Oi Taika! Ditch your old MacBook Pro for these Oscar-worthy keyboards
The Oscars ceremony was the big night of the year for movies, but much to our delight Taika Waititi chose to highlight another, ahem, Parasite in his life after picking up his award – the widely despised MacBook Pro butterfly keyboard. Thankfully for the New Zealander, Windows laptops are acing it right now.
When asked what writers should be asking for from producers, Taika launched into a rant about the “horrendous” butterfly switch keyboards produced by Apple, adding that he was considering a switch to PC. We’re here to help the Hunt for the Wilderpeople director with his hunt for a decent keyboard.
Forget MacBook Pro, butterfly keyboard was bad, we will help Taika.
Related: Best laptops
MacBook Pro 2018 – Credit: iFixit
Poor Taika clearly feels like he’s facing down naff keyboard-induced Ragnarok but there’s plenty of better options out there.
The man just picked up an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay so is evidently a very busy man. While we’d like to hope he’s keeping up with tech by reading Trusted Reviews, Taika might have not seen the new MacBook Pro 16-inch come out from in the shadows.
Our review pointed out how much the new scissor-switch keyboard improves on what Taika called an “impossible to write on” keyboard.
But, if the director is a fan of the MacBook Pro 13 then comparing the 16-inch model keyboard is a bit Apple vs Oranges or Eagle vs Shark. To solve this, he could wait until the next-gen 13-inch MacBook Pro 2020 arrives – which is rumoured to also be adding the new keyboard.
However, it does seem like Taika may have already had his head turned by Windows laptops and that gives him a rabbit hole of quality options to tumble down.
Related: Best gaming keyboards
Surface Laptop 3 13 keyboard
Two of the best Windows ultrabooks out there right now are the HP Spectre x360 13 and the Surface Laptop 3 13. Boy oh boy! Both keyboards are amazing to use. An honourable mention goes to the Dell XPS 13 2020, which we’ll be reviewing in full later in the year.
From the inception of Surface Laptop, Microsoft has down a great job of making clicky keyboards with good travel and pleasingly-chunky keys. It isn’t surprising its laptop offering is so good given how great Microsoft manages to make the super-slim Surface Pro Type Cover.
While Surface Laptop 3 is a favourite of many, the keyboard of the HP Spectre x360 13 was a surprising revelation. HP keyboards haven’t been that great over recent years but the company pulled it out the bag with its most recent consumer flagship.
HP Spectre x360 13 keyboard
The Spectre keyboard is a bit more understated than that of the Surface Laptop 3 – providing a quieter keyboard in a smaller body that is a pleasure to type on.
While Taika Waititi could wait for the new 13-inch MacBook Pro 2020, if he’s in a bit more of a rush and its a case of next goal wins then these Windows laptops are worth being graced with the words of his next feature.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
