Apple to Ditch Butterfly Keyboard Starting With MacBook Air Refresh

The Apple butterfly keyboard has caused huge numbers of problems for the company since it launched, leading to angered fans. It looks like Apple is finally ready to ditch the butterfly keyboard design in favor of a new keyboard with scissor switches. Word of the change comes from noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Kuo says that Apple will move to a new keyboard design based on scissor switches and that the new design will provide better key travel and durability than the failure-prone butterfly keyboards in use now. The analyst thinks that the new scissor-switch keyboard will be used in the MacBook Pro, but not until 2020 reports MacRumors.

The first machine expected to get the new keyboard is the MacBook Air that will launch this year. Interestingly, Kuo hasn’t said anything about the rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro launching this year seemingly indicating it will use the maligned butterfly keyboard

Kuo wrote, “We believe the partially refreshed MacBook Pro models will also adopt a new scissor keyboard in 2020; shipments of MacBook models equipped with a new scissor keyboard will grow 500700% YoY in 2020. Though the butterfly keyboard is still thinner than the new scissor keyboard, we think most users can’t tell the difference. Furthermore, the new scissor keyboard could offer a better user experience and benefit Apple’s profits; therefore, we predict that the butterfly keyboard may finally disappear in the long term.”