Delete. Delete. Up Arrow. Delete — Darn it! Undo!
That’s been the pattern of my mail sorting with a 2018 MacBook Pro. I delete a couple of messages, move up, and the next time I strike the delete key two messages are gone — usually the one I skipped because I wanted to keep it.
The “double delete” isn’t that rare on recent MacBook and MacBook Pro systems. Apple admits there’s a problem. The media have covered the problem in detail. Bloggers have ranted (including me) about the lousy new keyboard design. Some keys stick, some keys repeat, and some just outright fail.
Apple, you have a serious hardware defect.
The “butterfly” mechanism of the newer keyboards using a folding lever. It’s elegant, in theory, but lousy in practice.
My favorite keyboard is my Matias Tactile Pro, a throwback to the great clickety-clackety days of glory. The “Alps” style mechanism is better than most Cherry Blue knock-offs. There are good reasons to have mechanical keyboards with Cherry-style mechanisms, which are famously reliable. These “spring-loaded” keys are durable, responsive, and easy to clean when you must remove dust and debris. The Alps keys? Even better, in my opinion. I haven’t had to clean the Tactile Pro. Come on, Apple, talk to Matias about how a keyboard should work.
Susan and I type. We type a lot. She wears out keyboards, sometimes long after some of the letters have worn from the caps. I wear through keyboard skins, which I like for their added grip. We both type at respectable speeds: she can hit 120 words-per-minute, at least, and I test at 70 wpm. I’m not a speed demon, but I am a touch typist who can hit a nice stride.
Apple, and most other computer companies, has obsessed with smaller, lighter, and more fragile designs.
Creative professionals care more about speed and usability than a few ounces of weight.
My favorite computer ever was a 12-inch PowerBook G4. It was small, yet it had every port I needed and an optical drive. It was that perfect balance between portability and power. Lots of power for its time. And that keyboard was magical. It was the best keyboard I’ve used on any laptop or notebook-sized computer.
Keys used to touch. They were side-by-side. Today’s little Chiclet keys have too little travel, are gapped on the surface, and yet they seem to be magnets for dust.
However, I am not convinced dust and dust alone explains the wide-spread problems with the Apple butterfly keyboards. I have keyboard skins and I use compressed air to clean the keys. If whatever dust I cannot block is a problem, that’s ridiculous. No, the design is flawed in ways that Apple must address.
So far, the keyboard is the only aspect of the MacBook Pro I dislike intensely. The ports aren’t an issue in an era of cloud storage. A single, affordable, hub solved connectivity issues with older hardware I keep on my desk. The battery life is outstanding, the screen is nice, and the TouchBar is just there. (I’m entirely neutral on the TouchBar’s existence.)
But… I hate this keyboard. A skin makes it a bit better for me, but that doesn’t make up for its overall poor design.