How well is Apple’s silicon membrane added butterfly keyboard working? The scathing report by the Wall Street Journal’s reporter claimed the nightmares that come in association with the third generation ‘butterfly keyboard’ can be really horrible.
In response to the report, Apple spokesperson said, “a majority of users are positive about the butterfly keyboard. And the few customers who have an issue must seek for support help and we are sorry about the inconvenience caused.”
iFixit, the computer repair company said, “for any other computer you can fix the dust by removing the keys, but Apple’s butterfly keyboard makes it a nightmare for us to clean the keyboard.”
They added, “To completely discard the keyboard is another impossible job because it is connected to the battery, speakers and trackpad.” John Gruber of Daring Fireball said, “this new keyboard, is the worst product of Apple. While MAC booksshould apparently have the best keyboards, its otherwise.”
Apple’s MacBook has also faced criticism for its highly delicate flex cables, which often lead to damaged display.
Apple currently is facing lawsuits over the keyboard from customers. Instead of making Apple’s dream ofthin laptops come true, bitterly keyboards have created a nightmare for Apple and that’s quite visible.
The reason these keyboards are functioning properly is because of bad design from Apple’s side. By making the Chassis of the MacBook so thin they have drastically decreased the travel between the keys and the Chassis. And because of this dust particles get easily stuck under the keys which then hinder the circuits and sometimes jamming the keys entirely.
Apple has also introduced a keyboard replacement program in which they are accepting all Macbooks which feature the 2nd generation butterfly keyboard and giving a free repair/replacement to them.
And even though it is a good move from Apple’s side, this free repair scheme isn’t very useful for the customers. The reason is Apple is replacing the keyboard with the same 2nd generation Butterfly Keyboard which has this problem in the first place. And this has resulted in users replacing their Macbook’s keyboards multiple times.
Some users on Reddit have even accepted that they had replaiced their Macbook keyboards more than 4 times. This is not a solution, This is apple only trying to put a bandage on a problem.