I recently upgraded from a 2015 MacBook Pro to a 2018 MacBook Pro. And by “recently”, I mean back at the start of June. I wanted a new MacBook Pro because of the faster performance that a new computer would give me. Work (Culture Amp) was also upgrading their fleet of Macs and I was one of the lucky people to get a new one.
So I’ve been using this computer as a work computer for almost 3 months now and, my god, the keyboard drives me mental. Even writing this blog post now on the train and there’s:
- duplicated “o’s” that I’ve had to go back and fix, or missing ones – guess how fun it is to write a book about a Toy Robot with this particular problem
- double spaces – or no spaces
- a Command key that registers 9 out of every 10 times
- words like “times” that inexplicably get spelled like “timies”, or “about” that gets spelled like “abouot”
Apple is all about the thinness of their laptops. I do not particularly care about the thinness of this device. For the most part, it sits on one of two desks that I use or it sits on my lap on the train. Maybe I use it on the couch from time-to-time. I do not care about the thinness of this device while I am using it. I only care about it when I store it away, in my backpack.
This keyboard has a key travel distance that, I am sure, is measured in microns or perhaps nanometers. It feels like I am typing on a concrete slab. Key presses inexplicably duplicate. Or don’t register at all. All for thinness.
This keyboard is a catastrophic engineering failure, designed by a company that should know better. A company with more money in the bank than several countries combined. This keyboard would be, by far, the part of the MacBook Pro that is used the most by everybody who owns one, and it is so poorly engineered for the pursuit of thinness.
Apple must fix this problem in their upcoming MacBook Pro releases. I want a fat MacBook pro keyboard, one that has a travel distance of the older wireless keyboards and doesn’t have that “concrete slab” feel. I want to be able to type an entire paragraph without having to go back and correct things because the keyboard failed.
I am tired of having to correct what I type because of this keyboard’s faults. I am tired of having to use external keyboards to actually enjoy using this computer. I love the Mac and it’s software and how things just work. But I will leave if this keyboard farce continues.
If Apple releases their new Macs with an identical keyboard, then I’m ditching Macs and will pick up a Microsoft Surface Book or something similar. Whatever it is, I’ll make sure to pick a laptop that has a god damned functional keyboard.