It felt more firm and flat under your finger - some people really like that, but other people weren't really happy with that. It had some things it did really well, like creating a much more stable key platform. Schiller: As you know, a number of years ago we started a new keyboard technology with this butterfly keyboard and began it with MacBook. Q: Walk me through the feedback you got on the butterfly keyboard and how that informed the new scissor-based keys. Here's an edited version of our conversation.
Schiller spoke to me ahead of the MacBook launch about the new keyboard, whether it will show up in future products and his vision for where the Mac and iPad are going. The team took the time to do the work to investigate, research, explore and reinvent." "We decided that while we were advancing the butterfly keyboard, we would also - specifically for our pro customer - go back and really talk to many pro customers about what they most want in a keyboard and did a bunch of research. "People sometimes underestimate how much work goes into a keyboard, and that's why most keyboards in the industry don't change for 10 or 20 years," Schiller said in an interview. The challenge, says Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller, was taking the best of the Magic Keyboard, an accessory designed for desktop computers such as the upcoming Mac Pro, which launches in December, and adapting and evolving it for the new notebook. The hope is that this new keyboard will appease the professionals Apple wants to win back. The company has taken the scissor mechanism of its standalone Magic Keyboard and used it to power the keyboard in its new laptop. The new MacBook Pro, which replaces the 15-inch version, is Apple's most direct response to the backlash. "Think of the new MacBook Pro keyboard as a happy medium between the two," he says. CNET Editor Scott Stein says it's not quite like the old-school MacBook keyboard in his first take. Apple said it's improved the keyboard, now in its third generation, and is offering a replacement program. The butterfly keyboard, unveiled with Apple's 12-inch MacBook for 2015, drew criticism for its less-than-pleasing tactile sensation and for quality-control issues that left some people frustrated by doubled or dropped letters as they typed. But the new 16-inch MacBook Pro, announced Wednesday, comes with an new keyboard that could change the conversation entirely.
Love it or hate it, Apple fans have passionate opinions about the company's decision to use a mechanism with a hinge in the middle that gives the keyboard its name.
The fastest way to get hardcore MacBook users on a rant is to ask them about the butterfly keyboard. Apple's marketing chief, Phil Schiller, talks about the MacBook Pro's new redesigned keyboard.