Tech Support?

[Betsy]

Can someone offer me some tech advice please?

I’ve got a 2012 macbook pro which was working perfectly until recently

The letter T stopped working.. within 24hrs it went from having to press it 2 or 3 times for it to register.. to having to apply force and manipulation.

I had to copy a ‘t’ and paste it into sentences

I thought it just needed a clean so before I popped the key out, I ordered a replacement key and hinge mechanism from eBay..

It was surprisingly clean under there so I gave it a wipe around with IPA and popped the new key back in.. it hasn’t seated perfectly.. I suspect I may have damaged one of the metal prongs which houses the plastic hinge with my forceful pressing.

...anyway, problem solved and the T started working perfectly again but within 24hrs of this fix, the letter E (2x keys to the left) stopped working so I suspect this isn’t a sticky key issue.

Do any tech nerds know what’s causing it?

 

[db95]

Without being hands on it's hard to say but given the force/manipulation mentioned and the fact it's propagated to other keys I'd be inclined to say the PCB itself is failing, perhaps even just from old age - in most cases you have the keycap, a hinge/switch and a rubber/silicone dome which when pressed down hits the PCB membrane, completes the circuit and registers a keypress. Rubber dome keyboards have a finite lifespan of anywhere from 5-10 years (usage amount depending) so it's not really surprising it's giving up - my Corsair K95 from around 2017 started having similar issues with it's mech switches which required removing and soldering in replacement ones. In your case I'd imagine it's a full keyboard swap.

But like I say without being hands on it's hard to diagnose fully, can't hurt to pop the E off and give it a clean with IPA/qtips/compressed air and see if anything changes however in my experience once a few keys start to go it'll continue going that way until it's unusable.

 

[bikeworkshop]

sounds like you need to replace the whole keyboard, hopefully it comes with any failing bit of wiring too.

I think there are videos on YT - it's probably cheaper to buy a replacement than pay a professional, but all 2012 macbooks will be 12 years old.

It was probably designed to last 10 years (and a certain number of key strokes)
Often once the design life is reached, multiple parts fail in quick succession.

A company called MacbookRepairs offer the job at £120, for instance.

I know absolutely nothing about apple computers, I'm just applying standard principles here from a working life frequently fixing the unfamiliar

 

[bikeworkshop]

... or you just learn to live without any Ts or Es.

Time for the sequel?

 

[Betsy]

Thanks gents..

Sounds logical

It's the exact same scenario.. the key works.. then it needs pressing 2-3 times, then it'll only register if i press the top of the key in at an angle, then i have to manipulate the key with force until it gets to the point where copy/paste is quicker.. this progression happens over a day or two.

Odd that removing the T and reseating it with a new hinge fixed it.. i gave the silicone dome a clean too... I'll get a replacement E and report back.

 

[bikeworkshop]

They will probably fail close to the order of usage.
"A" and "S" will be next.

 

[Betsy]

... or you just learn to live without any Ts or Es.

Time for the sequel?

You mean h squl?

 

[bikeworkshop]

Or next week,
"Qul"

 

[novocaine]

give it a shake, see if it moves to another key.

not a joke, it's possible you've got some debris sliding around under the membrane.

 

[Woz]

Can you activate an on-screen keyboard?