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Growing Petition Requests Apple Recall MacBook Pro With 'Defective Keyboard' (fortune.com) 132

Posted by msmash from the you-owe-an-explanation,-Apple dept.
Apple might have some explaining to do if a recent petition against its MacBook Pro continues to gain steam. From a report: A petition surfaced this week on Change.org that calls on Apple to recall MacBook Pro units released since late 2016 over what the petition author Matthew Taylor calls a "defective keyboard." The petition seeks 7,500 signatures and as of this writing, it's closing in on 6,200. Judging by the sheer number of signatures coming in each minute, it shouldn't take long for it to hit the goal.

"Apple, it's time: recall every MacBook Pro released since late 2016, and replace the keyboards on all of them with new, redesigned keyboards that just work," the petition reads. It goes on to say that "every one of Apple's current-gen MacBook Pro models, 13-inch and 15-inch, is sold with a keyboard that can become defective at any moment due to a design failure."
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Growing Petition Requests Apple Recall MacBook Pro With 'Defective Keyboard' More

Growing Petition Requests Apple Recall MacBook Pro With 'Defective Keyboard'

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  • "Defacative Keyboard" and it seems to mean the same thing.

  • it's closing in on 6,000. Judging by the sheer number of signatures coming in each minute, it shouldn't take long for it to hit the 5,000-signature milestone.

    WTF, people, are the signatures going in reverse?

  • Stolen that Keyboard Design from Xerox as well :-D
  • If there's nearly 6,000 signatures I would guess there are already at least 5,000 signatures on the petition.
  • " it's closing in on 6,000. Judging by the sheer number of signatures coming in each minute, it shouldn't take long for it to hit the 5,000-signature milestone. "

    Someone doesn't understand how maths works...
  • I mean, Apple has always been about making what the users want, even when the users don't know what they want.... so users must want keyboards that collapse at the smallest spec of dust.... right?

  • This is just the first step (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    the next step is eliminating the keyboard altogether. Courageous.

  • We all know it's coming. Tim cook is going to come out on stage and tell everyone "You're holding it wrong!"

  • Apple vs Microsoft/Google (Score:5, Insightful)

    by darkain ( 749283 ) on Friday May 04, 2018 @03:21PM (#56555946) Homepage

    When comparing Apple to PC/Microsoft/Windows, and comparing Apple to Google/Android, Apple has always been seen as the higher "quality" product for one very important reason: Apple makes everything and only has higher-end products. In the PC/Android world, there are high-end devices, mid-tier, low-end, extreme-budget devices. Regardless of the outstanding quality of top-tier PC/Android devices out there, their ecosystems as a whole contain the stigma created from their bottom-tier devices. This is why Apple has always seem as "superior" in the multiemedia creation department, despite PCs having absolutely amazing high quality top-tier hardware. I still remember the first time I repaired a Mac computer as a kid, and shocked to see that it used SCSI HDDs instead of IDE. Contrast this to the Microsoft world where the absolute top reason a Windows box will crash will either be faulty hardware or faulty drivers from the hardware manufacturer (both out of MS control, but only reflects upon them and not the hardware vendors)

    Since the passing of Steve Jobs, this push to be the best of the best in the hardware world has absolutely faltered. They don't give two fucks about quality anymore, and slowly but surely this is becoming more and more evident every single day. The higher price for assured reliability when purchasing Apple products is no longer there, sadly.

    • They have always chinsed in places that the 'average user' didn't care about. Now they are completely getting full of themselves. It remains to be seen whether this petition will even change anything. Apple got their money, why would they care about... anyone?

    • You should have seen 'em in the 80's! The first PowerMac 8100/80 in '93 (IIRC) was built like a tank and I never heard of a problem with one (nor will I feed any trolls who did.)

      The problems really started with Jobs' return. Those first iMacs sold like mad and helped save the company, but they weren't the machines Apple used to make. One rumor at the time was that Jobs decided to save money by slashing QA and expecting a few more warranty returns. The round mouse was Jobs too, and if any working device coul

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dgatwood ( 11270 )

        On the plus side, the hockey puck was so bad that Apple almost single-handedly created the market for USB mice....

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Megane ( 129182 )
        The 8100/80? Built like a tank? Absolutely! You even had to tear it completely apart to change the RAM, just like a real tank! Hey, at least it wasn't a 4400.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Solandri ( 704621 )

      Apple has always been seen as the higher "quality" product for one very important reason: Apple makes everything and only has higher-end products. In the PC/Android world, there are high-end devices, mid-tier, low-end, extreme-budget devices.

      Um, have you even looked inside a Macbook? CPU and chipset by Intel, memory by Samsung, SSD by Toshiba, networking by Broadcomm, display by LG, etc. Apple doesn't even make the Macbooks - Quanta does [wikipedia.org]. And Quanta also makes laptops for nearly every other brand. Ther

  • Of course -t's an onl-ne pet-t-on! Damnnnnnnnnnnn yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyo- A--le!!!!!!!! ^H^H^H^H;oAJsdp'ashjfdlks;vn
  • Interestingly, none of our users have complained about the keyboards on their new Macs. They complain vociferously about other things, to be sure, but this isn't one of them. For such a supposedly widespread problem, they've been remarkably silent.

    Background: I've supported the Macs and PCs at my workplace for over 10 years. I prefer the older chiclet design, but mostly because that's what I'm used to.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by joh ( 27088 )

      What are these people doing with their Macbooks? For some reason people put up with crappy keyboards if they're using them rarely.

    • I'm sure macbooks are fine if set down on a flat desk with no obstructions, plugged in once with cord carefully run straight to the floor and to a plug, and always used in a room with no dust. Never move them and never, ever put any sideways pressure on the power cord. Perhaps your co-workers are much more anal retentive than you think.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by PCM2 ( 4486 )

      I'll even go so far as to say this: My work gave me a 13" MacBook Pro from 2017, with the Touchstrip, and I really like the keyboard. I made a lot of typos at first because of the extremely low-profile design, but now I can type fast as hell on it. I've never had any keys mysteriously stop working or anything of the kind. And I've never heard any complaints from my coworkers about that, either. If they don't like it, it's just because they don't like how it feels.

      • I'll even go so far as to say this: My work gave me a 13" MacBook Pro from 2017, with the Touchstrip, and I really like the keyboard. I made a lot of typos at first because of the extremely low-profile design, but now I can type fast as hell on it. I've never had any keys mysteriously stop working or anything of the kind. And I've never heard any complaints from my coworkers about that, either. If they don't like it, it's just because they don't like how it feels.

        Thats like all the people like fluffernutter, above, who don't know how to treat a cable, and then complain "I've gone through |x| number of these power cords in |y| months!" When I have NEVER had a failure of either an Apple power adapter nor its cable.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Bongo ( 13261 )

        I’ve had the return key go dull. Blasting canned air along its edges brought it back.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Bongo ( 13261 )

          Oh and not chomping nuts whilst typing. That also helped. One gets the sence that the keyboard designers never ate at their desk with their fingers covered in macadamia dust.

  • âoeYouâ(TM)re pushing it wrong.â

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      âoeYouâ(TM)re pushing it wrong.â

      aoeYoua(TM)re using one of those defective Apple keyboards, arena(TM)t you?

  • Jumped the Shark (Score:5, Insightful)

    by lazarus ( 2879 ) on Friday May 04, 2018 @03:59PM (#56556112) Journal

    In all seriousness, I've been buying their laptops for over a decade, and I have to tell you that they are now, suddenly, crap. If you've never tried typing on a new Macbook Pro keyboard (the ones in question) I encourage to try one out at an Apple store. It is *literally* like typing on a package of chicklets. They do this big sell job on you about how revolutionary the keys are now, but they don't move at all (well, not much anyway). If you think that the feeling of touch typing on your smartphone's screen is revolutionary, then you'll probably love them. If you still prefer buckling springs on your desktop keyboard then this is about as far away as you could possibly get from that.

    I just had a go on a new Thinkpad and Lenovo seems to be going in the other direction - trying to get more travel in their keys. I don't know what Apple is smoking but they're about to throw away a very nice business. It used to be that the best Windows laptop you could buy was an Apple, now there is no way that would be true.

    • I disagree, I really like the keyboard one the MBP. It's true that once every few weeks a key stops working for a few strokes, so that is indeed a minor issue for me. But in general I prefer this keyboard to previous models.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Octorian ( 14086 )

        You must also never use function keys, or the escape key.
        Okay, maybe if you only use software "beautifully designed" by Apple fanboys then this is probably the case. But if you're using cross-platform software with a broader audience, of which Apple is a minority, then its a very annoying issue.

        • I rarely use the escape and function keys, yes. I've got used to escape being odd now. At first I didn't like that. Function keys I hardly ever use anyway.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Gosh. How can there be people so blindly delusional. It is not every once in a while. It takes me 3 to 6 tries to enter a long-ish password (just 19 chars on that). And no, I am not mistyping as it is random.

        And on other occasion, I have seem the keyboard sending my key presses out of order.

      • I like the new keyboard a lot as well. yes, ESC can be annoying, but if you install HapticKey it makes the touchbar a lot better. The cursor keys on the other hand... making the left / right keys taller was absolutely retarded. After using it for a year, I still hit the wrong keys and I type for hours every day. I had keys not working and blowing compressed air while holding the laptop sideways has always fixed it; but it's a stupid fix, like the "you're holding it wrong" when the iphone 4 was losing conne

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by joh ( 27088 )

      I tried the keyboard more than once and maybe apart from the noise I liked them and could certainly get used to them just as I got used to the chiclet keyboards. But I can't get used to a keyboard that stops working every two months or so.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by joh ( 27088 )

      Well at least the consumer Yoga Thinkpad keyboards are utter crap, they sag like mad in the middle, it's like bathing your fingers in dough.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Octorian ( 14086 )

      I got one of these new MacBook Pro laptops at work. Meanwhile, I still have an older model as my personal laptop at home. Lets just say that I have no present desire to upgrade my personal laptop.

      That being said, I've always treated laptops as secondary machines, so I spend the majority of my day using a Das Keyboard on a desk.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by mrbester ( 200927 )

      I use a MBP at work and it staggers me that something that costs over two thousand pounds has such a shit keyboard. My aging ASUS laptop I have at home admittedly doesn't have a very good keyboard (for that I'd use the other half's ancient Dell Latitude) but it's like a breath of fresh air and a joy to use in comparison. Plus it has a hardware ESC key...

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by TheFakeTimCook ( 4641057 )

      In all seriousness, I've been buying their laptops for over a decade, and I have to tell you that they are now, suddenly, crap. If you've never tried typing on a new Macbook Pro keyboard (the ones in question) I encourage to try one out at an Apple store. It is *literally* like typing on a package of chicklets. They do this big sell job on you about how revolutionary the keys are now, but they don't move at all (well, not much anyway). If you think that the feeling of touch typing on your smartphone's screen is revolutionary, then you'll probably love them. If you still prefer buckling springs on your desktop keyboard then this is about as far away as you could possibly get from that.

      I just had a go on a new Thinkpad and Lenovo seems to be going in the other direction - trying to get more travel in their keys. I don't know what Apple is smoking but they're about to throw away a very nice business. It used to be that the best Windows laptop you could buy was an Apple, now there is no way that would be true.

      You realize, of course, that the farther the key-travel, the more TIME and EFFORT is required to type on it.

      Now of course it isn't like hauling a stone up a hill; but it all adds up. That's why the people who take a week or so and get used to the new keyboard design almost universally say "I can type much faster and more accurately on this keyboard..."

      • It depends on your fingers. No matter how long I use any laptop, I can never type as fast on them as I can on a "real" keyboard. It's also the same reason I have a keyboard with Cherry brown switches, because I type slower on keyboards with red switches, despite them having the same amount of travel. I went through quite a few keyboards before I settled on one I like.

        That's why having choices is important. You personally may type faster on a laptop, even "most" people (according to gossip) may type fast

    • I've heard some people say the keyboards are great and they love them. Hey, to each their own, and there's nothing wrong with being different.

      What bugs me about Apple (and always has for 30+ years) is that they only offer one option -- take it or leave it. That's tough when a company has such an aggressive vertical monopoly. I had to take a serious double-take when they started bundling laptop chicklet keyboards with their high-end desktop machines, because it's obvious that a professional workstation ha

    • This is a fair, but subjective opinion. There are lots of people that love the feel of the keyboard; that say that going back to the old one is difficult. You dont have to love the new one, but honestly, this isn't the actual issue. The fact that a speck of dust renders it inoperable and replacing it involves replacing the entire top case is the issue.

      There will always be a tension in the appreciation of the aesthetics of Apple hardware, including how the keyboards feel, but it's an objective truth that the

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Keyboards are one of the most common points of failure, since they get all the dust and liquid in them. Accidents happen.

        Having to replace the whole top half of the body is madness. Much rather get a Lenovo where I can just order a replacement and fit it myself in a few minutes (handy if you want to change layout too).

  • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • It just works. It just works. It just works. Believe me yet?
  • Apple consumers are some of the biggest suckers out there. They'll literally buy *anything* with an Apple logo on it. Apple consumers will remain Apple consumers for the foreseeable future, no matter the quality of their products and services. If anything, they should double the price of these machines.

    • They'll literally buy *anything* with an Apple logo on it.
      You are an idiot.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by DogDude ( 805747 )
        You are an idiot.

        I think you're confused. I don't spend thousand of dollars on crappy hardware.

        • Apple consumers are some of the biggest suckers out there. They'll literally buy *anything* with an Apple logo on it.

          Which part of: you are an idiot did you not grasp yet? Do I really need to explain it?

        • You are an idiot.

          I think you're confused. I don't spend thousand of dollars on crappy hardware.

          They'll somehow manage to get by without your $$$... You're still a fucking idiot.. and a parrot... and a dimwit... etc...

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        I found one of the suckers still in the denial stage.

  • The known problems are the keyboards and video artifacts problem. A co-worker got a new 13 inch 2017 MBP and it had video artifacts within a few months. He brought it to the Apple Store and they fixed it for him. I have a 2014 15 MBP (personal) and a Corporate 2015 13 MBP. They both work great. The keyboards work and they just plain work overall. But I wouldn't touch the 2016 and 2017 stuff and Apple must know this. I use my MBP at a desk the vast majority of the time and have it hooked up to KVMM. The keyb

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