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Comment by rhexs | Hacker News Reader

I sent mine back almost entirely because of the keyboard. Shocked that most of the reviews gave Apple a free pass on that one.

One surprise was how good the speakers were though. Really hard going back to the tinny garbage on most everything else after hearing those.

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Perhaps because a keyboard is a personal preference? Most of the reviews have mentioned the new keyboard as a love it or hate it thing. My wife has the new 13" model, and she loves the keyboard. I'm typing this on a spiffy mechanical keyboard. I don't think I could get used to one of the new Macbook Pro keyboards.

Does anyone actually prefer the new style low travel keyboards to the old ones? I'm guessing an extreme minority of users does. I can see indifference or thinking the slimmer profile is a good tradeoff, but not objectively liking the keyboard better. Most of the reviews seem to be an iteration on "well, I got used to it and it's not that bad!"

Who knows. I'm probably just crazy.

I objectively prefer the new keyboard. I've got a light touch and in my opinion any travel beyond what you need to be able to tell you've hit the key is wasted effort.

I've got a laptop keyboard on my desk (https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Compact-Keyboard-Trac...), and would have one of the new macbook keyboards if they made a standalone one.

I much prefer it. I don't see any reason to move my hands further than I need to to get just enough physical feedback. It feels sleeker and more modern too. Large travel just slows me down. I spilled a drink on my Apple wireless keyboard, and now I'm using a pretty standard office-type USB keyboard instead. And I can tell you I'm typing far slower.

Yeah I have been working nearly exclusively on a Retina Macbook since they were released last year. I really love the keyboard on this computer, and I think that the newest iteration of the keyboard is a significant improvement on the Macbook's. I know a couple people who hated it when they first tried it, and still hate it.

In and around my office had a few try it. It seemed to be about 50/50 Love / Hate.

I would say it was pretty predictable depending on how soft/hard the person typed on their current keyboard.

I tried it in the apple store and hated it, but after a week of actual use I like it much more.

Pros: More clicky, almost like a mechanical keyboard with no travel

Cons: I apparently used the raised profile of the keys to align my hands. Without it I find I have to look down once in a while to start typing.

It's fascinating how loud it is, like an old mechanical IBM keyboard; I wonder if that goes away after a few weeks of use. I was working from a coffee shop today, and the clacking sound from the guy sitting 2 meters away from me was super loud, even through my noise-canceling earbuds, with volume turned up high. An entire office with these going on at once must be... interesting.

If that sounds loud, imagine an entire office full of typewriters.

The difference in opinions is interesting. The keyboard (and the speakers) are my favorite aspect of the new mac. I'm a very light typist though.

The speakers are amazing, I have no idea how they managed that

I love the new keyboard, took two days to get used to it. The old one now feels wobbly and squishy.

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