Apple might have secretly fixed the defective keyboards on the new MacBook Pros

Apple released new MacBook Pros the other day and it had appeared the company didn't update the controversial keyboards for better reliability, but instead just made them quieter.

But that might not be the case after all. A new teardown from iFixit has revealed Apple's added a thin rubber layer underneath each key that might help keep specks of dust from getting lodged inside and rendering the key unusable.

As you can see in the photo below, each key on the new MacBook Pro keyboards comes with a thin silicone cover, which as iFixit says, "cocoons" the butterfly switches.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

iFixit's also made an informative video showing how the rubber layer keeps dust and dirt particles from getting trapped inside each key:

Though Apple told reporters, including Mashable, the only improvement made to the third-generation butterfly switch keyboard is that the keys are quieter to type on — we found the keys a little bouncier than the second-gen keyboard — it's possible the new rubber layer pulls doubly duty as both a sound dampener and dust blocker.

But if that's true, then why didn't Apple explicitly say it fixed the keyboard so that it can reassure customers it's heard their complaints and addressed them? There are a couple of potential reasons for that.

The first, as pointed out by Daring Fireball's John Gruber, is Apple's facing multiple lawsuits on the reliability of the first and second-generation keyboards. If Apple came out and said it fixed the problem, it'd stand no chance winning these lawsuits.

Which leads to the second reason: Apple's stance remains that the previous MacBook Pro keyboards don't have a defective design and only affect a small number of devices. With lawsuits to fend off, it wouldn't be a smart move to announce the keyboards were flawed.

And so, as iFixit suggests, the so-called quieter keyboards, might just be a cover-up. Honestly, at the end of the day, if improved keyboard reliability is a side-effect of quieter keyboards, we're all for it. All that really matters is the keyboards are dependable to type on. Guess the only way to find out is for people to get their new MacBook Pros and use them for a little bit and see if the dust-breaking-keyboards issue rears its ugly head again.