Apple says new MacBook Pro keyboard won't fix sticky key issue (update)
The new MacBook Pro comes with a quieter keyboard, but sticky keys may still be a possiblity.
Apple's 2nd-gen butterfly switch keyboard. The new 3rd-gen is quieter.
Hoping Apple's refreshed MacBook Pro -- just announced today -- would include a keyboard that can't be damaged by a little dust? (Seriously: There've been multiple lawsuits now.)
Sadly, while the new 2018 MacBook Pro does have an updated third-generation keyboard, Apple tells CNET it doesn't include any new engineering or tweaks to address the sticky key issue.
Instead, the third-generation keyboard's tweaks are about making it quieter. In a brief typing test, CNET's long-time MacBook reviewer Dan Ackerman says it isn't "whisper-quiet" but does "lack the sharp click of the previous design."
Technically, Apple has acknowledged only that "a small percentage of the keyboards in certain MacBook and MacBook Pro models" have demonstrated the sticky key issue. If you buy one, you may likely never have that problem.
But it's worth noting that when the company launched its free keyboard repair program in June, it made literally every single model of MacBook Pro with the "butterfly switch" keyboard eligible.
Oh by the way -- today, Apple has apparently discontinued the 2015 15-inch MacBook Pro, which was the last MacBook Pro with the older style of keyboard.
Update, July 13: Apple may have not been totally honest -- this teardown provides evidence that the company may have quietly solved the issue. We're waiting to hear back from Apple.
