
Apple Confirms 2018 MacBook Pro Has 'Membrane' to 'Prevent Debris from Entering' - okket
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/07/19/apple-confirms-2018-mbp-keyboard-prevents-debris/
======
kristofferR
It's absurdly douchy of Apple to not to install the membrane on older MacBooks
in for keyboard replacement, due to the design flaw. [1]

Fixing a fatal design flaw shouldn't be a unique selling point for the newest
models.

[1] [https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/16/17577478/apple-replace-
ma...](https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/16/17577478/apple-replace-macbook-pro-
keyboards-third-gen-components)

~~~
nakedrobot2
Agreed. But maybe it doesn't fit. Someone will try to install the new keyboard
in an older laptop, and then we'll know...

~~~
8draco8
The chassis are virtually the same, the new MBP is just a speed bump. They
could design new keyboard to be backwards compatible with the old mounting
points and connectors and simply replace old keyboards with the new ones.
There is no new ground breaking features between old and new keyboards apart
from that membrane. I think they just hope that after replacing old keyboard
with the same ones will be enough to push those units trough warranty period
and if keyboard fails after warranty then a lot of people will be pushed
towards buying whole new unit. The second reason is that during the recall
Apple is able to push out old stock of keyboards, if they would use new design
keyboards the old stock would have to go to recycling witch is costly.

------
xnyan
From the article: "A torn membrane will result in a top case replacement."

It seems ridiculous to me that a single torn membrane junks the entire top
case, a $500-800 part.

~~~
toast0
Apple products are simply not designed to be serviceable. I have fond (ish)
memories of Dell shipping me several $90 keyboard assemblies for my latitude,
under warranty, when keys would start acting up; before requesting the third
replacement, I noticed there was a bit of aluminum that just needed to get
bent back to shape to fix the issues, and saved a bunch of hassle. But I'm not
sure if anybody still makes laptops where they've used the space to made
things modular enough for economical spare parts.

~~~
8draco8
I think Thinkpads are still pretty good at this although even they started to
fall behind. I remember the days when Apple was designing hardware in a way
that was allowing easy access to internals for a pro user. All those handles,
easy access doors and trays sliding out with the internals, good old days.

------
mkong1
I had an early 2016 that had a keyboard replaced, then a complete replacement
under warranty with a new 2017, and I'm sending it away for another keyboard
replacement tomorrow. For a work machine, it's pretty ludicrous that I'll have
been without my primary computer on 3 separate occasions within 18 months.

The woman in the apple store hinted that if I had to get it replaced more than
once, they _might_ just upgrade it to a new one like they did with my 2016 ->
2017.

