Perhaps even more important than the new Intel processors, the latest update to MacBooks Pro brought something new that brought hope back to the hearts of potential buyers of the machine: (more) a review of the engine butterfly keyboard, which, as we know, has – or had – a very uncomfortable propensity to give problems.
To verify the changes made by Apple in this new generation of notebooks, the brave disassemblers of iFixit they got their hands on one of the new MacBooks Pro and dissected it piece by piece.
The discoveries? Well, in fact the new keyboard has differences, but they are good discreet.
According to experts, the changes in the keyboard boil down to two novelties. The first is in the silicone membrane introduced in the previous generation and which prevents the entry of debris / elements that cause problems. In place of the opaque and slightly rough material of the past keyboard, we now have a membrane made of a nylon polymer, completely transparent and smooth.
Old and left generation silicone membranes (left)The second novelty is in the material that covers the switches of keyboards – that is, the part that actually records the pressure on the key and transforms it into a character reflected on the screen. The metal is now more shiny and polished, which may suggest, according to iFixit, a new heat treatment or a change in the alloy used – or even both.
Switches from the old generation (left) and currentIt is not clear what exactly these two changes contribute to (supposedly) better durability of the new keyboards, so we will have to wait for the wisdom of the time to see if Apple’s promises are realistic. The fact that Apple has already put the newly launched machines in its keyboard repair program, however, is not a sign of the most encouraging – albeit positive for potential affected consumers, of course.
If you’re wondering about the rest of the disassembly, just know that the new MacBook Pro is basically identical to the previous one in your internal organization. IFixit attributed the new model to the same repairability index as its predecessor, with only 1 point out of 10 possible, praising the ease of replacing the trackpad but criticizing the rest of the machine’s construction – such as the fact that the processor, RAM and flash memory are welded, and the top case (with all its components like keyboard, battery, speakers and Touch Bar) is all glued together so that repairs are basically impossible.
Nothing very new under the sun, after all.
