The new keyboard of MacBook Pro 2018 is tangled up: iFixit has found a silicone seal in every single key, which should also help against dust particles. Apple, on the other hand, believes that the new keyboard has only become muted.
2018 MacBook Pro offers protection against dust and muted keyboard typing
The buttons on the new MacBook Pro 2018, which uses a third-generation butterfly keyboard are covered with a “thin silicone barrier,” as iFixit found when it was disassembled.
According to iFixit, the calmer typing noise Apple advertised on the MacBook Pro 2018 models is just a side effect of the new membrane. In the opinion of professional hobbyists, this is actually a seal designed to prevent dust and other particles from accumulating under the keys and impairing their function.
To support its interpretation, iFixit points to a patent for the technology Apple uses in the third generation of the keyboard. This Apple patent describes a “protective structure” that keeps direct impurities away from the motion mechanism.
The Verge had previously written with Apple in mind that the new keyboard design was not introduced to “solve dust problems.
Why doesn’t Apple just admit it? iFixit speculates that Apple simply won’t give the complete rationale for the keyboard redesign due to the class action lawsuits it is currently pending due to faulty MacBook Pro keyboards for 2016/2017. If they did that, it would indirectly be an admission that the previous keyboards were wrongly constructed.
Some owners of MacBook Pro 2016 and 2017 had problems with stuck or non-responsive keys, sometimes even multiple entries. Apple then launched a free repair program for these notebooks.
By the way, the new keyboard is really quieter. TechCrunch has released a video that demonstrates the typing noise of the new MacBook Pro 2018 compared to an earlier MacBook Pro model. Mac Life has had the opportunity to compare the keyboards at an Apple Retail Store and can also confirm that the new devices are significantly quieter.