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2018 MacBook Pro's 'Quieter' Keyboard Compared to Previous MacBook Pro Keyboard

Friday July 13, 2018 3:02 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple's new 2018 MacBook Pro models feature a third-generation butterfly keyboard, which Apple says has been improved for a "quieter typing experience."

The difference in sound between the quieter 2018 MacBook Pro keyboard and the older butterfly keyboard in an earlier version of the MacBook Pro has been demoed in video by TechCrunch, with the difference in sound clearly audible.


The sound coming from the 2018 MacBook Pro keyboard is noticeably muffled compared to the sound coming from the previous-generation MacBook Pro, which, as TechCrunch points out, sounds much more like a typewriter.

Multiple hands-on experiences with the 2018 MacBook Pro shared by various media sites yesterday have also confirmed that the new third-generation butterfly keyboard is a good deal quieter than previous keyboards.


When it comes to feel, though, reviews have said that the keyboard doesn't feel any different, as it's using the same butterfly switches with the same amount of key travel.

According to Apple, the focus with the third-generation keyboard was dampening key sounds, and the company has not confirmed if specific changes were made to address keyboard failure issues present in 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models.

Some 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro owners have experienced issues with sticky, unresponsive, or repeating keys, leading Apple to launch a repair program for those machines. Apple is offering free repairs for affected MacBook Pro models, but it continues to be unclear if design changes have been implemented to prevent the issue, both in earlier machines and the new 2018 machines.

More information will be available on the 2018 MacBook Pro keyboard when it's unveiled through the teardowns that should be coming soon.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Pro (Neutral)
[ 151 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

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KPandian1
27 weeks ago
Was it the noise people were complaining about?







PS: Rhetoric.
Rating: 34 Votes
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pier
27 weeks ago
[MEDIA=vimeo]195645497[/MEDIA]
Rating: 17 Votes
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matthew12
27 weeks ago
Still don't care about the volume of the keys. Do they function as they should? That's all that's important.
Rating: 17 Votes
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aaronhead14
27 weeks ago
Good to know it's now only 10x louder than the 2015 MacBook Pro keyboard, instead of the 11x louder that it was before. Such an improvement!
</sarcasm>
Rating: 15 Votes
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Populus
27 weeks ago
Somebody please, grab a new MacBook Pro, pour some crumbs, some sugar or some sand over it, and test how it responds.
Rating: 15 Votes
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ocanalix
27 weeks ago
Volume =/= Pitch
Rating: 10 Votes
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casperghst42
27 weeks ago
I don't care about how much noise a keyboard makes, I care about longevity. If the keyboard only last a year or two then it's still a crappy keyboard.
Rating: 9 Votes
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Pearple
27 weeks ago
But will it blend?
Rating: 9 Votes
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Supacon
27 weeks ago

Was it the noise people were complaining about?


A lot of people did complain about the noise. Obviously that didn't bother everyone and it's contingent on your typing style (it's actually pretty quiet if you type as lightly as is effective). The reliability issues far overshadowed the noise complaints after a while, but when these machines first launched there *were* quite a few complaints about the keyboard being noisy.
Rating: 9 Votes
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tkermit
27 weeks ago
Doesn't sound like much of a difference to me. Can we please go back to the tried and tested keyboards used in 2015 MacBook Pros now?
Rating: 7 Votes

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