{"id":343032,"date":"2017-06-08T04:29:53","date_gmt":"2017-06-07T20:29:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1500985"},"modified":"2017-06-08T04:29:53","modified_gmt":"2017-06-07T20:29:53","slug":"that-new-keyboard-is-the-key-to-apples-macbook-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/that-new-keyboard-is-the-key-to-apples-macbook-update\/","title":{"rendered":"That new keyboard is the key to Apple\u2019s MacBook update"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a decent chance you missed the MacBook news this week<\/a>. It was buried amid a flood of news as Apple powered through announcements at the WWDC keynote on Monday.<\/a>\u00a0Like the majority of the hardware news at the event, the differences are entirely behind the scenes \u2014 and let\u2019s be honest, upgraded Intel processors will never be as exciting to the layperson as a Siri speaker or iMac Pro.<\/p>\n

But slowly and surely, the little machine is becoming a more well-rounded and capable device. And this latest version is some nice refinements to the system. Perhaps most importantly, the company has addressed one of the biggest complaints with last couple of models \u2014 that flat, under-responsive keyboard. It seems incidental, but as the primary method of interfacing with the machine, it amounts to a lot.<\/p>\n

The company has added the same butterfly switches you\u2019ll find on the new MacBook Pro<\/a>, so it no longer feels like typing on a flat piece surface. As much as I tried, I just couldn\u2019t make it work.This time out, the difference is clear almost immediately.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The new keys are somewhere between the last generation and an older model MacBook \u2014 which is to say that they\u2019re still relatively flat (due, likely to the slim profile), but have a much more noticeable give. Some users will still probably have an issue with the relatively shallow typing experience, but if the keyboard was a key factor keeping you from picking the new model up, it\u2019s worth taking for a spin the next time you\u2019re near an Apple Store.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been using the new model since Monday\u2019s keynote, and it\u2019s grown on me \u00a0\u2014 and, honestly, am glad I didn\u2019t bite the bullet and buy an older model. For someone who makes his living banging fingers against a keyboard, it\u2019s a pretty important distinction.<\/p>\n

Looks-wise, the system is indistinguishable from its predecessor, which is mostly a good thing. The standard MacBook is probably the best looking laptop on the market and perfectly portable. It makes my work Air look giant by comparison, making for a pretty ideal travel laptop.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m writing this on the plane ride home. The lady in front of me slammed the seat back the instant we hit 10,000 feet, because common airline etiquette went out of fashion years ago. Switching between the computers is like night and day. Every time I move over to the Air, I find myself precariously balancing it on my stomach. The MacBook, meanwhile, can squeeze on the tray table along with a cup of coffee.<\/p>\n

The Touch Bar is still MIA here, and I wouldn\u2019t anticipate it coming any time soon. It\u2019s a good way for the company to maintain distinction between its Pro and standard lines. For all of the emoji-based functionality, Apple is still positioning it as a productivity tool. And, honestly, there isn\u2019t a ton of spare real estate here. But Apple has surprised us before.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Of course, some of the sacrifices made for slimness still stand. Most notably the dongle situation. While the company clearly listened to feedback about the keyboard, it\u2019s not backing down from the controversial stance that a single USB-C port is sufficient for most of what life throws at you. That, naturally, depends on what you plan to do with the thing.<\/p>\n

While the 12-inch MacBook is a perfect laptop for tossing into a carry on bag and getting some work done on the plane, it\u2019s not the one I would choose, for, saying, liveblogging an Apple event. That would require dongles and adapters for days. The issue will become less of a concern as the ports become more standardized, but just having the one port for power and, well, everything else, will continue to be a problem if you\u2019re the sort of person who tends to do everything, all at once.<\/p>\n

As with all of these processor increases, you\u2019re not going to see much of a performance difference, day to day \u2014 but running the standard Geekbench benchmark, I got a sizable boost over last year\u2019s model, so overall things should be much smoother. Even so, if you\u2019re planning to do any sort of real processor intensive tasks like video editing \u2014 well, that\u2019s what the Pro line is for. Just hope the person in front of you doesn\u2019t recline.<\/p>\n

This is pretty much exactly what you\u2019d hope to get out of the annual upgrade from Apple. It\u2019s got a nice performance bump (jury\u2019s still out on full battery life testing), and the keyboard makes it a much better typing experience.<\/p>\n

The last MacBook was one of the first Apple products I\u2019ve tested that I didn\u2019t have much of an issue returning to the company. I just never warmed to the typing experience. This time around, it will be a little tougher to give up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\" There’s a decent chance you missed the MacBook news this week. It was buried amid a flood of news as Apple powered through announcements at the WWDC keynote on Monday.\u00a0Like the majority of the hardware news at the event, the differences are entirely behind the scenes — and let’s be honest, upgraded Intel processors will never be as exciting to the layperson as a Siri speaker… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5817,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[59,66,26],"class_list":["post-343032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-media","tag-techcrunch","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5817"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343032\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}