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MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

ryanbigg.com

381–390 of 586 posts

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#381

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I liked my 2019 MBP keyboard too. Until one week I noticed it kept repeating e's and n's. And then I learnt its not fixable unless you are prepared to go without a machine for 3 to 14 days. And then I learnt from Rossman Youtube that your machine might never be the same again after Apple's "genius"'s get their hands on. Honestly, I thought it was all a fuss about nothing. But it isn't. BTW my machine is 6 months old.…

Had the same with my work MBP. Started about 6 weeks into using it, went to the Apple Store and got told it would take at least 14 days. Asked them for an exchange device so I could keep working and they almost laughed at me.

I bought mine on an American Express credit card which, in the UK, has what's known as "Section 75" protection. This alone means I can return it for a full refund since it is a defective product within the warranty period with documented design flaws. If Apple refuse to issue the refund, then Amex will do it for them. Obviously it will need persistence and a bit of a fight - but the law is 100% on my side.

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#382
post #287

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Its never this simple. I switched from 2016 macbook pro to dell xps 13 running linux. I spent 2 weeks tinkering. Trackpad never worked half as good as MBP. The simple act of closing the display lid did not even put the computer to sleep reliably. I went back and paid the Apple tax. Edit: BTW, Windows was running OK on that machine. Linux was fucked. I guess Microsoft is doing great work on WSL2. It might be the solut…

I've used this exact setup without problems since 2016 now. I had to upgrade Dell's EFI BIOS, upgrade kernels (b/c Skylake), and upgrade to Ubuntu 16.04 once it came out. I remember a very early trackpad driver having serious problems with keeping state, but that went away with a driver update within a week. Never got a problem with the lid; maybe check BIOS settings? It's true that the XPS's trackpad and Linux' powe…

I'm on an earlier model (9343 from 2015) and after the first ~6 months of "beta testing" it actually got quite good and reliable... ...until about a few months ago, when - I suspect due to a kernel upgrade to the 5.0 series - it started not suspending on closing the lid. Oh, and I can no longer run Powertop, because then it will not suspend at all.

This is so frustrating about using Linux - you get a random regression and then the only thing you can do is pray that someone will eventually fix it down the line.

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#383

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Dell XPS15 with Ubuntu has literally been my best developer environment ever. Unfortunately my current gig is all MBP and I feel completely handicapped, even after many months - to the point I have resorted to a "proper" mechanical keyboard.

I use a MBP at work and an XPS 13 at home and much prefer the latter - Ubuntu with a Plasma desktop makes for a crazy configurable UI.

Plasma (KDE) sucks at handling multiple displays. I had to learn this the hard way. It's OK if you only ever use the laptop screen.

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#384

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I browse my file system a lot with the keyboard by typing the first few letters in a file name, and if directories are sorted on the top, that means getting to a file starting with the letter "F" is way more difficult when there are also directories named with "F". It also makes things messy when you have related files and folder. E.g. how Firefox saves a website as a "page name.html" and a directory with the assets…

> At least in the Finder on the Mac you can turn your preferred behavior on Per directory. There’s still no way to set the desired view and sorting for the entire system. And DMGs will open with no toolbar and sidebar.

I don't mean just sorting a window by file type - Finder has a global "Keep folders on top when sorting by name" preference that applies to all windows.

AFAIK there is no way to get Windows to not sort folders on top.

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#385
post #353

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I refused to upgrade due to touch bar/esc key absence and the keyboard fiasco is a big no for now. I did hope for a major redesign this fall, but it seems I will have to wait much longer. Macbook Pro has been my companion since 2005 and I feel like Apple is doing everything they can to make me switch to Linux. My current, fully loaded 15 inch MB Pro from late 2013 started having serious battery issues and I hope it w…

you can change your battery, of course. Also, it is sometimes possible to buy refurbished 2015 models directly from Apple, which is what I intend to do if September models aren't a serious improvement over current offerings. Because, even with all current Apple semi-hate, nothing beats usability of OS X. And 2015 MBPs were (are) great.

> nothing beats usability of OS X

I used to share same opinion, but Windows 10 is surprisingly good nowadays, I didn't expect it to be so nice to use.

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#386
post #151

I don't know anyone who was a real TTY user who likes on touchbar. I don't know any EMACS user who likes on touchbar. If I do the join over these and anyone else I ask, I actually don't know anyone who likes on touchbar. I think Apple took a long standing market acceptance in the community I live in, and basically trashed it, for lipgloss. I expect to move to a Lenovo Carbon X1, with qualms.

I use escape all the time. It's useful for canceling a cmd-tab, and also canceling actions.

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#387
post #219
post #192

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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.

No, they are not. As an owner of LG OLED TV, I know it for sure.

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#388

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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.

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

I am using an Apple wireless keyboard (~2014? model, before they changed to thin keys) and I love it. I've used a load of keyboards in my time including some very good mechanical ones, and it's my favourite.

"Shit" is in a lot of ways subjective.

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#389

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I'm off the Apple train. I honestly don't trust them to make reliable hardware anymore. They've had three years to fix this mess but they have shown zero initiative or intention to do it. Apple has consistently shown that it cares more about form over function. No one needs their laptops to be any thinner than they already are. And no one needs the useless, expensive touchbar.

> Apple has consistently shown that it cares more about form over function. No one needs their laptops to be any thinner than they already are Well, this depends. Here's how a user put it: "I have to admit being a bit baffled by how nobody else seems to have done what Apple did with the Macbook Air - even several years after the first release, the other notebook vendors continue to push those ugly and clunky things.…

There are two types of laptop users - those wanting a portable machine, light, good enough for a short amount of ssh or vim and maybe a webpage or two

The other type are those looking for a luggable desktop, those who hotdesk but don’t really work on the go.

There’s then who want both, but that has proven to be a mugs game. No matter how much money you throw at it you end up with compromises on portability it power.

I for one stick with a 2015 era desktop and a 2013 11” MacBook air and don’t have problems.

Re: MacBook Pro Keyboard Drives Me Crazy

#390
post #78

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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…

I have a 2019 (I think) model and I really enjoy the typing experience.
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