{"id":27142,"date":"2019-11-01T15:11:04","date_gmt":"2019-11-01T19:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=27142"},"modified":"2019-11-05T16:29:04","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T21:29:04","slug":"tylenol-moment-for-apples-laptop-keyboards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2019\/11\/01\/tylenol-moment-for-apples-laptop-keyboards\/","title":{"rendered":"Tylenol Moment for Apple’s Laptop Keyboards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kev van Zonneveld<\/a> (Hacker News<\/a>):<\/p>\n

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Both in terms of productivity and delight I had my best years on Apple and I didn’t think I’d ever look back. But here we are.<\/p>\n

Why? I (guess I’m the only person alive that) didn’t mind the TouchBar or lack of a real escape key (can map Caps Lock to that). And I liked having 4 USB-C+ ports that I could do anything with. But yes, The Keyboard.<\/p>\n

I spent the most money I ever did on this MacBook Pro, and it’s also the worst machine I ever had because the keyboard breaks down (like, it won’t register the s<\/code>).<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

So far I’ve brought it in for repairs three times, and each time I’m without my workhorse for a week<\/strong>. Those are unplanned holidays that are dragging my productivity–and basically my company down.<\/p>\n

I personally also feel macOS has taken a freefall<\/strong> regarding robustness and polish, but that might be just me. It’s the keyboard that ultimately made me feel just really concerned about having my productivity\/company\/future so tightly coupled to what Apple ships next.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Joe Rossignol<\/a>:<\/p>\n

While it is unclear if the widely rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro will launch in 2019 or 2020, the latest report from DigiTimes<\/a><\/em> claims that Apple will begin receiving volume shipments of the notebook in the fourth quarter of this year.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo originally said the 16-inch MacBook Pro would launch in the fourth quarter of 2019<\/a> with an all-new design, including a scissor switch keyboard. As of late, however, Kuo has more vaguely stated that a “new MacBook model” with a scissor keyboard<\/a> will launch in mid 2020. It’s unclear if the “new MacBook model” that Kuo has referred to more recently is the 16-inch MacBook Pro.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Mid-2020 would be more than five years after the initial 12-inch MacBook shipped with the bad keyboard, and it may take longer to turn over all the laptop product lines.<\/p>\n\n

David Heinemeier Hansson<\/a>:<\/p>\n

My great hope for the keyboard debacle is that Apple pulls a Johnson & Johnson 1982 move and recalls every single laptop they’ve sold since 2015, and gives buyers a new scissor-keyboard equipped model instead. How many billions might that cost? A quarters’ worth of buybacks?<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

I know it’s institutionally almost impossible for Apple to accept that they not only fucked up the MacBook’s keyboard, but that they failed to fix their fuckup for 4 years running, with several attempts. They’re proud people, Apple. But I’d be prouder still of them if they did.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

Apple’s consumer confidence amongst people who’ve been stricken by the keyboard debacle is hurting. Maybe it’s not showing up in their net-promoter scores yet, but it’s there. Oh it’s there. I-FUCKING-BOUGHT-A-WINDOWS-LAPTOP it’s there.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Alec Joy<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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I bought the first butterfly switch MacBook Pro when it came out in 2016. After three years, and 4 keyboard repairs (thankfully all free) I bought a Thinkpad last month and sold my MacBook and ipad.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Patrick McKenzie<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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I felt like I was really missing something for years after I started using Macs in 2014. My next personal computer is unlikely to be a Mac, solely because I want a built-in keyboard that works. Happy to eat N months of retraining muscle memory to get it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Mikey<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Yup. I was an Apple Fanboi until the current generation of MBPs (2015+). Then they demonstrated just how utterly tone-deaf they are to the things that matter to actual professionals.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Colin Cornaby<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Both my home and work Touch Bar MacBook Pro creak very loudly as they heat and cool. I have heard Apple is fixing this with top case replacements.<\/p>\n

I use two MacBook Pros and both have serious hardware issues in addition to the keyboard.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Dave Nanian<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Even thought I’m a macOS developer, when I’m on vacation and don’t need to do development, I travel with a Windows laptop, because my Mac laptops are kind of awful.<\/p>\n

Awful to the point where I’ve considered installing macOS in a VM on said laptop.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n