To put a lid on the controversies that the faulty butterfly keyboard attracted, Apple might soon ditch it and adopt a new scissor switch keyboard.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple might soon do away with the controversial ‘butterfly keyboard’ and release a fresh keyboard design for the MacBook Air that will be launched later this year. The analyst, who has a decent track record of making credible Apple predictions, told MacRumors that the future MacBook keyboards could be based on scissor switches.
The controversial butterfly keyboard design was facing public backlash from the get-go. The design was called out as one of the worst design decisions taken by Apple. The butterfly keyboard design, which Apple released in 2015 was an effort to make its MacBooks thinner. The mechanism, however, caused double-typing, overheating, and dust-accumulation problems.
In the aftermath of the backlash, Apple tried to console angry customers with an extended keyboard warranty program but it didn’t stop the MacBook sales from dwindling.
In 2018, Apple debuted the third-generation butterfly keyboard design which consisted of a thin silicon barrier behind each key to prevent dust from gathering in the keys. But the 2018 MacBook keyboards were prone to the same failures and discontent customers.
A Butterfly keyboard consists of keys that are thinner and more durable than those included in a scissor switch keyboard. So, this might seem like taking a step backward. However, if going back solves the MacBook keyboard problem, potential MacBook buyers will certainly welcome this move.
In Ming-Chi Kuo’s report, he mentions, “We believe the partially refreshed MacBook Pro models will also adopt a new scissor keyboard in 2020; shipments of MacBook models equipped with a new scissor keyboard will grow 500–700% YoY in 2020. Though the butterfly keyboard is still thinner than the new scissor keyboard, we think most users can’t tell the difference. Furthermore, the new scissor keyboard could offer a better user experience and benefit Apple’s profits; therefore, we predict that the butterfly keyboard may finally disappear in the long term.”