Couldn't agree more RB! The point is you shouldn't have to spend your money to buy a product that clearly has defective parts in it (butterfly keyboard). Apple used to be much better than this!
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MBA 2018–NOOO! Keyboard failed...
- Thread starter Scriabin
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Couldn't agree more RB! The point is you shouldn't have to spend your money to buy a product that clearly has defective parts in it (butterfly keyboard). Apple used to be much better than this!
I so wish I could move to windows sometimes. But there are so many stop signs saying “hell no! Turn around and go back to Mac!”
I’d miss out on the apple eco system and stuff like my Apple Watch opening my computer, iMessage, reminders, voice memos, etc. I’d also miss out on the force touch trackpad, which I absolutely love. And the stable nature of Mac OS. Not to mention a bunch of other things
I’ve moved back to windows before and found that I had problems with their high end laptops as well. In the end, it seemed like I switched one problem for another. I remember returning a dell XP’s and swapping it for a new one 3 times due to a number of issues. Didn’t feel like the grass was greener!
Now I’m on a 2018 MacBook Air and I haven’t had a single problem. Knock on wood
The fact is both platforms have their own pros and cons. If you are married to apple eco system then apple is a no brainer but if you live between both worlds then either are perfectly fine choices.
Another fact is that deskptop are much more reliable than laptops these days no matter which brand, Dell, apple, Thnkpads, etc. In my opinion the chase of thinner design at all cost is making more problems than benefits.
I have a powerfull Ryzen PC which I use on daily basis and a MBA 2018 when i'm on the go.
Here, in Europe nobody uses iMessage as 99% of people use whatsapp. For reminders I have microsoft To-Do which is more powerfull than stock apple, also sync with apple reminders if u need it as no mac app yet. For notes you have millions of choices, one note, google keep, etc.
Also these days most people use web apps and I find them better made than standar apps, ie google web apps are great.
I actually meant translucent. They want you to trust them even though they're not completely transparent.
I get you with the eco system - MacOS + iCloud is the best experience. I was however let down by Mac hardware. Guess we had opposite experiences. I had 2 MBP's die on me and nothing more than a shrug from Apple, except for one 'Genius' tell me that perhaps I'd bought the wrong product because I expected to be able to use it all day, with a monitor plugged in. Not had any issues with Thinkpad's (touch wood) and the corporate Dell laptops (Latitude, Precision, etc) tend to be okay. Wouldn't touch their consumer stuff though.
I made the jump, I feel like I was the frog in tepid water. You probably heard the story, you put a frog in hot water, he jumps out. You put him in luke warm water and he'll not jump out, even with you raising the the temp of the water to beyond what he should have jumped out.
Now that I'm out of the ecosystem, I cannot believe how much I was accommodating and excusing Apple's short comings. I have a laptop that has more ports, more ram, more storage, a 4k screen, it does not throttle or get hot. The keyboard is light years ahead at what apple offers and the cost of that laptop was a fraction of what apple would have charged me.
I hear ya, and to be completely honest, I bought a windows laptop this past summer and promptly returned it because of apple's ecosystem. With the exception of iMessage, I've largely moved on and adjusted my workflow. I finally bit the bullet last month and chose to walk away from Macs and I couldn't be happier.
I'm not an apple hater, but I feel Apple of 2019 is not the same Apple of 20+ years ago and their choices in design is more driven by factors that I do not want, i.e., a wafer thin laptop. I've said many times here at MR, get the best tool for the job, and for me and my needs when looking coldly at what I need. Macs are no longer the best tool.
Thinkpad X1 Extreme. Tbh, I love it, its everything the MBP should have been.
Thanks to incentives, I got a 4k display, 1TB, 32GB ram machine with a 3 year extended warranty in the low 2k range, where as a similarly equipped MBP (1TB/Vega GPU/32GB/Extended warranty), it would have run 4,300.
ThinkPads are great. I've been looking at the X1 Carbon, but one thing is holding me back: I love switching back and forth from my personal stuff to my work stuff with the three-fingered swipe on the Mac. I don't think there's a Windows equivalent. Hardware-wise, though, I'd go for the ThinkPad.
I remember Apple staff telling to the customers about MacBook Air 2017 battery that it lasts 12 hours and that after 10 years of usage it can go down to 10 hours. It triggered me and I joined the conversation to tell her she's lying to the customers, because these numbers are just not true. Apple employees are full of ****.
Wrote a nice angry feedback letter to Apple today about the keyboard issues on my MBA. I'm pretty close to ditching mac laptops if the refreshed models this year/next year don't address the high keyboard failure rate.
The major selling point of macbooks beginning with the unibody era in 2008 was reliability and build quality. Now it's gone, why should we stay? I can still get my macOS fix on their desktops which aren't tied to a built in, fragile keyboard. But for mobile devices, it's either regress to a 2015 MBP (No TB3) or 2017 MBA (awful screen), deal with an iPad Pro, or go windows.
The major selling point of macbooks beginning with the unibody era in 2008 was reliability and build quality. Now it's gone, why should we stay? I can still get my macOS fix on their desktops which aren't tied to a built in, fragile keyboard. But for mobile devices, it's either regress to a 2015 MBP (No TB3) or 2017 MBA (awful screen), deal with an iPad Pro, or go windows.
- Runs a full laptop OS
- Doesn't run Windows.
It sounds somewhat amazing (and sad) that even MacRumors staff members are not using MacBooks any more....
This is the case with most enthusiast forums. Staff has been around for a long time and have tried a number of different things. Car forums are notorious for this.
But for real guys, what Apple did is taking people back in time at least 15 years. People now believe that it's a difficult task to be able to read emails and browse web smoothly, because Apple is so cheap on their hardware and I'm talking about MacBook Air 2018 and MacBook 12". Also, people don't deserve something that was always taken for granted - reliable keyboard. 15 years ago, if somebody released unreliable keyboard, nobody would buy that crap. Unreliable keyboard is like unreliable steering wheel in car. No matter how great is everything else - it renders the car almost useless. That is a lesson for us all - how much can marketing and status brainwash us into forgiving.
For the record...I owned THREE. All gone now.
I was about to upgrade my MacBook Airs to the new ones and then discovered that the keyboard issues had been improved, but not cured entirely. I'm looking at Thinkpads now. As a writer, the keyboard is fairly key in my work...but then it is for pretty much everyone.
Rob
Notice I wasn't asking you. When people freak out over the quality of these devices on this board, you have to verify they are actually using the devices because the occurrence on the 2018 models have been quite low and this board is no exception.
I repeat, by and large these posts are one person unhappy with a keyboard issue and a bunch of latchers-on lamenting the poor quality on devices they have never seen.
I do. I own MacBook Air 2018 with faulty E key and, occasionally, some other keys.
Sorry to provide scrutiny. There are just way too many people on this forum complaining about a keyboard they do not own.
I bet there are. The issue is real though. I hope I manage to not destroy my MacBook before I come hope where I can replace it. This E key makes me mad. So if you type "pet", the outcomes can be:
- pet
- pt
- peet
- pte
- pete
The reality is that you actually only see a tiny FRACTION of those effected. Most users are not in these forums.
Rob
They are volunteers who may use a Windows machine in their actual job (i.e. they are comfortable with Windows).
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Have you tried to clean it with compressed air ?
On the contrary: those with the problem tend to be the vocal minority. By and large, most who have posted in the "I bought the MBA" have not seen this issue.
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This is actually a different issue than the sticky key the membrane was meant to address and is unique to the 2018 models. I'm not sure exactly what the issue is but it's not the dust particle thing from the last two generations of butterfly keyboards.