And if you want permanent function keys then just go to the Keyboard control panel and enable it.
As an emacs user, I do the following on this box:
[CAPSLOCK] -> CTRL [LEFT CTRL] -> ESC (just like an old HP 9000 workstation keyboard lol)
The above works for me.
While the keyboard is bad on this $4000 laptop; I do love the performance, battery life, and the screen. I would never buy another one though. I suspect I will be on my 2nd key replacement any day now.
This breaks the HN guidelines by being uncivil as well as uncharitable in the sense requested here: "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize."
Your comment would be fine without that first bit. Would you mind reading https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and following the guidelines when commenting here?
that unpolite remark underlines the issue pretty well: one one side there is a solution, on the other side there is a poor implemented idea
Plus side: less RSI-feelings in my left wrist. Down side: muscle memory makes you look incompetent on other machines.
I always hit it with 100% accuracy just like I did on my previous MacBook.
And I am not making excuses for Apple. I think they should've made Escape key in particular a physical key.
These new Macbooks are the Wii U's of laptops.
I'm not sure exactly when it happens, but I think it happens when you have some background context open on the touchbar (like some app's music controls). The X dismisses the bar you have open and then you get esc back. Often there's no esc at all and just the X.