Anyone have a M5 macbook pro that doesn't feel "right"?

[FlyingTexan]

I have my M1 pro here and this M5 Max. The M5 the keys feel a little softer, almost like there's something sticky behind them. My mouse seems harder like at times doesn't register the clicks as well. I don't know why but it's been driving me crazy. Especially hitting shift with my right little finger leads me to having to try multiple times. This honestly doesn't feel as premium as my M1 MBP 14".

Anyone else notice this? Is this something I just need to live with or is it a known thing? The keys just feel off and mushier and it's leading to more typing errors for me.

 

[conmee]

I don't have an M1 to compare, but my M5 Max keys feel good, easy travel, clackier than my 2019 15" MBP with the stiff as a board no travel keyboard. TrackPad feels fine with both actual clicks and tap to click. For touch typing I haven't had any issues with Space/Shift/Tab or any of the keys. Wife's M4 MBA feels about the same, don't really notice a difference. I didn't do much searching, but a few Reddit posts say that the M5 Pro/Max feels "tighter" compared to the M1 Pro/Max they upgraded from and hypothesize that it may be in part due to the M1 being 5 or so years old now and maybe lost some of its original firmness and they're just used to the M1 so the new M5 feels a bit different. According to what I see online, other than some of the keys losing labels (Shift, Caps Lock, Tab, Delete, Return, etc) on the M5 Pro/Max, doesn't appear to be any other changes to the keyboard.

 

[benholt]

I'm on an M3 Max 16" and haven't had that mushy-key thing on mine, so what you're describing sounds more like a unit issue than a design shift. Worth firing up Karabiner's EventViewer (or the built-in Keyboard Viewer) in a quiet room and hammering that right shift specifically — if it's actually missing presses, that's a return, not something you have to live with.

The trackpad click bit is easier to isolate: System Settings > Trackpad, drop Click firmness to Light and see how it feels. Force Touch tuning has drifted a bit generation to generation, so what felt right on an M1 Pro can feel dead on a newer one until you knock the firmness down a notch.

 

[JDAM]

Try an M5 Air and compare the two. I don't think there's any question the Air is "clicker"; certainly the travel is less and the Air feels less "mushy" and keys "bottom out" more definitively. I have heard the Pro keyboard referred to as more "premium" feeling, but I'm definitely not sure that's the case. I have the M5 Pro but mostly use a $20 external keyboard from Amazon and they honestly feel about the same.

 

[theorist9]

I have my M1 pro here and this M5 Max. The M5 the keys feel a little softer, almost like there's something sticky behind them. My mouse seems harder like at times doesn't register the clicks as well. I don't know why but it's been driving me crazy. Especially hitting shift with my right little finger leads me to having to try multiple times. This honestly doesn't feel as premium as my M1 MBP 14".

Anyone else notice this? Is this something I just need to live with or is it a known thing? The keys just feel off and mushier and it's leading to more typing errors for me.

Got an Apple Store near you that you can visit to compare?

 

[Royksöpp]

One difference I know for a fact is the texture of the key caps. They're a little bit more matte and not as slick as previous generations. I had an M1 Pro and M4 pro and they are not the same.