But why the hell is the Touch ID sensor _not_ in the top right corner there? I agree with the other poster that said apple design is in the tank right now. Man that is awful.
Is it? I personally think it makes more sense there, it replaces the eject button (is that an eject symbol? It's been a while since I've had to care about eject) – and it matches the button position on the laptops, e.g. above the backspace button.
To be more precise, it is right above the backspace/delete key on every other device that has one. So they decided to stay consistent and put it in the exact same spot here too.
When you make an extended version of a keyboard, it makes sense to me to stay consistent and not rearrange keys on the part of the keyboard that's shared between the extended and regular-sized versions.
> To be more precise, it is right above the backspace/delete key on every other device that has one. So they decided to stay consistent and put it in the exact same spot here too.
Is it really more precise to say above the backspace/delete vs. the absolute top right corner? Until this product rolled out, those statements would have been practically equivalent.
I'm thinking of this like I do the power button. On my Macbooks, that's one and the same with touchid, and is in the top right corner (and yeah, above the delete key, but for me the significance is the absolute position). The power button on my non-Apple keyboards is also in the top right, above the numpad - albeit not a touch sensor as well. Not where the eject key is, but in the absolute top right on the old Logitech Wave I'm typing on right now.
Quite honestly, I didn't expect I'd be in the minority on this one. I suppose this is why design teams exist. I wonder if there's a better spoken version of me at Apple arguing like an asshole for the exact same thing!
> Is it really more precise to say above the backspace/delete vs. the absolute top right corner?
Yes, because that specifies the position of the key in all keyboards, no matter what extra keys they might have.
If your keyboard doesn't have an F-button row, then your numerical row is at the very top of the keyboard. If your keyboard has an F-button row, then your numerical row is the second row from the top. But in reality, it is in the exact same place it has always been, right above the the QWERTY row.
We don't shift the numerical row to the top when we add an F-button row. Neither do we shift arrow keys or Enter key to the far right when we add a numpad. So I don't see why touch ID button should behave any differently.
In general, extended versions of keyboards add more stuff compared to the smaller versions, but they never mess with the layout of buttons present in the original.
> That's one conclusion. Could also be your attitude / way you expressed your opinion too. ;)
Maybe, but I'm generally not a jerk around here, I just really don't like this design and expressed it. It really does hit me as shockingly bad. Like "why did they do that?" bad. That others like it as much as I hate it is a real surprise to me, but that's life.
Scanning over your recent comment history, I agree with you. I wouldn’t even say the comment in question was jerk like, but rather hyperbolicly negative. You were essentially damning an entire company over a keyboard button position you disagreed with. We get it, you think it should always be far top right. I definitely see your point of view, but I can also see the point of view where they put it. I’m undecided which is better, but that doesn’t change the fact saying their entire design team sucks over that might be going to far. As someone who easily gets fired up with passion when I dislike something, I completely empathize. That’s why sometimes you need to take a breadth before posting.
There's more than one way to look for consistency: in terms of key it was next to, or overall position on physical item.
In other words:
"It was above delete button"
vs
"It was in top right corner of the device"
From my personal usability perspective, FWIW, there's a difference between "Go to physical corner of a device" and "hunt for a very specific place in the middle of keyboard", but preferences differ.
My muscle memory wants things to stay where they are relative to one another. With it at the top right extreme, I would have to remember which computer I was at, since that location changes relative to all other keys.
I suppose it depends what your muscle memory is coded to?
To me, muscle memory would be coded to "find top right extreme of device, then back off a little". I suppose yours night be "find delete key, go a bit above" or "this far from home row".
(normally home row might be what I'd key too as well, but turning on and fingerprinting device is typically before I settle on home key in my workflow - I. E. I might not even be fully sat down...)
> But why the hell is the Touch ID sensor _not_ in the top right corner there?
It _is_? What am I/are you missing here?
> apple design is in the tank right now
There have been a diverse group of trolls screaming this for about 40 years. Meanwhile they are only the best by default. Don’t like it? Make something better
If it's not in the upper right corner, it's wrong. If it's not within easy reach of the more typical position of the right hand (for people who touch type at least) then it's in the wrong position. It's a lose-lose, doesn't matter what they do some people will be unhappy. And whatever they do, some people will be content or happy. So they picked one that made sense for people who don't rest their hand on the number pad all day long.
Heh I suppose I did whine about it. But if you opt for a 10 key it’s probably because it’s going to get used, and putting it absolute top right would keep it consistent with its placement on other products.
I'm betting it was a minimal change: they replaced the Eject key on the previous model, which makes sense given that no Apple Silicon devices have a drive with removable media.
Both positions are equally weird. Why is it not on the left… not that I would give up the Esc button. I’m left handed, so I feel it’s more natural to use the fingers on my left hand.
There are no position they could pick that will make everyone happy.
I'm right-handed, but top left corner of the keyboard would also be better than where it is now, to me at least. I keep my laptop to the left of my keyboard and monitor when I'm docked (like I am now) and reaching with my left hand to the corner of the Macbook keyboard is also pretty natural.
> There are no position they could pick that will make everyone happy.
Really missed an opportunity to provide an affordance here to align with Fitt's Law. Or they saw how useful F19 was in comparison to the touchID sensor :)
I agree with you. It’s much easier to press the button without having to look for it when it’s in the corner. I, too, thought that was a strange design choice.
For me (not the op), the difference is between going to a corner of a physical device (mindless, immediate); vs having to hunt for specific position in the middle of device (more conscious, intent).
Put it differently, "one of these things is not like the other", so it makes intuitive sense -- for me :) -- for it to be in a corner and "isolated" from typing keys.
20 years ago I read in a very basic "Intro to UI" that 1-pixel in the corner of your screen is effectively the biggest button on the screen (this was for mouse and desktop monitor, of course), as you can just push your mouse there without aiming or stopping. The wisdom of being able to use motion to go to an extreme of device intuitively stuck with me ever since.
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MK2C3LL/A/magic-keyboard-...