
Appl Still Hasn’t Fixd Its MacBook Kyboad Problm - velmu
https://www.wsj.com/graphics/apple-still-hasnt-fixed-its-macbook-keyboard-problem/
======
areoform
Apple has lost that magic it had. It's no longer a special company where
people used to wait for hours at a time to buy a phone. Apple isn't that
company anymore, where someone with good taste used to make your choices for
you, and they somehow knew what you couldn't quite articulate.

There was an iPhone, an iPad, a MacBook Air, and a MacBook Pro. If you wanted
the experience of an Apple phone, you bought an iPhone. You didn't go around
asking if you should buy an Xr, Xs, or X, 9, 7, or iPhone googol. You went to
the store and bought an iPhone. The product categories were clear. The vision
behind them was clearer. Everything just made sense. And it worked too!

Apple doesn't make sense anymore.

I have a top of the line MacBook Pro 2016 that I can't type on. I am the
professional these machines are meant to target. My use case isn't "hardcore"
or "niche." It's that of most entrepreneurs, programmers, and designers. I
wanted a machine that I could carry around in my backpack with good-enough
battery life that could let me work from a coffee shop. Nothing fancy. Nothing
complicated. Just a machine that a woman can use at a coffee shop with her soy
latte.

What I got for my thousands of dollars is a machine that can't be used without
its cradle. The keyboard has stopped working correctly despite weekly
cleaning. I am worried that the screen will stop working too. And I don't have
the time to take my machine back to the store and get it replaced because I'm
so busy that I can't live without my computer.

Apple was supposed to be the company that made computers for people who do
stuff. Now, it's a dividend machine that happens to make crappy computers.

~~~
mike_ivanov
> professional these machines are meant to target

When you are next time in one of those coffee shops, I suggest you to look
around to spot people with latest macbooks. Then ask yourself what category of
users they belong to. And whether their primary use case is the same as yours.

~~~
areoform
It is. Doing emails, calls, documents, a little bit of programming, lots of
design stuff. Oh and very few of them like the newer machines. They're all
tired of how crappy they can be.

This has come up before when I criticize Apple's current product line. I think
it's an Apple-specific no true Scotsman fallacy. I buy their products. I own
an iPad.I will own an Apple Watch. I had an iPod. I've had three MacBooks.
I've used iMacs since I was a little girl. My school had the sunflower iMac
way back when and it was the best computer I had ever used.

I think I'm fairly representative of their userbase.

~~~
mike_ivanov

        > a little bit of programming, lots of design stuff. 
        > very few of them like the newer machines.
    

This is _exactly_ my point. I used to be a mac fan for many years. Now all it
is good for is hanging on Facebook, news websites and occasionally doing stuff
in Google Docs. Basically a stylish Chromebook equivalent. This is the pattern
I've been seeing for the last couple of years.

Serious design people seem to be moving to Windows, programmers - to the same
direction, sometimes to Linux.

~~~
c256
I see “serious design people” using non-laptop macs, and using iPads and/or
iPhones instead of laptops for portable devices. There are a few who use
Windows, but they are almost uniformly unhappy about it. The people I see who
are most happy with Windows are (still) mostly there for gaming.

------
themagician
Not a lot of people know this because most people will try to get the problem
fixed, but the problem will actually fix itself after enough time and use. The
problem with the keyboard design is actually two fold: particulate AND keys
slightly out of tolerances. You will notice that the problem almost always
gets worse when the computer gets warm. E, C, X, R and a lot of keys on the
left side of the keyboard seem to be the most troublesome when it gets warm.
The keys expand and start to actually "click" different. The sound is audibly
different. It actually drove me crazy when I first got it. It took almost a
year for all the keys to have the same tone, and the S key is still ever so
slightly softer than the rest.

I have a 2016 MBP and after about 3-6 months I started getting stuck and
repeating keys. I was going to take it to the Apple Store to get replaced, but
just sort of struggled through it for another 3 months or so as I missed
appointment after appointment because I was busy. The problem is now entirely
gone and all the keys click the same. I actually had this same thing happen
with another 2016 MBP. With enough use, the keys break in and no longer stick.

This is, obviously, a ridiculous solution—if you can even call it that. But an
aged keyboard is actually more reliable than a new one.

The fix for this wasn't just adding in a layer to keep the dust out, but
getting tighter tolerances on the butterfly mechanism itself and designed
around the expansion issue or using different/better materials.

~~~
n42
I have a 2017 MBBp. I am alternating space and letter press:

bb bb b b b b b b b bb b b b b b b b b b b b b

k k k k k k k k k k k k k k k kk kk kk kk kk k k k

b b b b b b b b bb bb b bb b b bb b b b b b b

k kk k kk kk kk kk kk k k kk kk k k kk kk kk kk k

this has been happening for more than six months. earlier in the laptop's life
time, I could get these problems to go away. now I cannot.

~~~
themagician
Spray the keys down with compressed air. You should notice a good amount of
stuff actually accumulates in there.

~~~
tigershark
I never, _ever_ , had to spray a laptop keyboard to make it work again in more
than 20 years...

~~~
themagician
Well, with this one you do.

~~~
slackfan
Sseems like horrible ddesign.

~~~
themagician
It iss.

------
no1youknowz
I honestly don't think they will ever fix it. Why should they? People keep
buying the product!

At this point, I'm on a 2012 MBPr and I keep on deferring to the next year and
waiting to see if it's resolved. They are pushing me ever year to say F-it and
build a hackintosh.

I'm holding out some hope for the new rumoured 16" to come back to the
original 2012-2015 design, but I know Apple is belligerent and will release an
even thinner design!

My dream spec would be:

\- the 2012-2015 chassis

\- improved 4k oled screen and bezel less design

\- arm processor which will do away with throttling and fans

\- no touchbar

\- 2012-2015 keyboard

\- 2012-2015 touchpad not the massive one in newer models

\- magsafe

I can wait a couple of years, but in 2021... Apple won't get my money anymore.

~~~
chronofar
Man I hope they don't listen to requests like these. I'm all for an improved
screen, arm processor w/ better thermals, better and more reliable keyboard,
but the design needs to move forward not backward. I can't imagine how anyone
can use a 2012-2015 macbook and think the chassis and keyboard should be
reverted to that in 2020. I mean it was great at the time, but would be
horribly outclassed today.

Despite various issues with the new mac design, it was a good step forward and
by most measures makes the previous generation feel old by comparison. Yes
maybe they're over-optimizing for lightness and thinness, but these are indeed
important aspects of a portable device and should not be ignored entirely.

They just need to correct the balance a bit more toward the middle, not go
back in time.

~~~
acdha
> I can't imagine how anyone can use a 2012-2015 macbook and think the chassis
> and keyboard should be reverted to that in 2020. I mean it was great at the
> time, but would be horribly outclassed today.

Can you explain in detail why you believe this to be true? Once they hit the
natural thickness limits of a keyboard device there really hasn't been any
meaningful change. I periodically interact with a range of them and the only
thing I can say for a certainty is that the older keyboards feel better and I
have to check the system profile to know what the rest of the hardware is
like.

~~~
chronofar
The 2016-2019 macbooks feel much more modern. They're lighter, thinner, the
touchpad is nicer, more uniform, and though the touch bar isn't terribly
useful it looks quite nice. It's overall just a much sleeker and more modern
machine.

I'm not a design expert by any means so I probably can't give as good of a
detailed account as others could, but I know when I use my 2015 macbook pro
after using my 2018, or after using an XPS or pixelbook, it feels much older
than 3 years.

~~~
acdha
The new touchpad and touchbar could also be used on a new design which allows
enough for a high-quality keyboard. I've never been struck by the weight or
size reductions but the low-end keyboard feel is constantly noticeable.

~~~
chronofar
> The new touchpad and touchbar could also be used on a new design which
> allows enough for a high-quality keyboard.

For sure, as noted I'm all for that. I don't think we need to move back to
2015 to accomplish that though.

~~~
acdha
I don't think anyone is saying there's _no_ room for improvement but I would
really like it if the requirement was that they fit a high-quality keyboard in
even if it meant being 10% thicker. My home laptop is still a 2010 MBA
because, even after almost a decade of heavy use, it still feels better than
the brand new keyboards — that's completely ridiculous.

~~~
chronofar
Well, unfortunately this will probably never be the case. I actually don't
mind the new keyboard at all. It's not my favorite, but I actually would
rather have the extra thinness than extra action, and believe it or not I
prefer it over the 2015 macbook keys (overall I mostly use desktop keyboard
though). And it seems the market is mostly in agreement.

High action keyboards will continue to be phased out by thinner devices and
more touch. Many will lament it, but I don't see moving back.

------
aspectmin
Been a Mac user since the very early fat Macs. Love Macs. Will miss iTerm.
Can’t stand the new keyboards, let alone their reliability issues, my fingers
feel like they are typing directly on a desk/concrete. Fingers hurt.

Went to Dell XPS 13. Awesome Machines. Run Linux great. Got given a Thinkpad
T407 and fell absolutely in love with the keyboard. It may not be perfect, but
comparing side by side with the MBP 2017 one, it’s so much better that I can’t
believe I put up with the MBP one.

~~~
skoskie
Shopping for a 2013 rMBP replacement now. Which of those two do you recommend?
Would love to run it as a hackintosh, if possible.

~~~
blinkingled
X1 Carbon if you don't need >16GB RAM. Otherwise P52 if you don't mind running
Windows or Linux with NVidia binary drivers - 3K USD gets you 6core i7, 4K
display, 32GB RAM 2x512GB NVME / 500GB spinning. That's without deals - which
there always are.

~~~
skoskie
Hell yes, that P52 sounds great! I only wish I could use AMD graphics so I
could run OSX for a while … just to help with the transition.

I moved to Mac in 2001 after frustration with Windows ME and then XP. Now, I’m
having frustration with multiple hardware generations on Mac, and it’s clearly
time to make a change. To say I’m in the walled garden is an understatement.

Getting out of the Apple ecosystem is going to take time , plenty of money,
patience, and I assume lot’s of sacrifice (I really don’t want to give up my
trackpad). I don’t even know where to start, but I suppose buying a new laptop
and finding a good distro (thinking Deepin) to put on it will be the best
starting point.

Edit: And then he saw the P1.

------
js2
Apple keyboard related tale, though not an Apple butterfly keyboard:

I had to call Apple support yesterday to register an AppleCare Protection Plan
agreement. The way this works is you first get routed to someone who takes
some notes about your case, then that person sends you to the correct
specialist.

Anyway, after waiting on hold a short while (Apple lets you choose your genre
of on-hold music or wait in silence... though normally they call you but for
some reason they kept getting my voice mail so I had to call them), the woman
who picked up starting asking me for information.

Thwack, thwack, thwack I hear as she’s typing, like fire crackers going off.
Eventually I couldn’t take it anymore so I said: “that is not an Apple
Keyboard you’re typing on!”

“Nope,” she said. “I spilled water on my Apple keyboard earlier today and it
stopped working, so I pulled out this old PC keyboard I had. But I hate it. I
texted my husband and asked him to go buy me a new Apple keyboard.” (It seemed
like she was working from home.)

So I told her some people really prefer those mechanical switch keyboards,
that they probably wouldn’t stop working from a bit of water, but maybe her
Apple keyboard would start working again when it dried out. “I hope so,” she
said, “Because I really prefer it for typing and my husband balked at the $100
cost of a new Apple keyboard.” (Obviously she meant an external Magic keyboard
and not a MacBook PoS keyboard.)

(Aside: I’d consider it a public service if the WSJ would make this article
available for free. I love the toggle switches! I was unable to make an
outline.com link but I could read it by following the link from a Google
search in an incognito window.)

~~~
culturestate
> It seemed like she was working from home

Significant portions of their phone support staff work remotely; they’re
called at-home advisors. Seems to be a really well-run program.

[https://www.apple.com/jobs/us/aha.html](https://www.apple.com/jobs/us/aha.html)

------
bookofjoe
Here's the article in plain text in six parts:

1)
[https://twitter.com/bookofjoe/status/1110952654757347330](https://twitter.com/bookofjoe/status/1110952654757347330)

2)
[https://twitter.com/bookofjoe/status/1110952697426034688](https://twitter.com/bookofjoe/status/1110952697426034688)

3)
[https://twitter.com/bookofjoe/status/1110952738685440000](https://twitter.com/bookofjoe/status/1110952738685440000)

4)
[https://twitter.com/bookofjoe/status/1110952781270126594](https://twitter.com/bookofjoe/status/1110952781270126594)

5)
[https://twitter.com/bookofjoe/status/1110952834856570881](https://twitter.com/bookofjoe/status/1110952834856570881)

6)
[https://twitter.com/bookofjoe/status/1110952873934970880](https://twitter.com/bookofjoe/status/1110952873934970880)

~~~
tzs
> My Sci-Hub-ish good deed for the day

Sci-Hub can make the argument that the material it makes available is largely
publicly funded research, which the public paid the creators for already by
funding that research. That argument doesn't apply to the WSJ.

~~~
bookofjoe
So should I take down my tweets?

~~~
tzs
I'd at least change the first one to not compare yourself to Sci-Hub.

~~~
bookofjoe
I agree. But tweets are not editable.

------
httpz
As one of the early engineers of the company, I have a 2015 Macbook Pro. New
engineers with their new touch bar Macbook Pro are jealous. Other than some
minor battery degradation it hasn't failed me. I'm holding on to this as long
as possible.

~~~
jackfrodo
Yep, I have a late 2013 pro, and plan on "upgrading" to the most specced out
version of the last 2015 pre-touchbar model whenever this one dies.

------
pfortuny
I have a 2016 MBpro. I only use it with an external keyboard, except on week-
ends (and I do not type much on these).

Then the N key started repeating.

Unbelievable. I cannot imagine the pain of a frequent typer on the keyboard.

~~~
CedarMills
This. I don't do any dev work on my 2018 mbp. It's essentially useless until I
plug in an external keyboard.

------
mirimir
Ummm

> NoScript detected a potential Cross-Site Scripting attack

> from [https://www.wsj.com](https://www.wsj.com) to
> [https://stags.bluekai.com](https://stags.bluekai.com).

> Suspicious data:
    
    
      (URL) https://stags.bluekai.com/site/4454?ret=html&phint=serverDomain=www.wsj.com&phint=primaryProduct=Online Journal&phint=pageName=WSJ_Multimedia_Collection_Appl Still Hasnât Fixd Its MacBook Kyboad Problm&phint=section=WSJ_Collection&phint=contentChannel=WSJ_Collection&phint=articleType=WSJ_Multimedia_Graphics&phint=contentType=Multimedia&phint=isSub=WSJ_free&phint=edition=North_America_USA&phint=__bk_t=Appl Still Hasnât Fixd Its MacBook Kyboad Problm&phint=__bk_k=Apple keyboard,Apple butterfly keyboard,MacBook keyboard,MacBook Air keyboard,MacBook Pro,MacBook Air,AppleCare,Apple keyboard problem,Joanna Stern&phint=__bk_pr=https://news.ycombinator.com/&phint=__bk_l=https://www.wsj.com/graphics/apple-still-hasnt-fixed-its-macbook-keyboard-problem/&limit=10&bknms=ver=2.0,ua=0dd7c7d553f2517fa22a86fdfb24611b,t=1553703693224,m=4b4e4ecaab1f1c93ab1f1c93ab1f1c93,k=1,lang=07ef608d8a7e9677f0b83775f0b83775,sr=1920x971x24,tzo=420,hss=false,hls=false,idb=true,addb=undefined,odb=undefined,cpu=4b4e4ecaab1f1c93ab1f1c93ab1f1c93,platform=1c17637dbf2f8edebf2f8edebf2f8ede,notrack=,plugins=4b4e4ecaab1f1c93ab1f1c93ab1f1c93,cn=38593d014c984362435c7473ff6387ce&r=16711535

~~~
villgax
Yep, Tor catches this even now.

------
thomasjudge
Wow, in the WSJ. That'll get some attention from Apple management

~~~
thomasjudge
Favorite line: "It’s time to stop prioritizing thinness over usability."

~~~
api
Yeah, this is like 90% of it. They passed the point of diminishing returns
from thin/light back in the early 20-teens, especially for "Pro" laptops. For
a pro laptop I want power, battery life, and durability far more than
thin/light.

------
ksec
Thank You Apple. Finally you have the courage to admit it. ( Although in both
cases they were under the pressure of media and press )

Unfortunately the extended warranty programme [1] still does not include
MacBook 2018. Now they have acknowledge it, at least there is hope this will
change. I could never understand why Apple don't have some internal guidelines
on it, even if it was out of warranty they could have fix it for free as
Standard Procedure, without actually admitting it was a problem. Instead they
try to charge people outrageous repair price on it.

Keyboard, TB3 Charging, Internal Display Connector, Trackpad False positives,
and numbers other small things I can't remember. I am hoping 2019 Apple will
have a MacBook Pro redesign that fixes all of these issues.

[1] [https://www.apple.com/support/keyboard-service-program-
for-m...](https://www.apple.com/support/keyboard-service-program-for-macbook-
and-macbook-pro/)

~~~
MarHoff
Also please read this fine lines it might be very interesting for some:

>If you believe your MacBook or MacBook Pro was affected by this issue, and
you paid to have your keyboard repaired, you can contact Apple about a refund.

------
ycombonator
Apple needs to simply put all their products and features through "what would
Steve Jobs have done" filter. He would have probably thrown the butterfly
design out the window and ask them to come up with a better design.

~~~
Eric_WVGG
Sure, like how he threw the G3 iMac “hockey puck” mouse out before that
unfortunate thing shipped.

~~~
inspector-g
You're certainly not wrong, but the hockey puck was fairly quickly
discontinued and replaced (within a year or two) by the "Apple Pro Mouse",
which itself wasn't discontinued for 4 or 5 years.

------
caycep
I always felt laptop keyboards/key caps were ALWAYS flimsy feeling. I guess
just the older ones you could pull off and replace. But I never was a huge fan
of the earlier chiclets either.

~~~
chewmieser
My 2011 MBP's keys were solid. Had a great feel to them and I never had an
issue with keys failing or becoming stuck. I even had a few incidents where I
spilled a beer on my keyboard and it was completely fine afterwards.

I now have a 2017 MBP and I hate these keys. The H is always sticking (no
spills even) and the keys don't have that nice soft feel to them. I've
interrupted a meeting or two with how loud this keyboard is as well...
Definitely a step in the wrong direction IMO

------
pier25
I'm surprised people are still buying these models with all the issues with
keyboards, GPU glitches, T2 chip, etc.

The repair program doesn't really solve anything. I'm willing to bet most MBP
owners do not have a second Mac to keep working while it is being repaired.

Also, at least in Mexico, Apple is being super strict about which machines go
into the repair program. I know a couple of people with keyboard problems that
were told there was no problem with the keyboard.

------
ppeetteerr
Love the new keyboards. Not been a problem for me. Love the size too. The 15in
is about as heavy as the old 13in, making it very portable. Had to sacrifice
some keyboard depth for that but so worth it.

For anyone working for extended periods of time, you will benefit greatly from
having an external keyboard. Preferably one that tilts up in the middle. Why
anyone would want a bigger laptop that they use at home to type on the
laptop's native keyboard is beyond me.

~~~
RodgerTheGreat
So if I follow you, the argument is that the new built-in keyboards are great
because you don't use them, and you find the idea that people would want to be
able to type for extended periods on their portable computer "beyond you"?

If I wanted a big mechanical keyboard on my desk at home and a nearly unusable
keyboard when I'm elsewhere, I'd get an iPad and a desktop. I want a laptop.

~~~
ppeetteerr
The new keyboards are great because they reduce the size of a portable
computer, which makes the portable part of the computer even better.

If you want a less portable computer so that you can type at work and at home
on its keyboard, you'd be missing out on the _much_ better desktop keyboards
that can be had instead.

~~~
bildung
Or you could get something like the X1 carbon, which weighs much less (so is
more portable) and has a keyboard you can actually type on for hours.

~~~
ppeetteerr
You could, for sure, but not with MacOS.

~~~
bildung
Fair enough :) If MacOS is mandatory, the X1 won't be an option. I just gave
it as an example that you absolutely can have both portability and a good
keyboard at the same time.

~~~
ppeetteerr
The X1 is a really nice laptop, that's true. It's up there with the MacBook in
terms of quality.

------
rb808
I really hate the keyboard on most laptops. XPS's I don't like and new
macbooks seem the worst. Anyone recommend any? Thinkpads seem good, and many
HPs.

~~~
devashish86
Have worked on Mac's, XPS's and HP's in the past but once I got on Thinkpad,
never looked back. My current system(for past 5 years now) is a trusty X1
Carbon that has seen some rough times but has never failed me. Thinking of
upgrading later this year to a newer version of the same line.

~~~
asark
How's the touchpad? What's kept me on Apple is the ability to actually use the
MacBook Pro as a _portable_ computer, not just a crappy desktop you can drag
between the power and mouse+keyboard stations that you need to get work done
without swearing at it constantly or frowning while you watch the battery life
indicator plummet.

The keyboard and port situations are both pushing the MacBook far enough out
of that "close the lid and go, no worries" sweet spot it _used_ to fall so
solidly into that I'm eyeing other options, but I have some very bad memories
of both battery life and trackpads on non-Apple machines, and my (limited!)
interactions with such more recently haven't made me optimistic.

~~~
BuckRogers
Just to offer another perspective on the battery front, that only really
matters for casual browsing. Anytime real work is done on a machine, you'll be
plugging in within a few hours on everything anyway.

If you're doing CPU/IO intensive development work, they all fall down so
quickly that I don't think it matters on the differences. It's really a
browsing/videos metric, which is relatively unimportant to me when buying a
workstation class laptop. I don't think I'd buy any laptop based on battery
life as a primary factor, and the overall usability situation for most stuff
on the market isn't as grave as it used to be (which your post accurately
recalls).

I've owned the XPS15 with 6-core 8th gen Intel (maxing out the scales at 97Wh
battery) and have a Thinkpad X1 Extreme. I've had MBPs in the past too.

For the touchpad on Thinkpads, I think they're pretty good if you're on
Windows, most are anymore with MS Windows Precision drivers as the Thinkpads
use. For me, a major driver for me towards these is the Trackpoint.

Depending on your usecase, my favorite machines on the market today are the X1
Extreme (development), X1 Yoga (consulting/development), Samsung Notebook 9
Pen 13" (home), and Macbook Air (home).

------
rwz
Current gen MacBook pros can’t fit latest intel processors into that thin
body. Other vendors already leave mbps in the dust performance wise. That fact
makes me hopeful that apple will have to go thicker for the next mbp
generation and that will maybe warrant a better keyboard.

This form-over-usability-and-function madness has to end.

------
onepremise
louis Rossman did an episode on the macbook keyboard problems:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KuVvb9DTaU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KuVvb9DTaU)

It's insane what a mac user must go through even to attempt to repair this
themselves. Another reason it's important to support right to repair,
[https://repair.org/](https://repair.org/).

There's also a lawsuit for the keyboard defects:

[https://www.classlawgroup.com/apple-macbook-pro-keyboard-
def...](https://www.classlawgroup.com/apple-macbook-pro-keyboard-defect-
lawsuit/)

------
b3b0p
Extending the warranty of the MacBook's with the keyboards that have issues
isn't enough. They should be under warranty indefinitely or made affordable to
replace, even if it's at a loss for AAPL.

------
iamaelephant
As long as people keep buying their laptops (what proportion of HN users are
on Macs? Probably >80%?) why should they resolve the problems with it.

Personally, I'm in love with my new XPS 13 and wouldn't touch a Macbook Pro.

~~~
ct0
Lenovo x1 carbon gen 6 is an amazing machine and will totally make ex-apple
users happy. Windows 10 is rather satisfying with little modification.

~~~
loudmax
Biggest downside to the Lenovo X1 Carbon is you can't buy it without an OS.
You have to pay the Microsoft tax even though it works well with Linux
drivers.

~~~
taude
Still way cheaper, though, than the Apple tax? What is the cost forwarded to
consumers for Windowson one of those Lenovos? I doubt it's much.

------
jokoon
I would by a laptop with a mechanical keyboard even if it makes it much
thicker.

------
jdsully
They should have done one paragraph without the Es and Rs to make the point
and then had it read as normal. I bet a lot of would be readers aren't
bothering with this otherwise good article because of it.

~~~
gschrader
There's a toggle in each section, that said I wish I noticed the toggle switch
before I read the complete article myself.

------
buranch
I was planning to buy Macbook 2018 next week now after seeing all this
complaints, i think I should wait for the 2019 model. Anyone with an idea when
the next release would be?

~~~
zootam
Just a guess, but probably august/september

------
kukabynd
MacBook updates of 2016 and onwards are an example of “don’t fix it if ain’t
broken”. There isn’t much choice on the market though. MacOS is something
special still.

------
hooch
Surely the need for Apple to noticeably grow profits is going to lead to ever
more situations like this?

More flimsy products combined with more glamorous marketing to distract.

------
yakshaving_jgt
Sad the article is behind a paywall. This is a topic I care about.

The penultimate generation MacBook Air keyboard is still my favourite typing
device, and it’s what I use today.

I would pay Apple double the price of their current MacBook for the same thing
but with the old keyboard, and the MagSafe connector.

~~~
js2
Try the web link at the top of the page in an incognito window then click
through from the Google search results. It worked for me.

~~~
therealmarv
ah, copy the title and search it via Google worked out (using the link in
Google search did not worked).

------
AznHisoka
Does anyone have a similar issue with 1 of the Logitech keyboards? The "{" key
keeps falling off, and it has happened with multiple keyboards.

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nyc111
I'm planning to buy a MacBook Air. Is this butterfly keyboard affects only
Macbook Pro? Is it the same with MacBook Air?

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rwz
I just got the latest air and it has the same keyboard that current mbps have.
They’ve added some rubber membranes, so it’s hopefully less prone to broken
keys, but there are reports that the problem still exists, unfortunately.

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laythea
I know she is trying to make a point, but I don't think she should have
mispelt almost every word.

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pell
Wow, Joanna really carried that bit till the very last word. I love it.

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KayL
my MacBook's shit key doesn't work occasionally. I'm still thinking to bring
it to fix or not.

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barbs
Looks like you have the same problem with your f key!

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therealmarv
You don't need an E. This is why we have autocorrection in macOS :p

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stunt
Nice title, sad paywall

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vernie
Can we stop accepting paywalled sources? I don't ever see links to $20 papers
on Elsevier.

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dazhbog
I agree. This article has a hard paywall for me. Tried with google referrer
(incognito or not) and with outline but that didnt work.

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asdff
use pocket

