The rumor mill currently has it that Apple plans to incorporate a scissor mechanism rather than a butterfly mechanism for its upcoming 16-inch MacBook Pro.
The rumor emanates from reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who offered the opinion in a note published on Friday to investors.
Kuo stated that the 16-inch MacBook Pro will come in the fourth quarter of 2019, and now, he says Apple will use the more durable scissor mechanism that he previously said would not be used in the MacBook Pro lineup until 2020.
Per Kuo:
“We have revised our prediction that the keyboard of the 16-inch MacBook Prothat will launch in 4Q19 will feature the scissor mechanism instead of the butterfly mechanism. The refresh versions of other MacBook models in 2020 will change to adopt the scissor mechanism keyboard, too. We estimate that shipments of MacBook models that choose scissor mechanism keyboards will reach 400k, 10mn, and 16mnunits, respectively.”
Kuo also stated that belief that future Macs arriving in 2020 will swap over to a scissor mechanism as opposed to a butterfly mechanism. This will hopefully result in more durable keyboards that are not as prone to failure from heat, dust and other small particulates.
In a previous note, Kuo said that the scissor mechanism that Apple will use will improve the typing experience by offering longer key travel and better durability by adopting a glass fiber for a reinforced structure. A keyboard with a scissor mechanism will be thicker than the butterfly keyboard, but Kuo believes that most users won’t be able to tell the difference.
The note stated that Apple’s higher requirements for the scissor keyboard will result in an average selling price of $25 to $30 for the keyboard component, as opposed to the general price of $8 to $12 for this kind of keyboard. Sunrex is thought to be the provider for these scissor-based keyboards.
Apple switched over to a thinner keyboard with a butterfly mechanism in the 2015 MacBook, and has since used the same butterfly keyboard in all of its notebook refreshes.
Apple’s butterfly keyboard has been prone to failure, in spite of several design revisions. The company’s newest Mac notebooks keyboards currently use a third-generation butterfly keyboard that was intended to cut down on failure rates that incorporates a new membrane and build materials. Unfortunately, Apple has been unable to completely solve its butterfly keyboard-related issues.
As a result, Apple has faced negative press, multiple lawsuits, and ongoing issues with the butterfly keyboards since their 2015 launch. Apple has launched a keyboard repair program that applies to all Macs with a butterfly keyboard, including 2019 models.
Apple will repair all butterfly keyboards that experience issues at no cost for four years from the Mac’s original date of purchase, but the problem won’t be fixed until Apple swaps over to a new keyboard design that’s more durable.
Along with the scissor keyboard mechanisms, rumors have also suggested that the new 16-inch MacBook Pro will feature a 3027 x 1920 display with slimmer bezels than the current MacBook Pro models. Kuo’s note suggests that the new machine will perhaps be sold alongside existing 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pro models going forward.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via MacRumors