An Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) breaks down the MacBook keyboard problem on Reddit, saying “Apple’s dust excuse is bullsh*t!”
[Apple Finally Serious About MacBook Keyboard Problems]
MacBook Keyboard Problem
Apple’s butterfly keyboard in its latest MacBook models have had a host of issues. After months the company has acknowledged the problem and offering one day repairs in Apple retail stores. According to the Reddit post, there are three theories on why the keyboard switches fail:
- Dust Theory: This generally takes Apple’s words at face value and don’t go deep into it.
- Heat Theory: This assumes that Dust Theory is bullsh*t and assumes that overheating causes the material to expand and warp enough to render the buttons inoperable (2018 TouchBar models in particular).
- Sh*t Design Theory: This assumes and accepts that it’s just awful design.
The most commonly reported problems where u/cil3x works are no input from certain keys, particularly from vowels; multi-input, again particularly from vowels; and sticky, crunchy, and/or stuck keys.
It’s a long Reddit post and I recommend reading it from the source. But this person tears a MacBook apart to figure out how each theory could or couldn’t affect the keys. The conclusion u/cil3x reaches is that, while the exact cause of the keyboard failure isn’t known, it seems more likely that it’s a design failure, rather than a dust or heat issue.
If it was a design flaw that should of been caught in QC testing.
If it is due to warping from heat, that is a design flaw that should have been caught in QC testing.
If it is due to dust jamming the mechanism, that is a design flaw that should have been caught in QC testing.
No matter what theory you believe, the root cause comes down to a bad design that was not tested adequately. In addition to lab tests, you have to do real world testing. Remember the Samsung Fold worked great in their little folding robots in the lab. But in the real world, with iffy temperatures, and food particles, and chips of stuff is a whole different thing. Apple simply did not do enough real world testing.