Filed under: Hardware, Odds and ends, Bad Apple
iBook keyboard devolution
Back in September of 2001 I received a spankin' new iBook G3 for my birthday. It was a great machine. While I'd admired the simplicity and form of the clamshell iBooks (and for some reason I loved that nuclear green), they were too darn big and too low-res for me. My particular unit had a 10 GB drive, 128 MB of RAM, and the DVD/CDRW drive— a stock model, but with Airport. It's name is Homer, and I still use it when I have to launch some ancient Classic-only scanner software. When the G4 iBooks were introduced, I knew I had to upgrade, so I wound up with an 800 MHz iBook, the one I'm still using. The 60GB drive and 384 MB of RAM made it a little pricey, but thankfully help keep it's little brain together. Unfortunately, it's so terrible I never gave it a name. Less than a year later, I bought my wife a 1.2 GHz G4 iBook. It's a great machine too, runs everything pretty smoothly, even with only 30 GB drive (we later bought a RAM upgrade so she's got 512 MB). One thing I noticed through these purchases: Apple's iBook keyboards get crappier every year, and I've got the pics to prove it.Details after the jump.
The iBook G3's keyboard still has all the keys intact. I haven't popped a key off a keyboard since that Apple adjustable, split keyboard I got with my Centris 610 years ago. Remember how the first iBooks were having that issue of keys flying off the keyboard? No, we're talking paint. Something about the paint on that old iBook works great. Doesn't come off. As you can see here (click the pics for a larger version). The keys all work fine, and aside from just a little mushiness, they feel quite nice. They are very quiet as well, which was a plus when my kids were very young.
The 800 MHz iBook G4 key began rubbing off within six months of having the unit. Never mind the fact that Apple installed the Airport card incorrectly, causing the keyboard to bow upward, warping it, and creating connection issues later (no worries, it only took three OS re-installs to troubleshoot that one). No, it was simply embarrassing to have coworkers crowd around my shiny white Mac just to laugh at the missing letter-forms. I noticed the plastic has changed as well. It's less transparent, which is nice, but much more clackity that the G3. To add insult to injury, the last time Apple sent off my iBook to Memphis for repair, they lost the top center screw that keeps the keyboard from popping up. So that warping did some good, as now typing feels like bouncing on a mini trampoline.
The real winner here is my wife's iBook. Her model's keys are the thinnest plastic I've ever seen on any laptop in my entire life. Party hats probably have more plastic in them. I'd noticed the plastic gets thinner with each model, but this is ridiculous. More importantly, the spacebar's underlying mechanics have been compromised. In previous models, the spacebar has three switches under it, so no matter where you land your thumb (typically on the sides of the long button) it will depress effectively. However, the 1.2 GHz model has 2/3 less switch. Just one in the middle, as you see below (sorry for the pic quality). This, coupled with the razor-thin plastic, ensures that hitting the key with a thumb on the right side will NOT engage the key. You can sit there all day and slap that key with your thumb, but you'll get no spaces 
for your trouble. You have to move your hand over about a half inch to engage. Can anyone say repetitive stress injury? My wife has become a touch typist as a result of working online, and when she moved from the old G3 to G4, this was a major problem. She says she's adapted. I say she needs to watch out that she doesn't wind up injured.Bottom line: I'm really hoping any Intel-based iBooks do not continue this downward spiral of keyboard quality, since the keyboard is somewhat necessary for a total computing experience. What's the worst keyboard (Apple or otherwise) you've ever owned?
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Will Dinyes said 5:14PM on 12-09-2005
The keyboards that came with the original iMacs. The ones with the teeny little function keys. Oh how I loathe them.
Frankly, after three solid years of daily use, I do like the keyboard on my 2002 iMac (Lamp Edition). Just one thing. It's probably because I'm not an obsessive compulsive hand washer. But the white keys sure are grungy. Not that the beige ones were really any better, grunge-wise. It's probably the only thing I did like about the original iMac keyboards: they were black, and hid grunge well.
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bill said 5:17PM on 12-09-2005
My first keyboard was on the Atari 400 home computer. A flat membrane keyboard with no moving parts, my friend and I nicknamed it "The Brick". My friend had a Sinclair ZX-80 that was also a membrane keyboard and the entire keyboard was about the size of a CD case.
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Golan Klinger said 5:27PM on 12-09-2005
I agree completely. I purchaesd a 600MHz G3 iBook with the semi-translucent keyboard in September of 2001 and its keyboard is still in perfect shape. I wish I could say the same for the 1GHz G4 iBook I purchased in August of 2004. Within six months the markings on the keytops had started to wear off and now I have several keys that are completely blank.
As a touch typer who is familiar with the iBook's keyboard layout, I'm not bothered by the problem although I'm troubled by the fact that the resale value of my iBook has taken a major hit. I've taken very good care of my computer but the worn out keyboard makes it look like I've abused it. I asked Apple if the keyboard issue was covered under AppleCare. No such luck. They defined it as "normal wear and tear" and suggested I purchase a replacement keyboard.
My second iBook purchase was a foregone conclusion but I'll have to think long and hard about whether I'm going to buy a third one.
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Travis said 5:35PM on 12-09-2005
My iBook G4 800 MHz had the same paint problem, but a simple call to Applecare got me a new keyboard (I've heard of people just getting replacement caps for them.) overnight for free :)
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Eric said 5:47PM on 12-09-2005
I've had my 1.33Ghz G4 now for a year, and have yet to have a single issue. The keyboard works perfectly for me as the day I bought it. I drag it to campus all the time and type pretty heavy.
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dalton said 5:47PM on 12-09-2005
Golan -
If the worn out keyboard is the only problem with your iBook and you really have taken good care of it, then a replacement should cost less than $40 and your resale value will be right back up where it should be.
I'm a bit confounded by this article, though. I'm a heavy keyboard user (I usually go through about one a year on my main desktop computer, and have trashed laptop keyboards in the past), and my 1 yr old G4 iBook still looks great. I wonder what I've been doing differently? Maybe I'm just lucky?
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Laurence Anderson said 5:50PM on 12-09-2005
Amen, rock on iBook G3!
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Aaron Jacobs said 5:56PM on 12-09-2005
The deal with the bad space bar on the 1.2 GHz iBooks is very unfortunate. Luckily, it seems to only be a specific revision or even a specific manufacturing run that that has the problem. New iBooks have proper space bars.
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Jim MacCormaic said 6:07PM on 12-09-2005
It's reassuring not to be alone with this bad experience. The keyboard of my 1.2 GHz 2004 iBook G4 got to be a joke, with several of the keys rubbed away to an embarrassing extent. I finally got on to Apple Technical support last week and ordered a replacement, realising full well that I was out of warranty and indicating that I was quite prepared to pay for the replacement.
Delivery was impressively prompt but what I actually got was a full, standard keyboard. It took a further 35 minutes on the phone to explain my difficulty and to be assured that the iBook keyboard would be despatched at once and that I would receive a credit for the mistakenly delivered standard keyboard. Sure enough, the proper keyboard arrived the next day. Unfortunately, while all the letters were crystal clear on all the keys, the keyboard itself was defective in a different way. This time, the space bar was inadequately fitted and moved from front to back on its right-hand side.
A further 20 minutes on the phone and I was assured that a replacement for the replacement would be sent out immediately. It arrived the next day. The letters are clear and fully legible on all the keys, but the front edge of the keyboard is badly bowed upward in the centre. I'm tired phoning and complaining at this stage, but I'm definitely not happy. I agree whole-heartedly that Apple's build quality has sadly deteriorated.
Oh, a final PS there's no sign of the promised credit for the standard keyboard which I didn't order. Adding insult to injury, today's post brought with it two invoices from Apple, one for the iBook replacement keyboard and one for the Standard keyboard. Not only bad build quality, but bad customer service too!
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Benjamin said 6:29PM on 12-09-2005
I've had my 1.33 GHz 14" iBook for well over a year now, so I think I can judge its build quality.
I've hauled this iBook through half the states in the U.S, into Canada, part of Mexico, Ireland, Germany, Qatar, and Iraq (along with other assorted Apple hardware).
-The case looks great for its age.
-Power adapter looks good, too. No cracking or kinking in the cord.
-Screen gets darker on the left side when the GPU is hot. It's not bad enough to warrant a replacement.
-Still get full 4+ hours of charge from original battery
-USB, Firewire, ethernet, modem, bluetooth, and airport all work very well.
-Sound quality is just fine, no looping or anything.
-No kernel panics since the day I bought it (I tried using some proprietary windows CD)
-Fan turns on very rarely; usually only when I'm running Folding@Home and doing something else that uses the CPU intensively
-Keyboard is rock solid. No flexing or bowing. It fits into the keyboard recess perfectly.
-All the key caps are still intact. The space bar and a few other keys have been polished smooth, but that's not a problem. Each letter/number is still dark and sharp.
-Never had a key fall off
I do have two gripes:
-the delete key (upper right) will not engage if it is pressed on the edge of the key. this only happens once in a while, and it doesn't bug me.
-the palm rest is hideous. I DO wash my hands often, but there are two greyish orbs on the palmrest. I've tried every cleaner i can find, but nothing gets rid of it.
All in all, I am a happy Mac owner. Maybe I just got lucky, but this iBook was a great deal. Any comparably-priced wintel laptop would have fallen apart by now.
-Ben
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Chase said 6:40PM on 12-09-2005
I have to agree with you that the current generation of iBooks have terrible keyboards. I just find it surprising that the keyboard on the iBook is so much different from the keyboard on the Powerbook. I have a first gen 12" Powerbook (with 866Mhz G4) and the keyboard is great. I've never had any problems with it. My sister has a current gen iBook and has all kinds of problems with the keyboard. I find it very surprising that Apple would have such inconsistencies between its product lines.
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Chris in Winnipeg said 6:43PM on 12-09-2005
I'm woth you on the g4 ibook keyboard comments. Oops - that should be "with" but the o and the i are rubbed off on my one year old ibook. Along with a five that started to pop up the day after the warranty was up and the a the s the m and the t. The best is the blue tint that all of my keys are now sportin'. Blue tint you say? Haha - I thought the blue permanent sharpie I used to re-write the letters on the keyboard would be permanent. Silly me! The oil from my fingers did away with the blue's permanentness right quick and now everybody, including my finger nails, is blue! Caveat Sharpie-tor!!!
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Doug said 6:50PM on 12-09-2005
I have a 1 Ghz iBook G4 built between August 9-15 2004, and I use it every day. I actually like the keyboard. It has a nice responsive feel, it's quiet, and the keys don't get grungy. I haven't had any paint wear or mushy key problems either.
I guess I got a good one.
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Michael Kalus said 6:50PM on 12-09-2005
I went through a similar experience. I ended up selling my G3 iBook when I bought a G4... People claimed the G4 keyboard was feeilng better from a typing feeling, but I would have to say I liked the G3 keyboard a bit better, not to mention that:
1. The Wristpads where silver and "slick" so no grime got stuck on it.
2. The paint didn't rub off the keys. After 1 1/2 years of using it daily the C key was rubbed off. No idea why the others were still fine.
I did replace the iBook G4 with a Powerbook G4 (March 2005) and it has a WAY nicer keyboard. Most of what I do is typing, so a good keyboard is heaven for me.
It's a shame really. I did sell both iBooks though successfully and the new owners are (as far as I can tell) more than happy with their purchases.
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Alex said 6:59PM on 12-09-2005
It's interesting how important keyboards are to people, and yet compared to every other spec on a computer, there is virtually no selection (at least, from the manufacturer). I can certainly sympathize with the author, my brief stint with a 1.2 GHz iBook certainly agreed with his experience. Additionally, having worked at an Apple repair center, I can say we saw lots and lots of iBooks with worn off letters. Strangely, I've never seen a Powerbook (G3, Titanium, or Aluminum) with keyboard issues. I guess it just goes to show, you get what you pay for.
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Marvo said 7:03PM on 12-09-2005
I've had my G3 iBook since 2001 and I still have all my keys, which are still in great condition, but under the keys there's an accumulation of hair and crumbs.
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markie said 7:14PM on 12-09-2005
>(and for some reason I loved that nuclear green)
then you probably love mine :-)
http://geektechnique.org/projectlab/203
and that's the one with this keyboard: :D (I had my share of trouble with ibook-keyboards I guess...)
http://tuaw.com/2005/10/28/das-ibook-key-less-keyboard/
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Scottie said 7:57PM on 12-09-2005
That's okay... my Hp laptop has lost a key. Thank god for CompUSA- they fixed it.
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umijin said 9:31PM on 12-09-2005
Yuck.
The original iBook keyboard was not so great - similar to the original TiBook keyboard - with cheap keys that came off with a softish typing field. I remember it was flexible on the TiBook. The keyboard on my year old 12 G4 and every other G4 PB since then is absolutely superior to anything on an Apple laptop prior to that. I don't recall very much about the current iBooks keyboards, but they were in no way inferior to that on my old clamshell iBook.
I suppose you can have your personal preferences in feel, but for cheapness, I can't at all see that the newer laptops are worse than the clam shells.
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Mojo said 9:48PM on 12-09-2005
>10. That's okay... my Hp laptop has lost a key. Thank god for >CompUSA- they fixed it.
>Posted at 6:09 PM ET on Dec 9, 2005 by Scottie
Thank god(sic) for CompUSA?
Freak.
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