Things pro users care about: good keyboard; reliability of system as a whole; battery life; performance
Things pro users don't care about: thinness; weight
I get that consumers love the thin and light thing, but pro users aren't like that, and Apple have gone far enough already - perhaps too far.
How many pro buyers would prefer an extra hour battery life and a better keyboard over a couple mm shaved off the height? Got to be 70% or more...
Love the keyboard on my 2018. If anything at this point, I'm kinda thinking shallower travel would be even better. I'm ready for the solid state keyboard once they nail it.
I can slim the four-word phrase "Apple's obsession with thinness" down to two words: "digital anorexia." This conveys both the underlying problem AND the collateral damage it causes.
Digital bulimia might be apter, they're vomiting out functionality that a lot of users want.
The latest Apple keyboard is the best one I’ve ever used, but I suspect the reason is that I can touch type. Once I got out of the habit of stabbing the keys, I improved accuracy and comfort.
As you said earlier, wrist position is key. The flat keyboard leads to a neutral wrist position and greater comfort.
For me, the old Apple keyboard with its alpine slope profile was a disaster.
I'm also a touch typist who, in addition to a late 2017 MacBook Pro, also owns a mechanical keyboard. I will admit that while trying the very latest MacBook Pros at the Apple store the tactile feedback has improved somewhat. Still, switching to my MacBook Pro keyboard after a long session on my mechanical keyboard is absolutely jarring.
Considering how bad the last attempt was, I would think that they would forget about the entire concept.
now that the phones are getting thicker again, maybe they should be looking in that direction for notebooks as well. I really don’t think people would be so opposed to a couple of extra millimeters in exchange for a better keyboard. Have we all forgotten that there was a time when Apple’s laptops were considered to have the best keyboards of all laptops?
When? All I really remembered was how lousy the ThinkPad fanboys were and almost every "enthusiast" said how much they hate Mac's chiclet.
I’m starting to hate Apple. Their obsession with thinness and minimalism is pathological.
Give me back the years when Apple made robust products and tested (and used) their own software before releasing it. Now they can’t even be bothered to check to make sure new “features” aren’t conflicting with existing ones... or even recognizing who their actual customers are.
You might as well, leave the forum if you like.
Given that fact this is only a patent and no guarantee, it will be the final solution, most of your "constructive critics" jumped on the board just because they "researched" on it. Don't try to pretend you're some kind of Wiseman out there.
I like the keyboard on my 2018 MBP15. No issues personally, but I’m not a keyboard connoisseur like everyone on the Internet is. In a way, a keyboard is a kind of wearable, ie, clothing, and is subject to user preferences, and people on the Internet are blind to other people being different. If the keyboard was more reliable, I don’t think it would be the topic of conversation that it has been for the past 4 years.
I also think the laptops being thinner and lighter will be a feature Apple’s mass market customers will like. Somewhere between 10 to 12 mm to 3 lb for a MBP15 is probably the practical minimum.
Mind that, I think a 10 mm laptop can be designed to have 5 mm of key travel if desired, and Apple, who has a pretty big leg up with their ARM SoCs (those GB5 scores are crazy), is one of the few companies with the assets to do it. But they obviously think differently on what constitutes a good key press.
The other way to look at this: if it failed miserably as they suggested, the keyboard will end up pulling out the first year. Hockey puck didn't last that long. The fact that it has been a hot topic forever means the keyboard might fail, but mostly it can only cause a concern.
There's no telling what the 16" will look like and we're not in the worlds of ARM yet. Given that Coffee Lake is still hot as h---, I think 10-12mm is impossible.
Comments
when will this obsession with thinness come to an end? they'll end up ruining the functionality of the Macbook's keyboards
Given that fact this is only a patent and no guarantee, it will be the final solution, most of your "constructive critics" jumped on the board just because they "researched" on it. Don't try to pretend you're some kind of Wiseman out there.
There's no telling what the 16" will look like and we're not in the worlds of ARM yet. Given that Coffee Lake is still hot as h---, I think 10-12mm is impossible.