Apple rumored to introduce MacBook with scissor switch keyboard in mid 2020

A noted Apple analyst in a research note released on Tuesday presented a more definitive timeline of the company's MacBook plans, saying a new laptop model featuring a traditional scissor switch keyboard will debut in the middle of 2020.

Without citing sources, Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities says Apple manufacturing partner Wistron has been tapped as the primary supplier of parts for MacBook's scissor switch keyboards in 2020.

An unidentified MacBook with scissor mechanism technology is set to arrive late in the second quarter or early in the third quarter of 2020. The report fails to specify MacBook variant or screen size, but Kuo is likely referencing updated 2020 MacBook Air or 2020 MacBook Pro models. Alternatively, Apple could be plotting a return of the affordable 12-inch MacBook which was axed from its laptop range this summer.

Apple last updated its MacBook offerings in July with a cheaper Retina display-toting MacBook Air and speed-bumped 13-inch MacBook Pro. The July refresh also nixed function key MacBook Pros in favor of Touch Bar-equipped versions with Touch ID.

Kuo first relayed predictions of Apple's expected move away from the four-year-old butterfly switch to more robust scissor switch keyboards in late July, saying a new 16-inch MacBook Pro would be the first to benefit from the transition. That report noted all MacBook Pros — 13-, 15- and 16-inch models — and the 13-inch MacBook Air would eventually adopt scissor switch keys in 2020, a design to be carried forward into 2021.

Subsequent rumors pegged an October release for the 16-inch device, with some analysts guessing Apple will ultimately phase out the current 15-inch variant in favor of a larger-screened option. A report in October claimed mass production of the 16-inch laptop had commenced at manufacturing partner Quanta.

Kuo's note does not appear to suggest a delay in Apple's launch plans for the hotly anticipated top-tier MacBook Pro, as the analyst previously reported manufacturer Sunrex — not Wistron — would supply scissor switch mechanisms for the rumored machine. Still, with the end of month just a day away, the chances of an October launch are becoming increasingly slim.

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40 Comments

elijahg 2822 comments · 18 Years

About 5 years ago

If this happens, it’s really an admission that the butterfly mechanism is inherently flawed.

Soli 9981 comments · 9 Years

elijahg said:

If this happens, it’s really an admission that the butterfly mechanism is inherently flawed.

How so? I certainly don't prefer the feel and Apple surely doesn't like stigma associated with it, but neither of those are definitions for "inherently flawed."

Soli said:

elijahg said:

If this happens, it’s really an admission that the butterfly mechanism is inherently flawed.

How so? I certainly don't prefer the feel and Apple surely doesn't like stigma associated with it, but neither of those are definitions for "inherently flawed."

They’ve been so insistent that it’s great and “magical” etc, to abandon it now can only be an admission that it’s flawed, be that flaw mechanical or the perception from users that it’s not as good, or the noise/feel thing people seem to complain about. Otherwise why change it?

I have a 2019 iMac and I love the keyboard on that. Its shorter travel than the 2015 Macbooks, though it’s apparently not butterfly. Maybe that’s what the 16 inch MacBook is going to have.

elijahg said:

Soli said:

elijahg said:

If this happens, it’s really an admission that the butterfly mechanism is inherently flawed.

How so? I certainly don't prefer the feel and Apple surely doesn't like stigma associated with it, but neither of those are definitions for "inherently flawed."

They’ve been so insistent that it’s great and “magical” etc, to abandon it now can only be an admission that it’s flawed, be that flaw mechanical or the perception from users that it’s not as good, or the noise/feel thing people seem to complain about. Otherwise why change it?

I have a 2019 iMac and I love the keyboard on that. Its shorter travel than the 2015 Macbooks, though it’s apparently not butterfly. Maybe that’s what the 16 inch MacBook is going to have.

Is LCD flawed because they moved to OLED on their higher end iPhones? Didn't AI state that the failure rate is about the same for the keyboards? Companies change things up without them being "inherently flawed," just like Apple switched from the scissor mechanism to the butterfly mechanism. We get major HW and SW updates from Apple annually, bu that doesn't means that your device is "inherently flawed" or, as many like to complain, "obsolete" when a newer version comes out.

Did you state years ago that it's removal is "an admission that the scissor mechanism is inherently flawed." Often companies will change things once there's an overwhelming negative stigma that affects sales, regardless of anything else. We've seen product names and even company names change to get away from it. They may have decided that there is a stigma and that the scissor mechanism is better or that their new scissor mechanism is better, but that doesn't mean that keyboard I"m typing on right now is "inherently flawed" or, as another comment I saw on AI recently, "totally useless."