BREAKING (July 13, 2018): Here’s an inflammatory take for you: Apple’s new quieter keyboard is actually a silent scheme to fix their keyboard reliability issues. We’re in the middle of tearing down the newest MacBook Pro, but we’re too excited to hold this particular bit of news back:
Apple has cocooned their butterfly switches in a thin, silicone barrier.
The 2018 MacBook Pro features a thin rubberized layer under its keycaps, covering the second-generation butterfly mechanism.
This flexible enclosure is quite obviously an ingress-proofing measure to cover up the mechanism from the daily onslaught of microscopic dust. Not—to our eyes—a silencing measure. In fact, Apple has a patent for this exact tech designed to “prevent and/or alleviate contaminant ingress.”
Here’s the really good part: I can tell you it’s there, but I can’t definitively prove it’s a reliability fix. After all, Apple told The Verge that “this new third-generation keyboard wasn’t designed to solve those [dust] issues.”
Apple is in the middle of several class-action lawsuits for the failure of their keyboards, so of course they can’t just come out and say, “Hey, we fixed it!” That says there was a problem to begin with. But you’ve heard that clever analysis from John Gruber already. I’m just here to posit: the advertised boost in quietude is a side-effect of this rubbery membrane. The quiet angle is, quite literally, a cover up.
Tune in next week as we put this membrane through its dust-proofing paces, tear down the rest of the device, and speculate whether this really is a feature—or a secret bug fix impacting millions of consumers.
Here’s our video summary of the story so far.
Image Credit: *FIG. 3D from uspto.gov
I’ll be curious to see if these have terraced batteries? The wattage increased with no increase in weight.
I also wonder if this membrane will add a modicum of water resistance. I’ve seen a few macbook keys go to a tiny droplet of water (or, you know, just the whole keyboard with a whole glass of wine).
Grubers analysis doesn’t pass even the slightest test of logic. I’m pretty sure putting a 3-year extended repair program in place already says “there was a problem to begin with.”
No doubt the legal team for the class action has already had forensic failure analysis done on the first two generations of keyboard, and this third generation will undergo such testing as well.
But conspiracy theories are fun! Apple probably thought they could slip fix this by everyone. Good thing you didn’t fall for Apple’s Jedi mind trick like everyone else. “This isn’t the keyboard fix you’ve been looking for…”
Gruber’s analysis doesn’t pass even the slightest test of logic. I’m pretty sure putting a 3-year extended repair program in place already says “there was a problem to begin with.”
No doubt the legal team for the class action has already had forensic failure analysis done on the first two generations of keyboard, and this third generation will undergo such testing as well.
But conspiracy theories are fun! Apple probably thought they could slip fix this by everyone. Good thing you didn’t fall for Apple’s Jedi mind trick like everyone else. “This isn’t the keyboard fix you’ve been looking for…”
Now .. That’s cool!
Friend of mine got a keyboard replacement under the program earlier this week. Copy-pasting his description, we have “Observation so far is that they keys are much softer feeling and quieter”…”It feels much more like their desktop keyboard”…”which is definitely mushy, but I [don’t] hate it”. They replaced the top case, keyboard, and battery on his rMBP.
Sounds like he got one of the new keyboards.
$5 says the keyboard replacement program swaps out the top case, battery, and keyboard for the ones used in the current-gen (announced yesterday) models. No sense in building a physical part that’s halfway between current- and last-gen.
Calling it a 1st, 2nd and now 3rd gen keyboard already makes it seem like the switch to the butterfly keys was anything but perfect. If you’ve got a new generation each year, it doesn’t boost consumer confidence in most of the tech-savvy people I know. Especially since most of them want this laptop to last them about 4 years.
I was a victim of Apple’s cover up tacticts for the Mac Book Pro black screen problem. I owned 2 that went blank frequently, and had i not had he extended service program, Apple would habe charged me heftily for fixing them. They replaced the motherboard, media card and other components. But the people at the store never admitted there was a design or manufacture issue although internet boards broadly reported the problem. I moved off Apple products as a result.
Apple is a world class company. It’s computer accessories are long lasting.
Thanks for this posts.
How hard is it to rearrange the key caps on the new keyboard? I type using the Dvorak layout (as opposed to QWERTY), and the first thing I do with a new computer is rearrange the keys. Does the silicone layer make this any easier (i.e. less likely for a tiny plastic clip to break)?
Thanks!
clickbait headline…
You realize the membrane in your pic has holes while the membrane in the patent has no holes? How will the membrane in the pic prevent dust getting in there if there’s holes?
It is my understanding that fresh air intake is through the keyboard. Are the holes in the membrane enough to allow the air to cool the laptop?
As particulate matter enters around the edges of the keys, would the membrane force that matter in an even tighter space? Thus, causing key failure easier than without the membrane?
Things would like to know.
1. How did they get a bigger capacity battery?
2. How did that battery not weight more?
3. If it did as science dictate ( We don’t have the tech to improve 10%+ battery with same weight yet, it may be same volume ), what did they do to lose off that weight?
4. Are the keyboard easier to repair?
5. Does that membrane makes it harder to repair, or harder to manufacture?
“Here’s the really good part: I can tell you it’s there, but I can’t definitively prove it’s a reliability fix. After all, Apple told The Verge that “this new third-generation keyboard wasn’t designed to solve those [dust] issues.””
Why is that a “really good part”?! Or, was that a lame attempt to be sarcastic?!
By the way, that video has a ridiculously irritating electronic muzak sound track. Please re-do it without the needlessly distracting thumpa-thumpa, err, hum, buzz, hiss, thumpa-thumpa background “music”!
Tha ks for the insights. For me an extra reason to replace my old Ma book 2016 keybo ard. :-)
I’d be intrigued to know if one of those keyboards could be fitted in earlier models.
I would suspect not, but if it could be fitted in 2016/2017 models, then this could absolutely be the issue to their issue. When a customer brings in their 2016/17 model under their repair program, simply replace the keyboard with a new keyboard. I’d totally welcome that!
___123___The Great Apple MacBook Pro Cover Up | iFixit___123___
This is the first Apple laptop with prophylactics on all the keys…
Téléphone
I have a 2017 15″ MBP and have a problem where holding the command key while clicking with the mouse often dont register the command key being held down. I think I have nailed the problem down to that the key deactivates before the up-click happens. I’ve tried pressing the key with the keyboard viewer open, and I can sometimes get it do deactivate before the key is released. Am unsure if this is covered by the keyboard replacement program? I am unable to replicate this with the right command key, so assuming it’s dust related.
@Doug Laakso “It is my understanding that fresh air intake is through the keyboard.”
The keyboard has never been an air intake on a Mac. There’s a sheet underneath that covers the entire backside of the keyboard, between the housing and Logic Board, and sealed with adhesive around the edges. It was also used for backlighting the keyboard in the older models before they switched to individual LEDs under each key.
The air intake on current MacBook Pro models is through the side vents, and the rear exhaust also doubled as the air intake on the older (pre-Retina) models, from the side of the vent located furthest away from the fan.
No one has answered Andrea’s question. Is the technique for removing the keys any different now than it was (e.g. slipping a credit card beneath the top)?
I wonder if dust can get in the keyboard through the edges, which are obviously not covered by membrane.