Apple Says Older MacBooks Will Not Get Third-Generation Keyboards as Replacements
Jul. 17, 2018The company also launcheda free replacement programfor users troubled by the keyboard, but if you’re hoping to get the latest generation keyboard on your older MacBook, your quest might end in a disappointment. Apple has clarified that the third-generation keyboards are “exclusive” to the newMacBook Pro models revealed last week.
Apple will continue to replace problematic first and second-generation keyboards for free. However, it maintains that the service centers will replace broken or malfunctioning keyboards for free but with the units from the same generations, and not upgrade them. The reason for this decision is not clear but it is supposedly because thethird-generation MacBook keyboards are not backward compatiblewith the previous models, which is possibly due to an internal change in the keyboard’s construction.
Moreover, Apple has not specified whether or not the keyboards it offers as part of the replacement program will be susceptible to the same issues and if it has made an effort in tweaking them slightly. If the former is the case, the free replacement will only serve as a temporary solution and not actually solve the issue.
The stickiness of the older keyboards, Apple hints, isdue to dust and debris stuck under the keyboard switchesand also offers aguide to clean themat home. But if those new third-generation switches have kept you drooling since their announcement, you might have no other option but to buy the new MacBook Pro laptops which offer a significant performance upgrade, but this newness comes at anoticeable price jump.
