MacBooks Will Soon Ditch Accursed Butterfly Keyboard According To Kuo

Apple has been lauded for its beautiful products but, for some, that design focus has a darker side as well. The company has been accused of sacrificing practicality and even usability for the sake of beauty or thinness and the 2015 MacBook's butterfly mechanism has been used as the prime example of that. At long last, the company is reportedly willing to put that behind it and, according to the famed Ming-chi Kuo, it will be switching to a new scissor switch design that, hopefully, won't have any negative side effects.

The butterfly keyboard was considered to be one of Apple's biggest blunders of late and also proof of how stubborn the company can be. Despite numerous complaints, Apple never moved away from the design, preferring to introduce small fixes instead. Kuo says the company is finally ready to move on, but perhaps not for the reasons most would think.

Apple isn't ditching the butterfly keyboard because of design flaws or popular demand. Instead, Kuo says that it was expensive to make and had low yields. If true, it's even more puzzling why Apple stuck to it for so long.

MacBook fans might not want to rejoice just yet as the replacement might have quirks of its own. It's not the exact same scissor switch many have loved but will glass fiber for reinforcement. It will reportedly still be expensive but cheaper than the butterflies.

According to Kuo, the new switches will debut with the 2019 MacBook Air, which is also expected to get a significant spec bump. MacBook Pro fans, on the other haven, will have to wait until 2020 to get their turn.