Apple said it was more comfortable and responsive than the traditional scissor keys on prior MacBooks, and extolled the precision, accuracy, and stability the incredibly low-profile hinges allowed. When the butterfly mechanism arrived with the MacBook in 2016, it was billed as a breakthrough in keyboard design. It’s a systematic failure of the butterfly keyboard experiment that worsens with use. Based on Stern’s experience, there’s an extremely good chance that it’ll happen again because, despite Apple’s claims, the problem isn’t isolated to a small number of machines. Even if they add the new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air to the Keyboard Service Program, that’s only a temporary fix. So, you know, just deal with it.”īesides, there isn’t a whole lot Apple can do at this point. Instead, Apple issued a tepid apology to the “small number of users (who) are having issues with their third-generation butterfly keyboard.” That’s Apple speak for, “We know it’s a problem, but it’s not widespread enough to do anything about it. You’d think that one of the world’s most respected journalists suggesting a competitor’s laptop would yield a serious response, but that’s not the case. The keys on the MacBook Pro are barely useable. She also suggests a bunch of tips for keeping your Air’s keyboard functional, including spraying with a can of compressed air, using an external keyboard (which I’m doing while writing this story on a MacBook), and getting an HP Spectre instead. To drive home her point, Stern offers several ways to view the article: with or without E’s and R’s and with or without double E’s or double T’s, mocking what Stern says are the most common issues with both her and other users’ MacBooks. She writes of “the pain of using an Apple laptop keyboard that’s failed after four months” and an “insanely maddening” experience.

Longtime journalist and Apple user Johanna Stern wrote a column for the Wall Street Journal this week that absolutely excoriates the keyboard on the newest MacBook Air, which just so happens to be the same one that was supposed to cure the MacBook Pro’s problems. This attempt to fix the butterfly keyboard was supposed to be the one that finally got it right-and as such, the newest MacBook Pro isn’t part of the repair program.īut as stopgaps go, it’s not a very good one. The small bit of elastic also dampens the sound of the keys slightly and makes them a bit bouncier. So Apple attempted to fix the issue with the latest MacBook Pro refresh by adding a silicon membrane under each key to prevent debris from getting in.

The butterfly keys on the MacBook might look cool but they’re problematic to say the least.Įven with free repair, those are pretty major problems for notebooks that can cost upwards of $2,500.

New macbook pro keyboard fix