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Web site iFixit.com, which is known to tear down new Apple Hardware, has revealed that the company is trying to quietly fix the seizing up of keys and getting debris under them.
The company said that Apple has added a thin layer of Silicon under the keys. This will not only help eliminate the keys seizing up, but it also provides a quieter typing experience as well.
To back up its claim, iFixit points towards a patent for the technologyApple may be using in the third-generation butterfly keyboard, which describes a “guard structure” that keeps direct contaminants away from the movement mechanism.
iFixit does warn, however, that while the silicone barrier is clearly in place, there’s no way to definitively prove that it’s a reliability fix rather than just a sound damping measure, citing statements from Apple to The Vergethat have said the new keyboard design wasn’t introduced to “solve [dust] issues.” Apple also told The Vergeand other sites that the issue in question has only impacted a small number of customers.
iFixit speculates that Apple is avoiding sharing the complete reasoning behind the keyboard redesign because of the class action lawsuits that it’s currently facing over faulty 2016/2017 MacBook Pro keyboards.
Apple is in the middle of several class-action lawsuits for the failure of their keyboards, so of course they can’t just come out and say, “Hey, we fixed it!” That says there was a problem to begin with. But you’ve heard that clever analysis from John Gruber already. I’m just here to posit: the advertised boost in quietude is a side-effect of this rubbery membrane. The quiet angle is, quite literally, a cover up.
Some 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro owners have experienced issues with sticky, unresponsive, or repeating keys, leading to significant public outcry that eventually pushed Apple to launch a free repair program for those machines. As a result of the attention given to the issue, some customers have been wary about purchasing a new MacBook Pro because of possible future problems.
iFixit plans to continue on with its teardown next week and may have more information to share, but given the interest in the third-generation butterfly keyboard, the site didn’t want to wait to highlight potential good news.
Photo Credit: iFixIt.com
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