Marques Brownlee reviews Apple’s new 2020 MacBook Air and, unsurprisingly, finds the new scissor-switch Magic Keyboard to be a huge improvement over Apple’s rather awful butterfly mechanism keyboards.
MacBook Air now features the new Magic Keyboard, first introduced on the 16-inch MacBook Pro. A redesigned scissor mechanism delivers 1mm of key travel for a comfortable and stable key feel, while the new inverted-“T” arrangement for the arrow keys makes them easier to find without looking down.
Marques Brownlee review Apple’s 2020 MacBook Air via YouTube:
The new Magic Keyboard. This was the big change we were all waiting for – getting rid of the butterfly switches and moving back to scissor switches which are more reliable, have more travel, feel better to type on; they’re just straight up better in every way… it’s miles better to type on. I’ve been using the 16-inch MacBook Pro a lot over the last few weeks because of the new keyboard and it’s been excellent.
MacDailyNews Take: So, with the prior TechCrunch review and this one from Marques Brownlee, you get the idea: The MacBook Air is a seminal design and it’s pretty close to perfect for what it’s designed to be, but it’s now a huge step up as Apple has eliminated their self-inflicted wound of a keyboard and replaced it their utterly excellent Magic Keyboard which, as we’re typing this right now on one (via a 16-inch MacBook Pro), just works, elegantly and flawlessly!
Its about F&#king time.
Obviously. It’s a Mac. Thank christ it’s back.
PS. Fsck everyone at Apple who thought a paperthin keyboard was what anyone asked for back in 2016.
STOP BUYING C H I N A
Yes! Boycott Apples Chhhyyyyna products! And tell Ivanka to stop sourcing there too!
Rapturously impolite applause
While it might be a huge improvement over the butterfly keyboard, it is still a HUGE step backwards from previous keyboards (like the one on my 2012 MBP Retina). There are three components of a computer that interface directly to a human being: the screen, the pointing device, and the keyboard. The screen and pointing devices are excellent. Apple needs to restore excellence in the keyboard, as well. The scissors might be a step forward from the pits that was the butterfly, but they’ve still got a long way’s to go.
Sorry but this is a meaningless comment – read up on DaringFireball – the keyboard is getting rave reviews. This is the Mac Apple wanted to ship 5 years ago. Enjoy it.