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Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

9to5mac.com

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Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#591

Post by colomon »

photojosh wrote: post #574
ksec wrote: post #463

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, not really 90%. The trackpad is too big and introduce false positive that to some user is above threshold. I don't need such a large track pad for christ sake. The Display cable, while Apple making is 1cm longer, will only make it last a year or two more. That is 3 - 4 years of Display Lifespan. I hardly call this durable. The Thunderbolt and USB-C design is a bag of hurt, the amount of short circuit , logic bo…

I've not had a laptop with Touch Bar, but I can imagine making the trackpad smaller, then having the Touch Bar and the F-keys would be amazing. What do you think?

IMO the Touch Bar is pretty useless for serious work. The thing is, you have to look at the Touch Bar to use it! I don't know how you type, but I never look at the keyboard when I'm typing. Plus where I rest my hands on the machine, they tend to touch the Touch Bar, and you can't feel when you are actually touching it and mucking things up.

(Disclaimer: I have a MBP with Touch Bar, but I do 95% of my interacting with it with an external keyboard and mouse because I hate the keyboard / Touch Bar so much.)

Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#592

Post by gwilkes »

ycombonator wrote: post #531
iamben wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm still using my MBA from mid 2013. It's a wonderful thing. Battery is "replace soon" but it's mostly plugged in. It's battered and bruised, but still fast enough. I've been debating a change for a while and figured at the start of the year I'd wait to see if they were going to ditch the bf keyboard if they release a new MBA. Super glad I waited, fingers crossed I get the same life out of the next one! Say what you…

I am in a similar situation as you. Have a Mid 2012 MBA. Works fantastic. Also Catalina beta seems to have sped the system performance immensely. Always plugged in because of the battery.

Recently replaced my 2012 MBA battery, the batteries are quite cheap and the replacement is surprisingly quick and easy on this model. About a five minute job, you can buy the battery with the needed tools here: https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Mac/MacBook-Air-13-Inch-Late-20...

Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#593

Post by alfonsodev »

spraak wrote: post #590
GordonS wrote: post #580

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also have the first (13") MBP model to ship with a touchbar, which is also the only Mac I've ever had. TBH, I think it's put me off Macs for life. While I haven't had a hardware failure, the keyboard is simply horrible - there isn't nearly enough key travel or feedback, and swapping useful physical keys for a useless touchpad is completely pointless - I have a cheap 13" netbook kicking around which has a far superi…

I made a custom plate that sits over the default keyboard and I put my own better keyboard on top. I've been kinda curious if anyone else would buy one if I produced them for a nominal fee.

do you have pictures to see how it looks? I'm not sure exactly what you mean, why do you need the plate? for extra stability ?

I've seen a colleague carrying a wireless keyboard with the macbook >2016, and putting it on top of the macbook directly, no plate.

Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#594

Post by gothroach »

alashow wrote: post #452
jonplackett wrote: post #445

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Guaranteed anyone who doesn’t mind just doesn’t need to use escape very much. The problem with touchbar is it’s hard to use without looking at it - like most professionals do because it’s just muscle memory. Give me a real escape and I won’t mind the rest being a touch Bar. But I hope they make it like gaming keyboards that have real keys with tiny lcd displays on so you can customise the function but still have a re…

You can map your Caps Lock key to Esc.

Am I the only one who actually uses the caps lock daily in this era? I see people remapping it all the time, and wonder.

Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#595

Post by girvo »

irq wrote: post #541
tga wrote: post #538

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"With OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 and later, most SST 4K (3840 x 2160) displays are supported at 60Hz on these Mac computers: MacBook Air (Early 2015) and later MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) and later MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) and later" https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206587 Earlier years will only do 30Hz, which is fully usable for development/office work.

Anecdote: I find 30 Hz to be totally unusable for development/office work. The jerky movement of the mouse cursor, jerky scrolling, etc, is all painful to my eyes. So, I think very much, YMMV, but 60 Hz is safe.

Agreed, so much so that I gave up on 4K, scaled it to 1440p just to get 60hz on my (now-dead) 2013 rMBP with my external monitor.

Recently bought a second-hand perfect condition 2016 MBP with function-keys, and it's been brilliant so far, and I get proper 4K :)

Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#596

Post by twodave »

dewey wrote: post #19
kenneth wrote: post #17

Once I got used to the new keyboards, I actually far prefer them. Ditto with the TouchBar. Yeah, I'm a heretic I suppose. Keyboard: pleasant clicky-ness and little movement required. Thin AF. TouchBar: customized with BetterTouchTools to be a hybrid of my most often-used shortcuts (expand menu, alfred, fantastical, window management, and 1password on the left, notification center and lock screen on the right) and mus…

The problem that most people have is not with how it feels, it's how unreliable it is with buttons failing or missing keystrokes. Sometimes only caused by a spec of dust. Getting used to the feeling of the flatter keyboard isn't really an issue for most people.

I haven’t had a failure yet and I hate HATE the butterfly switches. I thought the old scissor switches were subpar and prefer a mechanical keyboard, though, so obviously thin and non-tactile are akin to profanity in my world...

Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#597

Post by hayksaakian »

rev12 wrote: post #121

It seems like there are two camps of people: Those who are very pleased to hear they will be backpedaling on their updated keyboard designs. Those who "don't understand" because they actually like the new keyboards (and the TouchBar even). No matter where you stand, the new keyboards are highly controversial and divisive, and that's not good. The old keyboards didn't put people into opposing sides, they just were the…

I like the new keyboard... for the first 2 years I owned my macbbook.

But as soon as it started failing and i needed to get keys replaced it became a nuisance.

The old keyboard had much better reliability

Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#598

Post by keldaris »

JadeNB wrote: post #494
keldaris wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't want a sexy svelte fragile expensive luxury status symbol. I want a rugged capital good that will reliably allow me to work for the next half-decade. Then why are you looking at Apple products at all? You're looking for a ThinkPad or an EliteBook. Fragile expensive luxury status symbols are exactly what Apple makes and always has ever since Jobs. Now they're just more blatant about it.

> You're looking for a ThinkPad or an EliteBook. I've seen such recommendations before, so my first non-Mac purchase in a decade (~2014) was a ThinkPad. I used to love the nub in the '90s, and I got used to it again, but otherwise the keyboard was horrible, and I eventually had to replace it. (A big plus: it was really easy to do.) Right out of the box I had a dead pixel on the screen, and, when I told customer suppo…

Yup, non-corporate customer support is terrible. The bright side is, everything is easily replaceable (or at least used to be until very recently) and if you don't want to do it yourself, chances are you can find a cheap third party tech to replace any screen, keyboard, etc.

Also, for what it's worth, in over a decade of using and recommending ThinkPads, I've never encountered a bad keyboard before. Dead pixels are fairly common, though.

Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#599

Post by [deleted] »

GordonS wrote: post #580
Perceptes wrote: post #71

I desperately hope this is true. I have the first MacBook Pro that came with the Touch Bar, and it's the worst computer I've ever owned. The keyboard has failed twice, and the Touch Bar is inferior to the old hardware keys in every way. I hate it. The only reason I got it is because the MacBook Air it replaced was dying and I couldn't wait any more. Assuming this report is true, my only remaining worry is that they w…

I also have the first (13") MBP model to ship with a touchbar, which is also the only Mac I've ever had. TBH, I think it's put me off Macs for life. While I haven't had a hardware failure, the keyboard is simply horrible - there isn't nearly enough key travel or feedback, and swapping useful physical keys for a useless touchpad is completely pointless - I have a cheap 13" netbook kicking around which has a far superi…

[deleted]

Re: Kuo: Apple to include new scissor switch keyboard in MacBook

#600

Post by colomon »

Octoth0rpe wrote: post #150
robertAngst wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> MacBooks are the best laptops in many respects I've never heard this before. I thought some people needed their proprietary software that could only be run on Apple products, and that is what forces someone to buy a Macbook. What are they best in class for? EDIT: Thank you for the serious responses

> What are they best in class for? Best overall balance between performance/weight/battery life. Best trackpad, hands down, no caveats, no balancing against other concerns. It's just that good. Best integration with other devices (iphone, watch, etc). Making calls/sending text messages from a laptop is something I'm unwilling to give up at this point. And most importantly, it's _by far_ the best support for a commerc…

The older (say 2008-2015) trackpad is best -- a dream to use. The newer one is too big, alas. It's shocking how often I accidentally press it when I'm just trying to rest my palms on my laptop.

(But yes, the unix-like OS that doesn't require a lot of fiddling about and has nice GUI is the big thing for me, too.)

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