As brilliantly built and sturdy as Apple products are, we know that some of their keyboards have turned out to be sub-par. The so-called ‘butterfly’-mechanism the company use in its MacBook laptops since 2015 have received pushback from users. Folks aren’t happy with the build quality, because it doesn’t match what you’d expect from an Apple device. That’ll change soon.
It’s a cut-up
The rumoured 16-inch MacBook Pro predicted to ship this year may arrive with the traditional ‘scissor’-mechanism instead of Apple’s long-troubled butterfly design. According to MacRumors and historically-accurate Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the updated keyboard will arrive earlier than expected.
MacBooks, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models introduced post-2015 all seem to have the same problem with their butterfly-shaped keyboards. These included overheating problems, and debris getting into the keys — causing them to cease functioning. Because of this, internet-users set up a petition for Apple to address the issues and roll out replacements.
The company was even hit with two class-action lawsuits because of the issue. So it had to change the design, and fast. Apple, to be fair, made the attempt. The company introduced new designs and new materials intended to improve the performance of their existing keyboard type. Now, it looks like they’re taking another route.
If the MacBook Pro keyboard upgrade rumour turns out to be the real deal, MacBooks models released in 2020 and beyond will likely use the scissor mechanism rather than the butterfly. That wouldn’t be surprising at all, given complaints so far.
Source: MacRumours via The Verge