Apple’s new Touch Bar MacBook Pro, released last week, has a new keyboard that appears to be redesigned to fix the failure issue plaguing the 2016 and 2017 models. iFixit found a membrane under the keys to help keep your lunch from getting stuck underneath.
iFixit said in a blog post,
This flexible enclosure is quite obviously an ingress-proofing measure to cover up the mechanism from the daily onslaught of microscopic dust. Not—to our eyes—a silencing measure. In fact, Apple has a patent for this exact tech designed to “prevent and/or alleviate contaminant ingress.”
Apple introduced new Touch Bar MacBook Pro models last week with faster processors and more RAM, as well as a redesigned keyboard the company touts as quieter. A keyboard that isn’t as noisy addresses one complaint from users, but Apple isn’t talking about the other major complaint: failing keys.
The mid 2018 Touch Bar MacBook Pro has been available for only a few days, so it’s too early to tell if the redesigned keyboard improves overall reliability. Apple told The Verge, “This new third-generation keyboard wasn’t designed to solve those issues.”
Unfortunately, we really do have to wait and see if the 2018 Touch Bar MacBook Pro keyboard really is more reliable.