Random Keys Working Sporadically

What has the OS to do with this? You yourself say that it doesn't

I'm probably the only one without an external keyboard so i'm left in frustration, i'll go to a service and let you know what they say.

If you start typing like crazy 'tiryutioryuortiuyoitreuyoitruyoitreuyit' when is not working is starting to work again for a moment or more, it's really random, but the key 'e' is many times like a trigger to the problem, i made a video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCtyUGWCTSQ

Same story here. MBP Late 2011.

This issue comes and goes a lot for me over recent weeks. May be the warm weather. However, have just found that turning off the keyboard under-key lighting helps, after a little delay.

Same issue here..... keys between E and O stopped working, I'm using now an external keyboard. Applying pressure on the sides of the laptpp or center of the keyboard makes the keyboard work again, so it is a wiring problem.

Since we all experience the same issue means this is a manufacturing problem.

I googled and seems a majority of people are experiencing this same issue.

We should evaluate starting a class action together with the same people experiencing mother board relate (graphic card) problems on the mbp 2011, probably there is a whole stock of mbp with defects in the manufacturing of their mother boards.

Consider that every user that writes here there are 100s with the same issue.

Best regards,

Water

Definitely a heat-related problem. Now that it's turning to autumn my keyboard works better in the cooler weather. When it does give grief, I put an Apple wireless keyboard right over the faulty keyboard and keep typing. It cost €69, which was a lot cheaper than the alternative of trying to get the macbook repaired. Frustrating, but a work-around.

Hi Iculture,

thanks for the reply, I already checked, it is not a heat related problem, I was until now in vacation with a clima of 2 degree... same problem. I also tried with a fan and ice.

Anyway, pressing around the keys makes a difference so it is a defect in the manufacturing. Thus I really don't care how much is an USB external key, mac are expensive, I expect a decent quality and them to last.

Best,

Walter

I have an early 2011 MBP, now with 10.9.4. I had the battery dead after arriving back from holiday (was told this could happen when your battery runs empty > was surprised to hear this, hard to believe), had the screen replaced due to discolouration on the edges, had the motherboard replaced after suddenly the screen was completely garbled and never showed a normal picture again, have the problem with the screen sometimes not waking up after sleep, had the problems with the q...p-row keyboard row ... and never does Apple admit there is a problem, you find many similar complaints ... i used to be an Apple fan (not fanboy), but this (and other) recent experiences (A brand, A price, C service) have turned me into someone saying to friends not to buy Apple... Over time almost all components got replaced, all paid by me/my employer :-(. If i would have known...

Same issue here, late 2011 MBP running 10.8.5. This also happens right after startup when trying to log in with my user, therefore I don't expect it to be a third party issue - unless it's caused by some background service that's loaded before logging in. On my machine this issue appears randomly but also usually disappears again within one or two minutes. Letters are typically those in the top row, and mostly vowels I think (U, O, I). This appears like one of those issues that can be really hard to reproduce and fix for a company, but with Apple charging the hardware prices they do, I would expect an official solution here, even if it's nothing else than hitting option 5 times in a row. Because this bug, while it appears, renders your machine completely useless.

Me too. 😟 Bought MBP in January 2012. It just started giving me intermittent keyboard problems. keys in middle row often do not work.

Same issue here with my 2010 MBP. Never dropped it or spilled any liquid on it. At first, it was just the 'S' key. Then, it spread to the 'F' key. I removed the keys and cleaned them - had a bit of dust but nothing major. Didn't fix the problem. Now, it has spread to the 'C' and 'V' keys. Have resorted to using an external wireless keyboard plunked on top of the MBP keyboard (works). Phoned a local Apple repair shop, and they claim that my keyboard will need to be replaced. May consider going through with it to save money on a new one. Sigh.

Just wanted to add my voice to this topic. Macbook Pro 2012. Keys E, R, T, Y, U, I and O stop working intermittently. Always happens in unison. No droppage. No spillage. Typing this via keyboard viewer. Started yesterday, so no conclusive results yet.

I'm a mug. Owned Apple products since 2008 and the hardware always fails. Constant problems.

This problem went away for me. In part I think because the weather got cooler, and I think heat may have played a role, but more importantly because I prised off the offending keys and vacuumed out all the crud that was under them (also had to use a tweezers to pull out hairs that had snuck in there). Prior to that I had a different solution – to carry around a separate Mac bluetooth keyboard I happened to have bought for a different purpose; worked fine, bit of a hassle, but much cheaper than repair alternatives.

Same deal here. 2012 MBP. O, u, i, t, y keys stop responding or respond intermittently.

Had issues with this earlier in the year, and then it stopped. Paired a bluetooth keyboard to fix the problem. Man, this is annoying, as I depend on this machine for work.

I really don't want to purchase another yet. And I imagine it will be prohibitively expensive to fix.

I took my laptop (Purchased in January 2013, a it turned out) to the genius bar and they said the fix was to replace the topcase, which includes the keyboard and battery. I had Apple do this ($438 with labor) and all is fine.

So I thought I'd weigh in here to explain how these keyboards work:

This is the contactor array of a MacBook Pro 2011 13" . You're looking at it from back to front. Those round dots are where the silicone rubber "cones" cause the front array to make contact with the back array, telling the computer which key has been pushed. The width of these (I think deposited silver ) traces is about 0.5 mm.

Now you're only looking at the just the front array. You can see that the contact pads are connected in series. A break anywhere in the trace connecting them would cause the "downstream" keys to stop working.

So here you see a site where galvanic corrosion occurred. I know that this particular MBP was exposed to water. So I bought it very cheaply. I was able to clean and completely dry out the logic board and the MBP worked fine for a while but quickly the Q - W - E - R -T - Y - P keys got wonky then completely stopped working. I bought a replacement keyboard for cheap but then found out that it's held to the front frame with around 80 tiny screws. So I was using it with a BlueTooth keyboard. Recently I bit the bullet and for $69 bought an entire top case for my machine. Putting it in meant that the everything had to come out of and off the top case.

So you can see from the amount of corrosion, it doesn't take much to cause a failure. In this case a drop of liquid less than 0.5 mm would, over time with galvanic action, cause a failure. There was a post about someone who had their MBP in a leather case and when they opened it up there was a lot of moisture on it. It was winter where he lived and we figured it was condensation. So even without spills this could happen.

When I took this keyboard apart I was shocked to find how much crap was trapped under and inside the keyboard. Especially since I pride myself in never having any food/drink near my "precious!"