MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy • Hacker News Board

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#301

Post by DaiPlusPlus » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 5:55 AM UTC

ztjio wrote: post #219

pkamb wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the should-be-targeted market just wants a $1500 retina display.

LG sells a perfectly good one for $1299 that Apple also sells in their stores. They are very good displays.

I find their asymmetry to be ugly and visually distracting: there's no excuse for the "chin" on the top of the monitor - I'm surprised Apple OK'd the design at all - and just-as-surprised that they didn't equal-out the bottom bezel of the display in the new 2019 revision just to make it seem balanced.

Also, the fact it's a single-input monitor without HDMI input is a deal-killer for me: multiple-input monitors are fantastic when you have multiple machines on your desk and alternate between them based on the current job (e.g. laptop in docking station, Mac Mini for Safari + iOS testing, main desktop, dangling HDMI cable for connecting to tablets and phones).

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#302

Post by atarian » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 5:59 AM UTC

I recently upgraded from a 2015 MBP to the latest 2019 MBP, and I actually think it surpasses the older model in almost every way. So far I haven't experienced any of the keyboard issues that people have been reporting, although I'm aware that this model has a membrane that was put in to prevent those issues. My only gripe is the need to have a dongle to connect HDMI and USB 2.0, but I still wouldn't go back to the 2015 over it.

On a side note, I bought a new iPhone SE to see how it compared to the iPhone XS because HN raves about the SE so much. It was pretty underwhelming and there was just absolutely no way I could justify replacing the XS with it.

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#303

Post by throwaway_391 » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 6:00 AM UTC

ryanbigg wrote: post #15

throwaway_391 wrote: post #3

> For the most part, it sits on one of two desks that I use or it sits on my lap on the train. If this is the case, do yourself a favor and go and buy two ergonomic screens, keyboards and mice - one for each location. It'll save you becoming a hunched over laptop gremlin.

I already have a mechanical keyboard for one of the two desks, and in the new year I'll only have _one_ desk, so I'll move that keyboard over to there. I don't mind the trackpad, but I've considered getting one of those vertical mice.

Do you use an external monitor? That's the most important part of the setup, IMO.

I said two monitors but what I mean is one for each location - many people I know seem to prefer two but I think it's an antipattern (move your head, instead of alt+tab or similar)

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#304

Post by QuixoticQuibit » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 6:01 AM UTC

archeantus wrote: post #237

I think Jony was shown the door over this debacle, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Phil is next. When is the last time you’ve seen Phil on stage at an event? He’s the one who introduced these keyboards and praised them up and down, he’s probably going to take the fall for them as well. I have money burning a hole in my pocket right now to buy a MBP but I can’t do it. It is literally a defective product. Shame on Apple…

Why would their head of WW Marketing go down for this? This would be the fault of whoever was in charge of the keyboard design and its multiple failing iterations. So presumably the head of Mac HW.

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#305

Post by F-0X » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 6:01 AM UTC

zhte415 wrote: post #273

akkartik wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cut us some slack, we're all spending _all_ our time on shit keyboards.

Still using a 2011 ThinkPad precisely because of the keyboard.

Me too. The laptop is an inch thick, and _I love it_.

We need a revival of bauhaus design - no distinction between form and function. If it falls short at its function, it fails as a form, and should not be accepted.

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#306

Post by monkeyshelli » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 6:04 AM UTC

tlobes wrote: post #296

I'm stuck with a $4000 brick I cannot use without frustration. Given that I'm still paying it off, this really hurts motivation. Another issue that seems to be overlooked is the overly big force touchpad that, in combination with the awful keyboard, will not correctly reject my palms while I type, causing the cursor to move elsewhere, oftentimes causing unintended button clicks, premature email sends, page transition…

I feel you. I have the 15" mb pro at work and the only place I can use it is at my desk (with external trackpad+keyboard). The massive touchpad is driving me crazy to a point I don't want to even carry the damn thing around.

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#307

Post by nottorp » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 6:06 AM UTC

ssijak wrote: post #276

__MatrixMan__ wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are four of us at work that use Linux--the other 30 or so all have MacBooks. There are no converts, either you started a Linux person, or you started a Mac person. My little Linux enclave has some theories about the cognitive effect of all the polish that you find on Apple products, but we can't separate our biasses from good science, especially because there's nobody to ask that knows both worlds. So I have a…

I switched to apple ecosystem because I wanted the UX that just works reliably. MacOS is for me linux with ultrapolished DE. Bonus is that I can work on iOS apps and use Apple Photos which is way better for me than Google Photos. I used Arch Linux for many years before MacOS. I also switched to iPhone from Android. Wanted a phone that works in the same ecosystem (photos...) and is fast, reliable and does not change u…

I switched from Linux to Mac OS as well. First someone paid me to do a low level Mac app, so I bought a macbook white and found out how Mac OS works.

Then one day I was working on my main Linux desktop and something was distracting me. After a while I realized that the "system tray" (or whatever KDE calls it) icons were all removed and readded one by one regularly, instead of just being updated in place. The on screen movement was significant enough to steal my attention from the IDE.

I looked up how to build a hackintosh desktop and sadly I've never looked back. I might even replace the hackintosh with a Mac Pro in the next 1-2 years, now that they actually have a Mac Pro again.

UX wise, Mac OS is the least annoying operating system available now. Same goes for iOS on phones. It's bad because there's no competition, but that's it.

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#308

Post by lenkite » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 6:06 AM UTC

reb wrote: post #78

timfrietas wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really wish this was the top comment. I feel like HN is turning a little too much into an echo chamber dunk fest sometimes.

Also, just to throw another opinion into this dumpster fire: I had to get a new laptop, knew I was getting a 2019 MBP, and was terrified the keyboard experience would be horrendous due to the coverage I see on the topic here. And it isn't at all. It feels different than my 2015 model, but... definitely not worse. I may even be just slightly better because it's noticeably quieter. Just one perspective, but yeah. The k…

The 2019 model is better than 2018. They fixed several keyboard issues. (duplicate keys, jamming, etc).

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#309

Post by anechoe » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 6:07 AM UTC

atarian wrote: post #302

I recently upgraded from a 2015 MBP to the latest 2019 MBP, and I actually think it surpasses the older model in almost every way. So far I haven't experienced any of the keyboard issues that people have been reporting, although I'm aware that this model has a membrane that was put in to prevent those issues. My only gripe is the need to have a dongle to connect HDMI and USB 2.0, but I still wouldn't go back to the 2…

I love my SE but you really need to be OK with worse battery performance than normal and a bit slower of a phone. I don't think anyone should say it's strictly better than a phone released in the last two years ... but all of these things are preference-based decisions.

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#310

Post by nottorp » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 6:08 AM UTC

ssijak wrote: post #276

__MatrixMan__ wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are four of us at work that use Linux--the other 30 or so all have MacBooks. There are no converts, either you started a Linux person, or you started a Mac person. My little Linux enclave has some theories about the cognitive effect of all the polish that you find on Apple products, but we can't separate our biasses from good science, especially because there's nobody to ask that knows both worlds. So I have a…

I switched to apple ecosystem because I wanted the UX that just works reliably. MacOS is for me linux with ultrapolished DE. Bonus is that I can work on iOS apps and use Apple Photos which is way better for me than Google Photos. I used Arch Linux for many years before MacOS. I also switched to iPhone from Android. Wanted a phone that works in the same ecosystem (photos...) and is fast, reliable and does not change u…

However, the keyboard everyone is complaining about IS complete and utter shit if you use the laptop outside a clean room environment.

I've been using my last 3 Apple laptops on the same balcony, and only the 2018 mbpro has keyboard problems. The older ones, including the 10 year old mb white, work just fine(tm) still.