Last Updated on 17/10/2021 by TDH Publishing (A)
According to recent reports, Apple is planning to launch a scissor keyboard on its rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro later this year. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the tech giant would be replacing the unpopular butterfly keyboard in 2019 rather than 2020, according to reports.
Apple had rolled out its butterfly switch design starting with its computer revamp in 2015 attempting an effort to make the laptops lighter and thinner. But users complained concerning the sticky keys, as well as letters typing in duplicate or not at all.
Kuo had earlier this month said Apple wouldn’t be switching over to the scissor mechanism on the MacBook Pro until 2020, despite predicting in June that the company would release a 16-inch MacBook Pro in Q4.
“The refresh versions of alternative MacBook models in 2020 will change to adopt the scissor mechanism keyboard, too,” said Kuo in an analyst note, according to report. The keyboard component will rise from a price of $8-$12 to $25-$30, added Kuo. Kuo had originally foretold the scissor keyboard would come to the MacBook Air by the end of this year.
The butterfly keyboard has been a notable downside for Apple for years. In an attempt to slim down its MacBooks, it introduced the butterfly keyboard in 2015. Since then, users have complained that the keys would stop working if dust got under them. Apple has introduced a series of measures to prevent that from happening: it upgraded and modified the design with rubber stoppers to keep dust out, and then it tweaked the design with some new materials in the mechanism to improve their reliability. Apple has since confirmed the difficulty, saying that it’s only affected a small number of devices, and it launched a repair program.
The scissor design must not solely improve and enhance reliability, but also increase travel for each key, thus fixing two chief complaints users have had about the butterfly keyboard design since its inception.
Meanwhile, Kuo expects Apple to fully do away with the butterfly keyboard design across its entire MacBook Pro line-up by 2020, thus doing away with what may very well be one of Apple’s most backward style decisions in history.
