Complaints fly about MacBook Pro’s fancy new keyboard

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15 inch MacBook Pro
The new MacBook Pro has an all-new keyboard.
Photo: Apple

Apple’s new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar may have some serious keyboard problems.

A number of 2016 MacBook Pro owners are reporting issues with the new keyboard, which features a redesign of the butterfly mechanism that Apple introduced on the super-thin retina MacBook.

Some users report on Apple’s support forums that they’re experiencing random key-repeat problems. MacRumors‘ support forums have also been flooded with complaints about non-functioning keys, high-pitched sounds that emanate from certain keys and keys with a non-uniform feel.

“My 2016 15″ MacBook Pro arrived yesterday (as one of the first),” wrote MacRumors forum user rroch in a thread titled “MacBook Pro 2016 Keyboard Failure.” “63 of the 64 keys work fine. But the i-key most of the time types the letter twice…. With auto-correct it can be easy to think it works. However, my password contains the letter i, and I quickly became super frustrated not being able to get my password right.”

New MacBook Pro keyboard, new problems

YouTube user monstermac77 created a video, which you can see below, that shows some of the keys on the new MacBook Pro making a high-pitched sound after the machine heats up. Other users report experiencing worse problems, like keys that go totally unresponsive or enter the same character twice.

Most of the complaints so far focus on the 15-inch MacBook Pro, but some individuals say they are suffering similar problems with the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, as well as the less-expensive model without a Touch Bar. At this time, it remains unclear what might be causing the problem or exactly how widespread it is.

MacBook Pro owners experiencing keyboard problems should bring their computers in to an Apple store for repair. A number of people have reported that Apple replaced the entire MacBook Pro when confronted with the keyboard problem.

Cult of Mac reached out to Apple for comment on the issue but did not receive a response.

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