Okay, I get it now

My job brings me opportunity to sample many a different computing hardware from over the generations, which can be a good thing or bad thing. Whenever the latest newness arrives in our offices, I’m obviously tempted to buy one for myself. Indeed that is in part how I’ve come to be typing on this 16-inch MacBook Pro: I noticed what a leap it was over the old 15-inch version, and how it’s truly the best large MacBook Pro since the beloved “retina” - the one with all the IO ports. So I end up spending money I wouldn’t have otherwise, all because of exposure at the workplace.

Yesterday I happened to be working on a 2018-vintage MacBook Pro, which is largely similar to the one I previously had. Immediately I noticed what a horrible experience it is to go back to typing on the “butterfly” keyboard. It felt like typing on a bed of rocks: stiff, unreassuring, and super awkward. The “magic” keyboard in the 16-inch MacBook Pro (and every Mac laptop in the current lineup) is vastly superior on typing feel alone, never mind the supposed reliability improvements. Positive feedback from the keys is so important, and the old butterfly keyboard is utterly lacking.

Granted, I didn’t hate the typing experience when I had my 15-inch MacBook Pro - with the butterfly keyboard. The shortcomings of the keys, in terms of feel, can be overlooked once you get used to it. Besides, I didn't really have anything better to compare it to until this year when the new 16-inch laptops started arriving at work, and I got to experience what an improved alternative is like. People say comparison robs you of joy; I would say it also robs you of your hard-earned cash. In an alternative universe where I don’t work in tech support, I’m sure I’d still be happily using my 15-inch MacBook Pro, and my wallet wouldn’t be out of a two grand.

I just hope the cycle doesn’t continue: what if the forthcoming Apple silicon Macs prove to be equally irresistible? Perhaps I should make a declaration…

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The new normal in San Francisco.

The Macbook Pro got refreshed?!

Such is the state of the current situation that yesterday Apple released an update to the 13-inch Macbook Pro and I didn’t find out about it until this morning. Without the ability to gather into fancy auditoriums to launch products - replete with a live video of course, these silent releases from Apple get lost with all the other more pressing news that’s going on right now. Maybe this isn’t the time to get excited about a refreshed laptop when a fifth of the country is unemployed, and the economic outlook is massively uncertain.

Personally, I am not looking to spend money on anything that isn’t essential. This is not meant as criticism towards those of you who are lucky to still be employed, and the dreariness of being stuck at home every single day is best interrupted by a few joyful online shopping sessions. I’ve heard from a podcast that distributors of aftermarket automotive parts are having their best month, because the bored enthusiasts with money are finally getting around to their respective car projects.

If only I had a garage.

Anyways, the newly updated 13-inch Macbook Pro signals the final phase-out of the much-maligned ‘butterfly’ keyboard. Every single new laptop Apple now sells has the revised ‘scissor’ keyboard mechanism that promises to not commit seppuku at the first hint of a bread crumb. As an owner of a 2019 15-inch Macbook Pro, I have to say I dearly love the typing feel of the butterfly mechanism, though indeed I have to clean the deck religiously because I don’t want it to fail. Like an Italian sports car, when it works, it performs beautifully, but more often than not it’s going to be in the shop for repairs.

But car enthusiasts love Italian sports cars; I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who loves the butterfly keyboard - its terrible reliability be damned, and am sad to see it sunset into the annals of Apple’s audacious failures. I’m certainly going to enjoy typing on my Apple laptop for many more years to come; now is not the time to upgrade to the latest and greatest simply because I have the money.

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Fancy seeing out these British exports in Guangzhou.

I quite like the 'butterfly' keyboard

Apple’s' ‘butterfly’ keyboard is a joy to type on.

Which is something I’ve only found out recently. The incredibly flat and thin ‘butterfly’ style keyboard have been featured in Apple laptops since the introduction of the 2015 Macbook, but I’ve been clinging onto the ‘chiclet’ style keyboard for as long as possible, primarily because I haven’t had use for buying a later generation Macbook of any variant. Plus, as we frequent typists understand, nothing can defeat the supreme feel and tactility of a quality mechanical keyboard.

During the many years since 2015, the butterfly keyboard have proliferated through the entire Apple laptop lineup, and of course I am privy to the relatively catastrophic (for Apple) reputation it has for unreliability. The mechanism is often doomed by normal amounts of dust and crumbs, same amounts that previously did not harm the chiclet keyboards. The invasion of tiny particles would cause keys to flat-out stop working, or singular key-presses registering multiple instances. The reliability problem is so acute that Apple is already on its fourth iteration of the technology, and is simultaneously offering free repairs to all laptops fitted with the butterfly mechanism for four years from initial purchase.

Rumor has it Apple is going to ditch that style of keyboard entirely in its next generation of laptops.

Before that happens, I recently got a chance to sample the butterfly keyboard for the very first time when my work took in a few of the latest Macbook Airs. On admittedly brief impression, I have to say I really like the typing experience. The butterfly keys have an absolute sturdiness, not unlike true mechanical keys, a factor which I appreciate and favor. Key travel is indeed on the shallow end but for my purposes it’s not a detriment at all, because the feedback is so sharp and brilliant.

Easy death by sandwich crumbs and Cheetos fuzz aside, I think I rather enjoy typing on Apple’s butterfly keyboard.

Which is just as well, because due to recent life circumstances, I have a Macbook Pro arriving imminently. Perhaps a bit of bias in my take because I will soon own a laptop with the butterfly keys? I’ll soon find out after some long-term use with the new machine. Nevertheless, I think it will be important to keep the keyboard area on the Macbook Pro pristine at all times, to decrease the chance of getting the dreaded failures I’ve read about these pass few years. Thankfully, I’m known among friends to be fastidiously clean.

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Back in a time when “small” cars were truly small.

Apple's sneaky fix for its butterfly keyboard

Last week Apple (finally) updated the internals of their Macbook Pro line with the latest Intel processors, among other improvements (optional 32GB of ram!). The news however was overshadowed because all focus was on whether or not Apple has fixed the issues with their butterfly-switch keyboards. The greatest laptop in the world would be quite useless if mere grains of sand can render keys wholly inoperative. Bold move indeed if Apple kept the same keyboard in the new refresh. 

The good news is Apple did update the keyboard in the new Macbook Pros, calling it their third generation butterfly mechanism. Missing from the PR literature however is any mention of fix for sticking and unresponsive keys. With multiple lawsuits in preparation against it, Apple is likely not at liberty to openly admit any faults innate to prior generation butterfly keyboards. Therefore the official company line is that the gen-three butterfly keys are quieter than the previous versions. 

Journalists who’ve had a first-hand look have found this to be true.   

The team at iFixit did their usual diligence and tore open a brand new 2018 Macbook Pro. They found that underneath each key-cap is a silicone membrane/gasket covering the butterfly mechanism. The new part appears to be what’s damping the clicking noise (ergo quieter as Apple says), though it also functions to prevent small dust particles from seeping in further underneath the key-caps - a de-facto remedy for the malfunctioning keys problem. 

So it seems Apple did fix the issues of the old butterfly keyboards; they just won’t say so officially, again probably due to the pending lawsuits. A PR move dictated by the needs of the lawyering brigade.

Nevertheless, owners of Mac laptops outfitted with the first or second generation butterfly mechanism ought to demand that Apple retrofit this rubber gasket solution onto their Macbooks. On the other hand I wouldn’t buy a Mac laptop that hasn’t got the gen-three butterfly keys; Apple needs to update the rest of its laptop lineup quickly.  

Apple should also continue to work on its 'Portrait Mode' algorithms. The blur on the stem as it meets the flower head is horrendous.