatorship that I escaped from, they still seem way more competent, surprising when the big advantage of a dicta…

You’re worried about the Right-ists.

When it has been the Left that has largely governed Europe for the previous few decades to bring it to the point where it is now where the economics and defence capabilities of nations that once ruled the world are now laughing stock on the global stage.

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#286

Post by streetfighter64 »

999900000999 wrote: post #266
streetfighter64 wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not everything you personally dislike needs to be illegal. I'm having a hard time seeing why making stuff more difficult to repair just so that people are incentivized to throw it away and buy a new one, should not be illegal. If not for the anti-customer attitude, at least for the amount of waste and environmental destruction it results in.

Half the responses in this thread are from people who replaced the keyboard for about 50$ or so. Even then, if I want a new ultra thin device that doesn’t have replaceable storage or user input devices, that’s my right to buy. Who is going to magically determine what replaceable means ? From the post it looks like OP tried to fix it incorrectly. Does apple owe op a new laptop even if they damaged it ?

Well yeah, you can probably fix it for pretty cheap if you've just got some know-how. But why do Apple need to make it more difficult to fix for no reason? Riveting the keyboard to the frame doesn't make the device "thinner", and as proved by people being able to fix it without rivets, doesn't even really serve a purpose. Your last sentence is a total non-sequitur; as far as I can tell it does not relate to anything I've said.

Why are you so adamant about protecting your "right" to buy a worse product?

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#287

Post by cpt_sobel »

nottorp wrote: post #280
cpt_sobel wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The problem that fucks us over is that Mac OS only has to be better than the competition. I'm with you here, but I'm having a _much_ better time on my Linux machines (KDE and Cinnamon Mint) than on my (unbelievably-powerful-but-for-what) M4 Max MBP. It's so much cleaner, even without having upgraded to Tahoe, and imagine that I don't even like tinkering that much, it just works.

I was using KDE when I switched to Mac OS from Linux as my main desktop (2013 ish). Must admit I've only looked at the default desktop in Ubuntu in the past years, and that's ... disappointing. Maybe I should look at how KDE is these days, but it's a second class citizen in most major distros isn't it? Except in this Mint i've never tried. I also have this fetish for cool and quiet. Can I run KDE on a box that idles…

> Except in this Mint i've never tried

Well, Cinammon is the windows manager for Mint, it's the barebones experience that's the closest to Windows (?) style, it's mostly what you see is what you get, but still very customizable.

KDE used to be extremely buggy 5-6 years ago and since testing it on my Steam Deck, from my experience, this is no longer the case. It's a bit more feature-rich and flashier than Cinnamon.

> Can I run KDE on a box that idles at 10 W and never turns the fan audibly on?

No laptop I'm aware of will do this, no idea about ARM adoption.

Personally I'm glad to have a windows manager that doesn't force dumb decisions down my throat. On MacOS I have to wait for half a second for the focus to land on the next window when I switch desktops, the only workaround exists as a minor feature recently introduced to BetterSwitchTool called instant desktop switching or something. And it's to be mentioned ofcourse that for all similar fixes you _must_ give full screen recording and accessibility permissions to 3rd party software. And don't get me started on the stupid windows management (maximize != full-screen, minimized windows not recoverable with keyboard only etc)

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#288

Post by nandomrumber »

catlikesshrimp wrote: post #264
wolvoleo wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even here in Europe, most of Southern Europe was a bunch of Dictatorships up into the late 70s! Spain, Portugal, Greece... Not to mention Eastern Europe until the wall fell. All dictatorships in different forms. So yeah we've had our share as well. The problem with the EU is that it seems to be becoming more susceptible to industry lobbying. As of late they are reducing environmental laws (the banning of ICE cars), w…

I hope you don't live to see the return of dictatorships in Europe. And I don't mean Hungary. https://jacobin.com/2025/05/ve-day-wwii-fascism-liberalism There's a storm coming.

[dead]

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#289

Post by streetfighter64 »

rglynn wrote: post #253
streetfighter64 wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not everything you personally dislike needs to be illegal. I'm having a hard time seeing why making stuff more difficult to repair just so that people are incentivized to throw it away and buy a new one, should not be illegal. If not for the anti-customer attitude, at least for the amount of waste and environmental destruction it results in.

I guess you can make the argument that legislating repairability will raise the price floor for devices because it increases the cost to the manufacturer. This isn't a problem for most of us in tech, but affordability can be an issue for many.

Making devices un-fixable often costs more than just building them in the most straightforward way. In either case, I don't think a few dollars more or less in manufacturing costs will impact the consumer prices in any way. Let's not pretend that Apple (or other computer / phone companies) has thin margins.

Re: My MacBook keyboard is broken and it's insanely expensive to fix

#290

Post by Halian »

avidiax wrote: post #166
BoorishBears wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a great example of their point, all I got was a mechanically inferior connector (putting the most important piece of the female connector on a floating sliver of plastic was a choice) and the cable hell attached to USB C. If USB C had been so important to me I wouldn't have bought iPhones all those years.

You also got a connector that supports much more than USB 2.0 speeds. It also supports high power charging, video, thunderbolt, etc. Lightning was a dead-end connector that was only kept around to keep the Made-for-iPhone moat drawbridge up. USB-C makes the right design choice in putting the springs in the cable. Those wear out over time. I've never seen the male part of the female USB-C break, but I'm sure it's poss…

Would that USB 2.0 Type-C were somehow outlawed, or even better that every device that used Type-C supported everything it can do.
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