MacBook Pro 2018 users complain about flawed spacebar

Several users are experiencing space bar issues on their mid-2018 MacBook Pros. Those laptops have a third-generation Butterfly-mechanism keyboard, which should improve on previous generations.

The problem that several users experience is that the space bar randomly creates multiple spaces on a single click. The first reports date back to September last year and suggestions to adjust the keyboard settings ‘delay until repeat’ and ‘key repeat rate’ do not seem to work for everyone.

Users are reporting on Reddit and the Apple forum, among others. In the latter topic, users report that Apple is replacing the keyboard, but is also providing replacement MacBooks. Judging by the reports, it seems to mainly concern owners of the MacBook Pro 13 from mid-2018, but according to LaptopMag, it concerns all MacBook Pro models from 2018 and the new MacBook Air. John Siracusa, who has written extensive MacOS reviews for Ars Technica in the past, is also affected by the problem.

The 2018 MacBook models have flat keyboards with third-generation Butterfly switches. Compared to previous generations, the keyboards have an extra layer that should stop dust. Users have complained in the past about keys malfunctioning due to dust, among other things, but the problem with randomly repeating keyed characters has also occurred before, forcing Apple to launch a repair program for MacBooks last year.