Small nitpick the butterfly keyboard was problematic because of the high failure rate. Many, me included, actually like the feel better and the smaller key travel.
It's a big deal because a) they never fixed it and b) you have to replace the whole top half including the touchbar, etc. Mine died twice under 3 years of Apple Care and is going out again now. I don't like the short key travel, but that's such a tiny detail to me. The 4 USB-C ports are fine with me except the external video compatibility is such a flaky mess.
I'm stuck using this "cool design" as a desktop now because it costs ridiculous money to repair. And I get to flip my monitor on and off twice to get it to come back from sleep.
This is my 4th macbook pro. Previously, I had 1 battery problem in my first 2008 model and it was replaced at the Apple Store same day. My old macs ran until the batteries finally swelled years later. They weren't just sleek and cool, but super high quality and amazingly sturdy.
The other thing that stinks is that the issue wasn't something accountants did to save some bucks, but a design feature that cost me more.
I'm honestly only buying an M1 because I know that they've left the sexy-at-the-expense-of-the-customer approach.
I think Ivie sans Jobs got too focused on design and not customer experience. Apple made excellent hardware before Ivie, and likely will after. Just maybe not as many fashion shows.
I agree the reliability was a massive problem. I had to replace the keyboard (and thus logic board) for every one of those macbooks I owned until I started using a keyboard cover to prevent the issue (which Apple actually recommends against). No doubt after the 1 year warranty the keyboard would have failed again had I not upgraded on an annual basis.
With my machine of that era I just gave up and started using an old bluetooth keyboard I had around. Even when covered over apple care the third time my F key was showing the signs I just couldn't stomach the hassle.
I would say the majority of people disliked the small key travel, that’s why apple “fixed” it in the latest iteration, specifically calling it out as a benefit.
What do you like more about it compared to the newer one?
In particular my main mechanical keyboard is a 35g electro capacitive one, so I'm been pretty adjusted to lower key weights. The new Macbook keyboards are just too stiff and have
too much travel for me to type fast/not get fatigued.
I think even if one is accustomed to heavier keys, all things being equal, if they learned to type on lighter/shorter travel they can get faster at typing.
On the other hand, I use pretty light switches on a desktop keyboard and still was thumping all the way down on the butterfly keys.
I didn't hate how they felt in the act of typing, but I hated that they hurt my hands after a few hours. And (as you note) if you breathed near the laptop, they'd jam.
Niz plum EC keyboard. The combination of 35g + the dome switches are a great combo of light activation but still letting you rest your fingers on the keys without triggering them because the activation is at the top rather than linear.
I didn't say most because I couldn't really prove "most". Do you have a source showing that most hated it because of the lack of depth? Most articles I saw were just talking about the reliability issues.
