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Unshaky – Tries to address double key press issue on Apple's butterfly keyboard

115 points| tmlee | 6 years ago |github.com | reply

124 comments

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[+] crazygringo|6 years ago|reply
Apple replaced my keyboard for free (two week turnaround)... but the Apple tech also suggested I purchase the $13 Ghostcover keyboard cover [1] for the new one to prevent future problems. I did and... it's actually amazing and doesn't get in the way of typing at all. Seriously can't even notice it's there in terms of touch, and its texture feels the same as the original keys.

Should Apple make a keyboard less prone to problems from debris? Yes, of course. But in the meantime, is a $13 keyboard cover a good idea to fix a $1,300+ machine? Also Yes. A minor inconvenience to have to buy, but at least it fixes it for good... and I've never seen it mentioned on HN before so thought I'd share in case it helps others.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N20RZXB

[+] dylan604|6 years ago|reply
Sounds like Apple should be providing this $13 magical fix to anyone that brings in a defective product for free.
[+] month13|6 years ago|reply
Doesn't the low clearance between the keyboard and the display cause an issue? I get key rub marks on my display, and I don't even have a cover.

(I do transit with my macbook in my backpack, which is a likely cause of the rub marks)

[+] bitL|6 years ago|reply
It's not sufficient. I have <1 month old MBP with the latest butterfly design and a cover, and Caps Lock is not firing every ~2-3 strokes.
[+] millstone|6 years ago|reply
I bought the MBP the day it came out, and had to have the keyboard replaced (pre keyboard-service-program, Apple "generously" comped the repair).

Afterwards I used a Ghostcover and recommend it strongly. It slightly degrades the feel of an already bad-feeling keyboard, but not hard to get used to, and it completely solves the reliability issue. A band-aid for an absurd problem.

[+] hiaux0|6 years ago|reply
One drawback here is, that condensed water could accumulate under the cover, which can lead to even more problems

(source: repair guy from my local apple repair shop)

[+] daljfsdlksjf|6 years ago|reply
>But in the meantime, is a $13 keyboard cover a good idea to fix a $1,300+ machine?

No.

That cost, what, $5 to make and ship? Or, at Apple's scale, $.50? I think it's inexcusable.

[+] bluedino|6 years ago|reply
I have seen many on Reddit and Macrumors recommend a key cover. It doesn't really do anything other than potentially damage your screen.

It ruins the feel of the keyboard. Sure, it blocks crumbs and such from getting in the keys but that's not really the issue with the keyboard.

The mechanism is just crap and fails. This doesn't do anything to prevent that.

[+] loxs|6 years ago|reply
The problem with these is that my machine runs noticeably hotter while the cover is on (I presume part of the cooling happens through the keyboard). It's not a very pleasant typing experience when I have to touch this hot cover.
[+] latchkey|6 years ago|reply
Try the silicon covers, I find them to be even better than the plastic ones. The plastic tends to move around randomly on me and the silicon feels nicer.

$13 is expensive too, someone is making some cash... I'm in Vietnam, they are about $4-5 here (obviously, proximity to China certainly helps).

[+] mobilemidget|6 years ago|reply
I went by today, g, h, spacebar issues and the left command key let loose on the top part. They cleaned my mbp 2016 keyboard and replaced the keys I had issues with. Works perfectly again and in case issues return the keyboard would be replaced under same program.

Fixed while I waited.

[+] puranjay|6 years ago|reply
Thank you for that recommendation. I had issues with my keyboard this week. It's a travesty that Apple is screwing up something that has been a solved problem for years.
[+] PunksATawnyFill|6 years ago|reply
A cover isn't going to fix the inherent shittiness of Apple's keyboard.
[+] Canada|6 years ago|reply
I'll just refrain from purchasing Apple hardware with this keyboard design. Hopefully they release the new laptops without it, I'm overdue for an upgrade.
[+] sschueller|6 years ago|reply
I would refrain from purchasing an apple permanently unless they undo what they are doing with the T2 chip.

They are making them unrepairable by anyone other than Apple. Even if you think you will get it fixed under warranty you may be told there is water damage even if there isn't any [1] and then you're left with a 3k paper weight.

[1] https://youtu.be/gi9en4I-tjA

[+] nextos|6 years ago|reply
I wonder about the reason to depart from scissor switches (still seen on e.g. current Magic Keyboard and discontinued MacBook Air).

Those are quite more reliable. Mines have only fallen apart after 5 years of daily intense use.

A great thing of these keyboards is that travel is small, but not too small, making latency great compared to regular mechanical keyboards.

[+] jordanthoms|6 years ago|reply
Rumours are pointing towards September for a 16" MBP with a new design and new keyboard. Hopefully that does happen, my 2013 MBP could use an upgrade also
[+] analognoise|6 years ago|reply
This is disgusting.

We've been able to successfully make keyboards for... 60 years? Typewriters are 140 years old.

Now we have a $1300 machine where the form dictates that the functionality will be so hampered that we're using what would have been a supercomputer 30 years ago to... debounce keys?

Seriously? And people think this whole charade is acceptable and worth patching around?

Jesus wept.

[+] b34r|6 years ago|reply
More like $3000
[+] mdesq|6 years ago|reply
Macbook Computer Augmentation Software (MCAS)?
[+] ChicagoBoy11|6 years ago|reply
Let's just hope this doesn't spurriously cause that same sticky key to all of a sudden fire uncontrollably, hanging your machine.
[+] dylan604|6 years ago|reply
Makes me think of having to debounce button input reads on Arduino.

Also, can't you do the same thing in System Preferences->Keyboard->Delay Until Repeat?

[+] wlesieutre|6 years ago|reply
The opposite - you can avoid the key repeat delay to type double characters faster by letting go and pressing again, rather than holding it down and waiting.

That's what this is preventing, because the bad keyboards will register multiple key press events for a single press.

[+] Skunkleton|6 years ago|reply
Delay until repeat is how long it waits before it starts repeating a key _while the key remains pressed_. Debounce is about turning multiple presses into a single press.
[+] GrumpyNl|6 years ago|reply
So, you need a piece of third party software to work with the keyboard?
[+] joshbetz|6 years ago|reply
Apple will fix this for free

https://support.apple.com/keyboard-service-program-for-mac-n...

[+] aiddun|6 years ago|reply
Just did this, space bar was double pressing. It took them two weeks including having to order the parts after they said they would be faster in changing them and would hold parts in stock— at at Apple store in the middle of NYC.

If I knew it would take this long I would probably just go with this if I really needed my laptop.

[+] eknkc|6 years ago|reply
It took 2 weeks for me, without a laptop. I had to do it 2 times, 2 weeks both times.

They fought me on the first one saying that I broke the keyboard. I lost 1 more week on the phone with Apple support to force them do the repairs free..

No. Fuck that free replacement program.

[+] bluedino|6 years ago|reply
Kind of a silly fix.

This only addresses part of the issue. If your keyboard is repeating keys, then it is likely not registering keypresses as well.

There's no software fix for that.

[+] wittjeff|6 years ago|reply
I am really surprised to find that Apple does not include a Bounce Keys implementation (which is what this is) as an accessibility feature in MacOS as Windows has since forever. My guess is that this is due to the fact that many users find the difference between Bounce Keys, Repeat Keys, and Slow Keys confusing.
[+] beaugunderson|6 years ago|reply
I have many complaints about the terrible keyboard in the last few revs of the MBP, but Unshaky has allowed me to ignore them until it's more convenient to deal with them (and thus put off having to replace my laptop/be without it/spend a bunch of time and money dealing with that).
[+] y_molodtsov|6 years ago|reply
Currently is saves my “A” and I get almost no double presses. It says it fixed almost 1500 of them in two months.
[+] anomaloustho|6 years ago|reply
I don’t recall having this issue on my butterfly keyboard.

Is it due to a ‘faulty/lemon’ state that these keyboards get into?

I guess it could also be related to typing style? I’m not a home row user and I don’t do any gaming.

[+] gonehome|6 years ago|reply
I think it’s due to people eating over their keyboards and getting crumbs lodged in the keys.
[+] rstevens333|6 years ago|reply
I think there is something to this. I also suspect Apple is doing something similar behind the scenes. Since going to the Catalina betas, I've had fewer keystrokes go wonky.
[+] throw03172019|6 years ago|reply
Software to fix hardware issues. Was this also developed by Boeing engineers?
[+] blattimwind|6 years ago|reply
tl;dr a software debouncer for Apple's obviously defective hardware.
[+] userbinator|6 years ago|reply
To be precise, it's a second layer of debouncing; no doubt the KBC already has its own debouncing, but apparently sometimes not enough.