keyboards

I don’t like the new MacBook keyboard

I’ve had a MacBook Pro, officially known as the MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) model when checking About This Mac from the Apple menu, for the better part of the year, and in that time I’ve grown used to the extremely low travel keyboard it uses, but I’ve finally realized I don’t like it.

Others have mentioned it’s not fun to type on and that may seem somewhat glib, but it’s true, at least as far as my own experience goes. My greatest fear–that the low travel and extreme firmness of the keys would lead to sore fingers during long typing sessions–was unfounded. I’ve typed thousands of words over hours on the thing and my fingers have emerged intact.

But it’s still an oddly joyless experience, something I hadn’t even thought in relation to typing until I started using it. I always feel like I’m on the verge of making mistakes by hitting the wrong keys, it’s annoyingly clicky without any of the benefits of a mechanical keyboard and every time I go back to any other keyboard I regularly use, like the Logitech K780 or even the previous wired Mac keyboard with numeric keypad, I’m reminded of how much more pleasurable the typing experience can be. The new MacBook keyboard feels like something that’s meant to be used only sparingly. Maybe that’s why the touchpad is so gigantic on the newer models.

The 2016 MacBook Pro is kind of an odd thing. Parts of it are great, like the display and touchpad, while others, like the keyboard, are unsatisfying compromises.

It’s actually got me thinking about getting a Windows laptop again because there is no escaping this keyboard now. Apple is on the verge of killing off their last models that used the old-style keyboard (the models date back to 2015).

HP has a new edition of their Spectre x360 coming out later this month. I’ll give it a test drive if it’s carried locally. If the touchpad is tolerable and the keyboard is better, they may just have a sale.

Anyone want a slightly-used MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)?

UPDATE April 2, 2018: My search for a replacement laptop is documented here and here. I am still mulling over a replacement as of this update.

Now that my MacBook Pro is out of warranty, I am starting to experience what I call KA, which is not related to the mumbo jumbo in Stephen King’s The Dark Tower. KA is Keyboard Anxiety, the fear that something will happen to your keyboard, necessitating an expensive repair.

The Wirecutter has a section of their MacBook guide specifically addressing the design and reliability of the keyboard:

And across the scores of professional reviews and hundreds of online comments we’ve seen since this keyboard design debuted, few people say they love typing on it. Many people admit that, like us, they’ve gotten used to the new keyboard, while others actively dislike using it.

Here’s another article on the new MacBook keyboard that highlights issues with the design, which notes how it’s all but impossible to remove the space bar for repair without breaking it, so if the space bar is not working right, you’re likely looking at getting the entire top assembly of the MacBook replaced, since the keyboard is an integrated part of it. The cost of the replacement, out of warranty, can be hundreds of dollars, even if it’s just that single key that is not working. This keyboard design was done in the name of making the laptops ever-thinner and lighter. I think this is probably peak Apple form over function, as they have retreated on their “thin or die” philosophy since the development and subsequent fallout over the butterfly mechanism the new keyboard uses. The iPhone 7/8, Series 3 Watch and new iPad are all thicker and heavier than their immediate predecessors (though not by much).

Also amusing is the official Apple support document on How to clean the keyboard of your MacBook or MacBook Pro. Hold your MacBook (minimum cost $1729 Canadian before tax) at an absurd, near-upside down angle and spray air into it. I especially like the second image where the guy doing the cleaning is apparently palming the MacBook instead of actually gripping it. He’s putting a lot of faith in that left hand:

If reliability problems are as bad as they may be, I suspect this will be a rare case of Apple retreating on a design, though I expect them to spend at least another generation trying to fix it first. If they do abandon it, the result will probably be slightly thicker and heavier laptops, but other companies have demonstrated that light and thin is still quite possible while retaining a more traditional laptop keyboard design.

UPDATE April 3, 2023: Yes, almost exactly to the day, five years later, another update! It turned out I was right, as Apple did indeed continue to use the butterfly keyboard on early 2019 models, but finally stopped with the 16-inch MacBook Pro introduced in fall 2019, which switched back to a scissor switch mechanism. I traded in my MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) just as its four-year keyboard warranty plan was expiring, getting a nice 2020 M1 MacBook Air. I sold the Air a few weeks ago, as I no longer need a laptop at all, and my Mac needs are now provided by a Mac Studio, which came with no keyboard at all.

Keyboards are hard

A month after posting about getting a new keyboard, I do not have a new keyboard.

But I did break out two of the three (!) mechanical keyboards I already have to test them again.

Playing around with the Filco with brown switches convinced me of two things:

  1. The form factor without numeric keypad is the way to go.
  2. Brown switches are not the way to go.

Playing around with the Das with blue switches left me more uncertain. First, the Das specifically is big and heavy and I’m not really into big and heavy for my keyboards anymore. It also has a glossy finish. Note to keyboard manufacturers: NEVER DO THIS. The gloss attracts fingerprints and reflects light like crazy. It doesn’t look good, it just looks distracting.

I still like the feel of blue switches but having used a Logitech K750 for a good long while now, it’s a big shift to go from a low-travel soft touch laptop-style keyboard to one that CLACKS with great force.

So it’s made me wonder if my other choice from the above-linked post, red switches, might be the way to go. You get the reliability of a mechanical switch but without the CLACK, you get the handy non-keypad form factor, and you get keys that actuate without requiring a lot of force.

I’m still undecided.

I’ll pledge to make a decision before National Novel Writing Month starts. That means I have one month. If it goes like my attempts to come up with ideas for NaNoWriMo, I will not be announcing the recently-placed keyboard order I’ve made on October 31. But we’ll see.

I kind of wish Logitech made a version of the K750 without the numeric keypad. I’d grab that in an instant. They do have smaller keyboards, but they all either connect via Bluetooth (yuck) or don’t have full-size navigation keys or both. Why is there no Goldilocks keyboard? Or why can’t I find it?

The answer in one month!*

UPDATE, April 29, 2018: I just ordered the Cooler Master MasterKeys S, a tenkeyless mechanical keyboard with red switches. It’s significantly cheaper than the customizable WASD keyobards I’ve considered, so it will serve as a (still pricey) test drive of red switches. I will make a new post to describe how it goes. And how clicky it is.

*answer may or may not be included.

Mechanical indecision

I recently bought a Cherry MX switch tester from WASD keyboards. It’s cute in a geeky sort of way and makes for a decent conversation piece:

I don’t actually leave it parked beside my mouse.

Its purpose is to let you try different types of mechanical keyboard switches without spending $1000 on six full-size mechanical keyboards. It also came with cute little o-rings that can be inserted to dampen the sound. The blue switch on the far right, for example, makes a very loud CLACK when you bottom out the key and I hit keys like someone trying to ring the bell on a strongman machine at the fairground, so this is important to me.

But after clicking and CLACKing I am still uncertain which one I like best. The blues actually feel nice to me and the noise isn’t really an issue since I’m just typing all by my lonesome here. The browns I find unsatisfying. They lack the satisfying CLACK of blues and feel like an inadequate compromise between the blues’ firmness and noise level.

The reds have very little CLACK and are fairly quiet as a result. The action is smoother than the browns, so they seem like a good choice if I decide noise is important after all. Possible drawback: accidental actuation if my fingers go rogue, since they require less force (especially compared to the blacks as noted below).

Blacks feel like firmer reds, with little difference in noise.

Clears feel firm but have less CLACK. Sort of a kinder, gentler blue, even if they require about the same force to actuate.

Finally, greens are, according to WASD’s mechanical keyboard guide, “almost identical to the Blue switches, but have a harder spring for a much higher actuation force.” This does not strike me as a good thing.

Reading over the above, I can rule out:

  • brown switches (unsatisfying compromise)
  • green switches (blues have the same CLACK but don’t require as much force)
  • clear switches (very similar to the greens)
  • black switches (no CLACK and requires a lot of force)

Of the remaining two:

  • blues have great CLACK and moderate actuation force
  • reds have no CLACK but require less force than blues

So it really comes down to CLACK or no CLACK. I am leaning toward CLACK.

I may bring out my DAS blue switch keyboard again to remind myself what blues are like. The eventual new keyboard will be an 87-key model, meaning it will not include the numeric keypad (which the Das and my current Logitech keyboards have). Smaller keyboards are more ergonomic and I don’t really use the numeric keypad that often (and can always get a separate one if I really missed it).

WASD lets you choose both the design and color of the keycaps. I’m still experimenting with the trillions of combinations but I’m liking this distinguished black and gray variation I came up with that uses a centered layout for the lettering:

I shall decide soon™.

Save

HP to aliens: Be careful with our keyboards

If you happen to buy an HP PC you may find a slip of paper inside the keyboard box with a warning about the keyboard. You may think it’s the usual warning about carpal tunnel or something but no, it’s a warning about breaking the keyboard.

HP keyboard warning
Keep your dirty alien hands off our keyboards

The two handy tips, summarized:

  1. To prevent breakage, don’t bend the stand legs back until they break. Also, to avoid car accidents, don’t crash your car.
  2. Apply light pressure when using the keyboard. This implies that it’s possible to type with enough force to break the keyboard. Either these are very flimsy keyboards or HP imagines anyone using them will pound the keys like an angry villain with super strength*.

The best part, though, is the hands. Those splayed out appendages are like a Rorschach test. One glance and they look like pine air fresheners you’d hang on the rearview mirror, another glance and maybe they are tree trunks or deformed octopi or alien claws.

Since it is impossible to type without putting some kind of downward pressure on the keys, the illustration can be interpreted as telling you to not use the keyboard for typing. This would certainly keep it the legs from breaking. A good warning, then.

* based on my experience using keyboards in public–with many a broken leg, missing, stuck or wobbly keys–I think there may in fact be a lot of villains with super strength out there typing away

The cowardly keyboard

I have a thing for keyboards.

When mechanical keyboards came back in vogue I started buying them, trying to find one that felt just right.

My first was a CoolerMaster Storm Trigger with blue switch keys.

CM Storm Trigger

It’s a fine keyboard in many ways and I like the solid clacky feel of the keys. When I resist pounding on the keys like a deranged ape they aren’t even that loud, really, because they actuate before being fully engaged.

However, there were some things I didn’t like:

  • the Windows key doesn’t work by default. You have to enable it in a profile. This is because it’s a GAMERZ keyboard and gamerz don’t need Windows.
  • it’s extra wide due to the macro keys,. I have never used macro keys on a keyboard.
  • the red LED lighting is distracting. When it’s off the keys are hard to read.

So I searched on and got a Metadot Das Keyboard, also using blue switches.

Das Keyboard Professional

No backlit keys and a standard keyboard layout, no funny macro stuff. It would seem ideal, except for one thing.

The keyboard casing is glossy and the keys are as well, to a lesser extent. They reflect light and my computer corner cubbyhole has a light that sits nearly directly above the keyboard, so this becomes a problem.

Onto keyboard #3: The Filco Majestouch 2. This one has brown switches, which are less clacky.

Filco Majestouch Keyboard

 

(The lovely green border came as part of the stock photo.)

On balance I don’t mind the brown switches but if push came to shove I think I find the blue switches a little smoother in feel. The lack of a numeric keypad was a bit disconcerting at first but I realized I never used it much and the narrower width of the keyboard more than makes up for it. The finish on the keyboard is nicely matte so the keys are easily readable. I think if this keyboard had blue switches it might cause me to end my search.

But it doesn’t.

But Filco makes a model that does! Now I just have to find a retailer.

Also, their website is a charming pastiche of quaintly clumsy English and images like this:

I conclude with this video of the Ducky Shine 3 Yellow keyboard. This is a keyboard with backlit keys. And the keys are blank.

The exciting world of new keyboards

I have a Saitek Eclipse keyboard and the main reason I got it was for the backlit keys. They’re cool in a geeky sort of way and practical in low-light conditions. However, I discovered over time that I preferred not working in low-light conditions on the computer, so the backlit keys seemed less necessary. What was worse, though, was the lettering on the keys being obliterated by my apparently acid-spewing fingers. The E, O, P, A, S, H, L and N keys are all smudged to the point of being nearly unreadable. Awhile back I had bought the Microsoft Digital Media Keyboard 3000 which, as the name implies, comes with a hojillion multimedia keys that do everything but iron your clothes and walk the dog. I pulled it out and remembered why I had not taken to it when I first tried it. The keys are ‘low travel’, which is fancy keyboard talk for the keys not sticking up as much and being scrunched a little closer together. The idea is you don’t need to press down as far or stretch as much, thus saving wear and tear on your fingers, whether or not they spew acid.

I find it makes me more prone to make typos because it feels funny. However, this seems as good a time as any to do battle once again with that unforgiving shrew, Mavis Beacon. Stay tuned!