MBA 2018–NOOO! Keyboard failed...

[Scriabin]

Very discouraging—spacebar jammed on my brand new $1600 MBA 2018; they are quick to repair, but truly costs me hours to go to the store, erase and reload all applications. My last MacBook 12” had to be sent in twice. They don’t even offer a backup computer while I wait. Clearly the 3rd gen keyboard is not a solution.

Apple...this is quite untenable...as the director of a nonprofit that I’ve purchased all apple laptops and equipment for the employees, but this keyboard issue is forcing me to look at other systems for the future. Please fix the issue....

 

[Juicy Box]

It seems like there have been a lot of posts about the new keyboards.

Maybe Apple should just scrap the low profile design, and go back to stuff that just works...

 

[AlexJoda]

They should a least add the 2018 MBA to the keyboard repair program so that customers are not left alone when this happens at day 366 after purchase. The keyboard repair (that is not the customers fault) by replacing the complete case is more expensive than many new notebooks....

 

[ddevore9]

I have an appointment today to bring in my 2018 MBP. The spacebar randomly puts double spaces. I'm hoping at a minimum they extend the warranties on these keyboards for us like they did for the previous gen.

 

[bearinthetown]

I'm having the same problem with the E key, but it goes away when I press it for a while in different spots. Still, unacceptable. It's pathetic how this is 4th generation and still faulty.

The sad thing is that Apple will never admit they screwed up. They should have get rid of butterfly keyboards and ridiculous touchbars.

 

[Macdctr]

I've been hearing a lot of people having issues with the butterfly keyboards and now I'm seeing you guys with your 2018 MBAs having issues with your keyboards... makes me glad I waited it out. Hope this is resolved for all of you soon!

 

[bearinthetown]

I've been hearing a lot of people having issues with the butterfly keyboards and now I'm seeing you guys with your 2018 MBAs having issues with your keyboards... makes me glad I waited it out. Hope this is resolved for all of you soon!

How would this get resolved?

 

[Howard2k]

They should a least add the 2018 MBA to the keyboard repair program so that customers are not left alone when this happens at day 366 after purchase. The keyboard repair (that is not the customers fault) by replacing the complete case is more expensive than many new notebooks....

That’s not enough IMO. I think it’s reasonable to expect to laptop to last five years (battery aside). Apple should be going beyond this.

You can google “Apple feedback” and let them know that you’re unhappy with the keyboard.

 

[Macdctr]

How would this get resolved?

That's completely up to Apple how they resolve this fiasco... until then I will stay with my 2015 MBA. I'm not impressed with their new product...

 

[bearinthetown]

I had MBA 2013 and 2018. If I didn't need Retina, I would stay with 2013 too. It's just a better product in general, so in my opinion that's reasonable of you. Older MacBook Airs have the spirit of Apple in them, they are nicely smooth. The new one kinda feels like a Windows machine, it lacks the smoothness.

 

[myrtlebee]

I could never buy new MacBooks because of this keyboard issue. It feels like a matter of if and not when, when it comes to failure of these keyboards. My anxiety would be through the roof waiting for a key to fail and then the stress of having to get it repaired. And then what? Get it repaired every year? Because you know it's going to happen again. I will never entertain buying a new MacBook until this is completely resolved with a new keyboard design. Quite sad.

 

[Macdctr]

I could never buy new MacBooks because of this keyboard issue. It feels like a matter of if and not when, when it comes to failure of these keyboards. My anxiety would be through the roof waiting for a key to fail and then the stress of having to get it repaired. And then what? Get it repaired every year? Because you know it's going to happen again. I will never entertain buying a new MacBook until this is completely resolved with a new keyboard design. Quite sad.

I can totally relate! It seems Apple is going all in with their new keyboard design for all of their laptops and this is why I am staying with my MBA rather than buying one of their new laptops. If the use of a laptop with Retina display became an issue then I have my 2012 15inch retina MBP that I can use otherwise my MBA is more than adequate for my needs...

 

[Koh Phi Phi]

Shame

I shelved my former Touchbar MBP 15" 2016 when its gen-2 butterfly keyboard crapped out on me (right as the 12-month guarantee period expired, mind you...). I was thinking of giving the new MBA a try, but if the keyboard problems are starting to pop up again for the gen-3, I might have to think about it...

 

[Ghost31]

Shame

I shelved my former Touchbar MBP 15" 2016 when its gen-2 butterfly keyboard crapped out on me (right as the 12-month guarantee period expired, mind you...). I was thinking of giving the new MBA a try, but if the keyboard problems are starting to pop up again for the gen-3, I might have to think about it...

At some point, there’s no Mac laptops for us to turn to. They all have the same keyboards and if they all fail at some point, a lot of us might have to move over to windows for a good keyboard laptop. And that’s a damn shame

 

[bearinthetown]

At some point, there’s no Mac laptops for us to turn to. They all have the same keyboards and if they all fail at some point, a lot of us might have to move over to windows for a good keyboard laptop. And that’s a damn shame

Shame indeed, just like many other things since Tim Cook took the wheel.

 

[Macdctr]

Based on recent trends by Apple, I may end up converting my 2015MBA and my MacPros to Linux and dropping Mac OS altogether once support goes away for my computers.....

I refuse to spend a lot of money for a product that comes with issues like faulty unreliable keyboards in Apple's current laptop line...

 

[goslowjoe]

It seems like there have been a lot of posts about the new keyboards.

Maybe Apple should just scrap the low profile design, and go back to stuff that just works...

Exactly what I said this week when I reviewed a pre-owned Mid-2015 15" MacBook Pro I bought on Amazon - Apple should bite the bullet, scrap the design from 2016 onwards, and return to the classic design before it. It has none of the problems the new units have. Stop the stupidity looking for the thinnest possible design (and many people are equally guilty here with their expectations). They could easily add one USB-C port, even two, beef up the processor specs, and have units that well, just work.

 

[bearinthetown]

Exactly what I said this week when I reviewed a pre-owned Mid-2015 15" MacBook Pro I bought on Amazon - Apple should bite the bullet, scrap the design from 2016 onwards, and return to the classic design before it. It has none of the problems the new units have. Stop the stupidity looking for the thinnest possible design (and many people are equally guilty here with their expectations). They could easily add one USB-C port, even two, beef up the processor specs, and have units that well, just work.

I'm pretty sure Apple knows what it's doing. They just don't want to make good laptops anymore. They want you to buy a new one in hope to get rid of the annoying features, just to find the disappointment again. This is their current strategy, which pays off in a short term.

I highly doubt it that a billion dollar company is not capable of making a decent keyboard. I imagine how their planning looks like. They consciously design flaws that will make us buy next device soon. Just like Apple in Steve Jobs era was about simplicity, stability and pushing things forward, Apple in Tim Cook era is about making money no matter what. They are selling disappointments.

 

[Macdctr]

Exactly what I said this week when I reviewed a pre-owned Mid-2015 15" MacBook Pro I bought on Amazon - Apple should bite the bullet, scrap the design from 2016 onwards, and return to the classic design before it. It has none of the problems the new units have. Stop the stupidity looking for the thinnest possible design (and many people are equally guilty here with their expectations). They could easily add one USB-C port, even two, beef up the processor specs, and have units that well, just work.

All very good points. What turned me off on the new MBA is that Apple limited processor options. In the previous Gen MBA you had a choice of a dual core i5 or i7 processor. You don't have this choice anymore with the 2018 model... sad. I always went for the spec'd out i7 and have not had any issues. Although my 11inch MBA has the base spec (i5 and 4GB RAM), this is something I intend to correct by swapping out the logic board for one that has an i7/8GB configuration at a later time.

Then when you discover that the Gen3 butterfly keyboard, which was to correct the deficiencies pointed out in the Gen1 and Gen2 keyboards, did not fix the reliability issues and is also defected.... that's enough for me to pass.

Fortunately the display of my 2015MBA does not bother me and I can watch movies, YouTube videos, play music or do anything I need and don't have any complaints. Yes, I have a laptop with a Retina display (see sig below) and see the difference between the two but it does not bother me to use a laptop with a lower resolution display. It is not a deal breaker for me.

What is a deal breaker for me however is not having the choice of which dual core processor I want in my new laptop and having that unreliable keyboard....

 

[Premal212]

I have an appointment today to bring in my 2018 MBP. The spacebar randomly puts double spaces. I'm hoping at a minimum they extend the warranties on these keyboards for us like they did for the previous gen.

Let us know how you get on, if they replaced without making a huge fuss about it, I'm taking mine in too.

 

[Scriabin]

Report: just got back the MBA 2018 this week; functioning as it should. Supposedly out of warranty that is a $550+ repair!! Unbelievable; if I had to pay for this out of warranty I would be done with Apple products.

Interesting note, the touch fingerprint sensor functions perfectly now; before it would work only 50-55% of the time (pretty much useless as it was so unpredictable, and this was after deleting/recording my fingerprint data at least a dozen times). I had pretty much given up on it--however the repaired MBA fingerprint sensor works nearly flawlessly.

Anyway--I agree with the many comments from my colleagues: there is no doubt Apple knows of the keyboard reliability issues.

Without a doubt, for our employees, I will hold off on any laptop purchases from Apple until they address the keyboard issue. I feel, at the very least, Apple will need to offer the same extended keyboard replacement warranty for all laptops for the foreseeable future until they regain my faith in their products. It's really a shame they would even risk losing larger enterprise customers for an issue they could correct easily.

Thanks to all...and good luck....

 

[auxbuss]

Thanks for the update. I'm loving my MBA, but I agree with your assessment of the paid fix cost. Given their cash pile, Apple needs to think about this.

I'm also not buying MBPs at the moment commercially – personally, I'm probably going to get a Mac mini as an MBP replacement and use the MBA as the portable, ymmv.

Apple have a further problem: even with new component designs, folk are no longer going to trust them. It's going to be 'wait and see' until they are trusted again. That'll take years.

 

[torana355]

The die-hards will tell you it's a very isolated issue that only affects a very small percentage of users, i say it's just a matter of when it will break, not if. Thankfully my 2011 mba still runs like a champ after years of abuse.

 

[vaugha]

Thanks for the update. I'm loving my MBA, but I agree with your assessment of the paid fix cost. Given their cash pile, Apple needs to think about this.

I'm also not buying MBPs at the moment commercially – personally, I'm probably going to get a Mac mini as an MBP replacement and use the MBA as the portable, ymmv.

Apple have a further problem: even with new component designs, folk are no longer going to trust them. It's going to be 'wait and see' until they are trusted again. That'll take years.

This is very well-put. I'm one of those folks that is not trusting them anymore like I used to.

I'm still waiting on 2019 mbps. 3rd gen keyboards still have a lot of issues and I can't give apple my hard earned money just like that. Apple reported only a small no. are affected but I have never seen anyone w/ 2015 12" macbook w/ original 1st gen butterfly keys that used their machines reliably more than 3 years. I'd love to be proven wrong.

Seems like the failure on these keyboards is pretty much inevitable in the first 5 years of ownership. Considering I'm still using my 7-year-old 2012 rmbp 15" w/o a single issue even up to this day and my next upgrade will be used for another 5 years minimum, I have to wait and see.

W/ these keyboard failures, t2 problems, display cable going bad, speakers hissing/crackling, I think mac mini or mac pro is a much better buy since portability isn't critical for me.

Report: just got back the MBA 2018 this week; functioning as it should. Supposedly out of warranty that is a $550+ repair!! Unbelievable; if I had to pay for this out of warranty I would be done with Apple products.

Interesting note, the touch fingerprint sensor functions perfectly now; before it would work only 50-55% of the time (pretty much useless as it was so unpredictable, and this was after deleting/recording my fingerprint data at least a dozen times). I had pretty much given up on it--however the repaired MBA fingerprint sensor works nearly flawlessly.

Anyway--I agree with the many comments from my colleagues: there is no doubt Apple knows of the keyboard reliability issues.

Without a doubt, for our employees, I will hold off on any laptop purchases from Apple until they address the keyboard issue. I feel, at the very least, Apple will need to offer the same extended keyboard replacement warranty for all laptops for the foreseeable future until they regain my faith in their products. It's really a shame they would even risk losing larger enterprise customers for an issue they could correct easily.

Thanks to all...and good luck....

If you don't mind me asking, how many 2015+ macbooks and/or 2016+ mbps are deployed in your company and have had issues w.r.t. keyboard, and display flex cable and others?

 

[AustinIllini]

If the problem is as prevalent as some here say, you're looking at 4 years of keyboard support. My wife started having problems on her 3.5 year old retina MacBook, took it in, back with a new keyboard in three days.

Hers wasn't erased, either. Not sure why they erased some people's Macs.