For a brief time, it seemed as though Apple intended it to be the MacBook, but it was too small, underpowered, and expensive to go truly mainstream. It kicked off a new design language, complete with USB-C ports and that butterfly keyboard.

It was just called MacBook (no “Air” or “Pro” modifier), and it was heralded as a new kind of laptop for Apple. The era of the butterfly keyboard kicked off with 2015’s 12-inch MacBook. So while the butterfly keyboard may be gone from Apple’s store, it’s certainly not gone from this world.īy subscribing, you are agreeing to receive a daily newsletter from The Verge that highlights top stories of the day, as well as occasional messages from sponsors and / or partners of The Verge. If you’re using a MacBook yourself, there’s a good chance you’re typing on one, too. I would say good riddance, but I am typing this on a MacBook Pro with a butterfly keyboard right now. Apple obstinately stuck with this keyboard design for much too long, hurting its image and causing wholly unnecessary hassle and cost for its customers. Switching the entire product lineup over to a new keyboard in the span of six months is impressive, but the decision to finally do so came far too late. After five years of applying bandages to the butterfly keyboard, Apple has switched over its entire laptop line to the scissor-switch-based Magic Keyboard in the span of six months.

With today’s announcement of a new 13-inch MacBook Pro, Apple has finally stopped trying to fix one of the most controversial and problematic hardware designs in its history: the butterfly switch mechanism on its laptop keyboards.

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