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Listen as a MacBook Pro user sets his ‘sticky key’ frustrations to music

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I Am Pressing The Spacebar and Nothing Is Happening
If the keyboard on your new MacBook Pro is hassling you, then Jonathan Mann of
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a-song-a-day fame has created a ditty just for you.

The MacBook Pro’s keys have a habit of getting a bit sticky after extended exposure to dust and other debris, leaving some owners of the machine wondering if they’ll ever again experience the joys of a full alphabet and all that it has to offer.

Mann had his MacBook Pro about a year before experiencing the problem. In his case, the space bar stopped responding, and the situation has left him so frustrated that he decided to write a song about it called I Am Pressing The Space Bar And Nothing Is Happening.

The prolific YouTuber, who for years has been posting one song a day to his channel, sings how “nothing is happening” when he presses the key, which really can’t be much fun for Mann if he uses the laptop to tap out his lyrics.

The catchy tune describes how he waited a very long time to upgrade his Apple laptop, but having done so, the pricey Pro is no longer working as it should.

Mann’s video shows his awkward efforts at trying to clean the keyboard by holding it at an angle of 75 degrees and squirting compressed air at it — exactly as suggested by Apple on its support pages.

Fifty-four percent of people who responded told Apple they found the advice “helpful,” indicating that nearly half of those experiencing the issue ended up either taking it to an Apple Store, searching for alternative solutions online, or throwing it out of the window.

In 2016, the MacBook Pro incorporated Apple’s “butterfly” keyboard switch that debuted with the newly launched MacBook a year earlier. It offers hardly any key travel and as a consequence has proved uncomfortable for many users who type a lot. And, as Mann’s song highlights, it really doesn’t like dust.

DT reported on key-actuation issues with both the MacBook and 2016 MacBook Pro machines at the start of this year, with some owners at that time on their second or third repair after taking it back to the store. Hit the “stuck key” forum on Apple’s site and you’ll see page after page of contributions from users who are continuing to experience issues.

Hopefully Mann has managed to fix his MacBook Pro by now; perhaps he can write a song about that, too.

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Trevor Mogg
Trevor Mogg
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