05-28-2019, 05:59 AM
https://www.extremetech.com/computing/29...oard-fixes
Quote:According to a recent teardown posted on reddit by a self-described Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) Technician, it’s not even completely clear that dust has ever been the problem here. Dust is Apple’s explanation. Dust is the explanation we’ve all run with. He states: “My suspicion is that the metal dome experiences metal fatigue and slowly begin to lose connection, or that that little U-shaped cutout in the centre of the dome weakens and starts to easily bounce when pressed, making contact 2+ times.” (This would explain the loss connections as well as the multi-presses.)
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If Apple doesn’t know why its keyboard design is failing this way, it would explain a lot. It would explain why the company has allowed journalists to make claims about how each successive generation of repairs should resolve issues but has avoided those claims itself. It would explain why the company has made small reliability changes to the key designs (maybe) but not taken any steps to prevent further dust or dirt intrusion, as near as anyone can tell.
But if the issue were to turn out not to be dust related, it would mean Apple has been lying for years to cover the fact that it doesn’t know what its actual problem is. That also strains belief. It is possible, however, that these keyboards fail in more than one type of way, or that they have multiple interlocking issues. It could be that if dust or debris maneuvers inside the keys in certain ways, it can then be destructive. The exact details are unclear.
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I don’t recommend hardware when the company manufacturing it behaves in this fashion. Apple fans would be best served by a better-built Windows PC (possibly configured as a Hackintosh) than by rolling the dice on a machine with known potential defects and no communication from the company on whether they’ve been resolved. Obviously, there will be people — probably the vast majority of people — who buy a Mac laptop and never have a problem with it. That’s a good thing. I’m still not going to accept that people who drop four figures on a supposedly premium laptop should be planning their first repair visit in the back of their minds when they walk out of the store.
Our “Third-Generation MacBook Keyboards Are Still failing” article linked up below contains a chronological account of just the various consumer-hostile moves Apple has made against its customers in recent years, if anyone is wondering why I’m this unhappy over a keyboard problem.