“As someone who has been living with a 2016 13-inch MacBook Pro keyboard for a couple of years, I was very intrigued to try the new keyboards on the 2018 MacBook Pros,” Mark Spoonauer writes for LAPTOP Magazine. “Spoiler alert: they’re not very different.”
“While this third-generation keyboard offers the same butterfly mechanism as before, Apple worked to provide a quieter typing experience,” Spoonauer writes. “That’s nice, but noise was at the bottom of the list of issues I was hoping Apple would address.”
“I want to be clear here. The new MacBook Pro keyboards aren’t bad; they’re just still flat and an acquired taste,” Spoonauer writes. “If you were waiting to upgrade to a new MacBook in the hope that Apple had overhauled its keyboards, the new MacBook Pros probably won’t make you happy. But I will be putting the 13-inch MacBook Pro through its paces over the course of several days to see if I make [fewer] errors.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: On their “Keyboard Service Program for MacBook and MacBook Pro” page, Apple claims that only a small percentage of the keyboards in certain MacBook and MacBook Pro models may exhibit one or more of the following behaviors:
• Letters or characters repeat unexpectedly
• Letters or characters do not appear
• Key(s) feel “sticky” or do not respond in a consistent mannerApple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider will service eligible MacBook and MacBook Pro keyboards, free of charge. The type of service will be determined after the keyboard is examined and may involve the replacement of one or more keys or the whole keyboard.
Eligible Models
• MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015)
• MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2016)
• MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, 2017)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
• MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)
• MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017)Note: No other Mac notebook models are part of this program.
SEE ALSO:
Apple says new MacBook Pro keyboard won’t fix sticky key issue – July 12, 2018
The 5 biggest changes in Apple’s new MacBook Pro – July 12, 2018
With Apple’s leap to 8th-generation Intel processors, the MacBook Pro just got a whole lot faster – July 12, 2018
Apple begins exclusively selling ‘Blackmagic eGPU’ for $699 alongside new MacBook Pros – July 12, 2018
Apple’s new 2018 MacBook Pro models now available with revised butterfly keyboards, much faster performance possible – July 12, 2018
MacBook Pro (2018): First look, listen, and feel! – July 12, 2018
What power users say about Apple’s new 2018 MacBook Pros – July 12, 2018
Apple unveils new MacBook Pro models with faster performance and new features for pros – July 12, 2018
a “tricked out” MacBook Pro with 32gb and 4tb ssd costs $6700 and it would suck if you couldn’t replace that s with a f because the “keyboard was sticky”.
At the very least, this is bad PR. Quieter is good, but keyboards should be the Best there is. Biggest story regarding these newer models is that the keyboard “hasn’t been improved.”
Right. Pipeline doesnt give a rat’s ass about quality and so the new narrative of this MacBook Pro’s is that the keyboard still sucks.
Apple customers are asked to pay a huge premium for extremely substandard hardware. That’s the legacy of Pipeline. That’s what happens when you have a bean counter like Pipeline as CEO. Innovation suffers because of Pipeline.
Key click noise was at the TOP of my list why I didn’t want the new MBPs (next, of course, is the expense of the laptop and all the hubs/dongles I will need to buy to use it at home, work and on the plane). I’m glad to hear they fixed that! Can’t wait to try it out…
If you think this is silly (that key click noise is important to me), I spend a LOT of time typing and I don’t like noisy keyboards…
Apple product released with a known flaw?
I can’t think of any such product since being an Apple user (3 decades). Maybe it’s a behind the back, wink-wink, AppleCare “promotion.” It’s quieter, until it fails….
It would seem that nobody in Cupertino knows how to type anymore.
I guess Apple expects users to just toss in a Matias keyboard into
the dongle/adapter backpack that MacBook devotees carry these days.
Come on! No. I want auditory indicators, don’t you? That’s why I went retro, buying a handsome, auditory, white 109 key Apple keyboard.
Did Apple learn nothing from the battery software “scandal” about customer perception?