13-inch MacBook Pro dropping horrible Butterfly keyboard

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13-inch MacBook Pro from 2019
It's about time!
Photo: Apple

The smaller MacBook Pro will reportedly be upgraded next year with a keyboard that users can trust, just as the new 16-inch version recently was.

If true, it means the current 13-inch MacBook Pro will be the last with the infamous Butterfly keyboard.

Butterflies are too fragile

Back in 2016, Apple switched the MacBook Pro line to a slimmer keyboard. The “wings” that are part of the internal design caused it to be dubbed the Butterfly keyboard.

Despite the happy name, users complained that simple grit could cause keys to stick.  And problems were widespread enough to force Apple to offer a Keyboard Service Program, fixing MacBooks with keyboard problems for free.

Even so, the 13-inch MacBook Pro introduced this year includes the problematic Butterfly keyboard.

Welcoming a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Magic Keyboard

But Apple finally admitted it had a problem, and included a Magic Keyboard in the just-released 16-inch MacBook Pro. Unlike the Butterfly, this has a reliable design with a tried-and-true scissor mechanism.

And this better keyboard mechanism is headed for the 13-inch MacBook Pro too, according to an unconfirmed report from DigiTimes.

It’s not known yet if this will make the next version slightly thicker, as is true of the new 16-inch model. Or if Apple will put in the hardware Escape key that’s also in this larger notebook.

This improved version is supposedly scheduled for the first half of 2020.

Via: MacWorld

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