Editorial: The MacBook Butterfly Keyboard Problem

Photo courtesy of The Mac Observer Just recently this week, the MacBook Air joined in the sticky keyboard controversy. This issue has be...

Photo courtesy of The Mac Observer

Just recently this week, the MacBook Air joined in the sticky keyboard controversy. This issue has been reported by many 2018 MacBook Air users lately, and this MacBook is not the only Mac to get this issue. It involves the butterfly keyboard keys, that every new Mac user knows since the 2015 MacBook Pro.

The butterfly keyboard keys are quieter, thinner, and the mechanism acts like a real butterfly. When pressed, the keys go down on its entirety, thanks to the innovative mechanism Apple has designed. They want our MacBooks to be thinner than ever, since 2015.

But the climax has come in last summer of 2018, a year after the new, revolutionary 2016 MacBook Pro has launched, it encountered issues like sticky keys, repeating characters, and disappearing letters. People all over the Internet complained and argued over the issue since late 2017, and the Apple Support Communities were flooded with these conversations. Every MacBook user had to figure out what is going on, with their keys.....

Now we’ll begin with the worst scenario of the MacBook butterfly keyboard issues, which is the dust and debris under the keys! Dust can get stuck between the underside of the key and the butterfly mechanism, causing a sticky key or an abnormal key. That’s why you have to get some canned air and abduct the dust off the keys! Some people take their MacBooks to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store to get them repaired.

 Last summer, Apple has a repair program for sticky butterfly keyboards in the MacBook (early 2015 or later), MacBook Pro (late 2016 and later) and the newest, late 2018 MacBook Air. All of these MacBooks are able to receive keyboard repair from the Apple Genius Bar or an Apple Authorised Service Provider, free of charge. You can also mail your MacBook to an Apple Repair Center. As a reminder, make sure to back up your MacBook prior to sending it in for service and repair!

However, since this week, late 2018 MacBook Air users have been confessing over the issue of the butterfly keyboard all over the technology media outlets, and in Apple’s support forums. There’s also an article full of misspellings by Joanna Stern, in which she complained about her MacBook Air keyboard in the Wall Street Journal. She explained about the repeating and missing letters, in which you can also see the errors in the actual article.

Although in last July, the new MacBook Pro mid-2018 has thickened its silicone linings under the butterfly keys. This prevents larger particles of dust and debris from getting lodged between the mechanism. Still, the keys can get sticky if smaller, microscopic particles get in the keys. That reminds us about smoke affecting your lungs if we’re correct about that.

Thus far, we don’t know when Apple is going to completely resolve this problem over the MacBook keyboard. Apple added extra barriers in the keys, but the problem is still there, in some cases. There’s no permanent solution to the issue, but we should expect this in the next MacBook Pro soon.