Apple says new MacBook Pro keyboard won't fix sticky key issue | Hacker News Reader

Apple says new MacBook Pro keyboard won't fix sticky key issue

cnet.com

28 pointsbinarynate16 comments

When I heard about the 2018 MBP today, my initial thought was that I would consider investing the cost and time of migrating from my 2017 MBP just to have a reliable keyboard. That Apple prioritized quieting the keyboard over fixing its reliability issues seems crazy to me.

Speculation: I don’t think Apple will be able to fix the keyboard in this generation of MacBooks (generation meaning body type). It’s all about clearances, key travel, tolerances. The system doesn’t have room for a drop in replacement that could leave room for debris. That’s why they gave it a 4 year extension — because that’s probably when we’ll see a newer body generation with redesigned keyboard.

I'll wait at least a few months before believing any of this.

Apple being Apple, they might not be telling us whether this new keyboard actually does mitigate the issue. If they said something about this keyboard being more reliable, but then the improvement is not big enough for the bad press to stop, they'll look worse.

Not that I have any interest in defending Apple; I'm still using my 2015 MBP and avoiding the new ones, and I use Linux and Windows desktops. It's just that Apple can be really smart with PR sometimes, and I don't believe anything. Not even what they say they didn't fix.

My guess is that the expense of the repair program does make it a priority, but that they didn't have enough time between admitting he problem and releasing this round of machines to come up with a new design that both fixes the problem and is low-profile enough to fit in the space allocated. It's only been a few weeks, and they may have already begun manufacture on these (let alone design) at that time. I would guess that the next spec bump will include a fixed keyboard.

We don’t know whether they prioritized things. They’re more than rich enough to pay two teams working in parallel, and this may have been faster to fix, given the constraints they set themselves (weight, cost, materials, size, etc)

Don't forget the lead time in hardware development, not to mention problem identification.

The quieting may have been on the roadmap before the dust issue, or its magnitude and PR fallout, became evident.

(Not that I'm willing to cut Apple -- or anyone -- slack for lame keyboards.)

It could be that they are hoping the keyboard will be more reliable, and they're just covering their bases while they wait to see how it performs in the wild.

On the other hand, if it really doesn't make a difference for reliability, I wonder if their keyboard service program will be extended to cover this model as well.

"Won't fix" is the incorrect terminology to use. I'm having trouble finding a direct quote from Apple in any of these stories. My assumption is the actual statement is along the lines of "It was designed to be quieter." while omitting any reference to addressing the sticky key issue.

Saying "We designed it to fix the sticky key issue" creates liability admitting that there's a significant defect that needs to be fixed, which no corporation would ever do, especially while currently facing multiple class-action lawsuits about said issue.

So while saying it was designed to be quieter, that doesn't mean there aren't additional benefits or corrections being implemented.

I think they are over-optimizing a no-issue. Nobody around me complained over my MBP2015 keyboard noise, neither about my MBP2010

What does those old models have to do with the new keyboard?

Nothing. It's just a True Apple Believer's attempt to introduce some FUD.

There are specific complaints about the new ultrathin 2016+ keyboards being much louder. The 2015 or 2010 keyboards are not relevant to this.

> Technically, Apple has admitted only that "a smaller percentage of the keyboards in certain MacBook and MacBook Pro models" have demonstrated the sticky key issue. If you buy one, you may likely never have that problem.

Couldn't Apple have said 'a small percentage of keyboards...'? Just what are we talking here, 10%, 25%, 49%?

Our IT is backlogged with broken keyboards and I'm waiting for. backup laptops to become available so I can send mine for replacement. We have upwards of 200 of these sorry devices. The percentage is well above 10%

Who cares? I don't use MacBook for any real work. Just for looks.

Wow! This is really bad if it's not going to get any better. I've already switched from Apple several years ago (when there was no more viable desktop "Pro" option for me), and I suspect more true "pro" users will do the same.

Maybe Apple simple doesn't care about (or need) pro users. That's fine, I guess. They want to go in other directions. It could be that 'pros' are too expensive to have as customers.

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