Chapter 1: The Apple Enthusiast's Dilemma

For many years, I've proudly identified as an Apple aficionado. The craftsmanship of their devices stands unparalleled, and their operating system feels eons ahead of Windows. However, I'm currently facing a frustrating situation: I possess two Mac computers, both of which are non-functional.

It appears I might have to consider switching platforms entirely.

I have an Early 2015 MacBook Air and a Late 2013 iMac. Both machines operate smoothly apart from one major issue: I can no longer type on either one.

For example, if I attempt to type "The Rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain," the outcome resembles something like "The Rain ain in Spain ain falls alls mainly ly on the plainain." As illustrated, my keyboard has developed a peculiar echo, repeating parts of words and leading to more time spent on corrections than on actual writing.

The Air was the first to exhibit this problem, which arose shortly after I updated the OS. After struggling with it for some time, I decided to visit an Apple Store. Unfortunately, that visit became a nightmare. Given the overwhelming foot traffic at these stores (a reality I'm familiar with, having worked at one), I had to travel to a location far from my home, as the nearby stores were booked for weeks.

Upon arrival, I explained the issue to the technician and demonstrated it. (This can be tricky, as the problem tends to be “degenerative.” Restarting the computer temporarily alleviates the issue, but it inevitably returns.) The representative claimed he was unfamiliar with the problem and suggested that I must have either dropped the device or spilled liquid on it. Since the laptop resides on my nightstand, far from any showers or drinks, neither explanation seemed feasible. Nonetheless, he mentioned there was nothing he could do and directed me towards the sales floor to consider purchasing a new laptop.

With no budget for a new computer, I left feeling defeated. Then, I made a poor choice: I upgraded my desktop to the same OS version.

Not long after, the desktop began exhibiting the same typing issues. This was particularly baffling, as I was certain I had never dropped it or spilled anything inside.

"This is absurd," I thought. If both machines are experiencing the same issue, surely others must be facing it too. Indeed, I discovered a community of users who had reported similar concerns. In response, someone developed a software workaround named Unshaky. I installed it, but the results have been inconsistent. I thought I had resolved the issue, but yesterday was particularly challenging, with the keyboard echoing more than ever, pushing me to the brink of frustration.

Last year, I had to purchase a Windows laptop because Apple computers do not integrate well with Adobe Creative Cloud. The issue primarily revolves around how they manage graphics acceleration; the performance of Premiere Pro on Mac differs significantly from that on Windows. This disparity makes me question how Adobe can justify charging the same price for both platforms.

But let's not dive deeper into that topic.

The truth is, I would fully transition to Windows— even for my writing— if not for the fact that all my publishing tools are exclusive to Mac.

I write and self-publish on Amazon Kindle, and the software available for that purpose on Mac is superior to its Windows counterparts, if such alternatives exist at all. For example, the app Vellum, which I use for book formatting, is both costly and outstanding. Having already invested in it, I wish to continue using it, but that’s challenging given my malfunctioning keyboards.

So, Apple, if you're paying attention: I can't afford to buy a new computer every time one of my old ones fails. You also can't overlook a problem that is both well-documented and persistent. While I would hope a patch could resolve this issue, the incident reports I've seen date back several years, suggesting otherwise.

In any case, if I am to spend over $1,000 on one of your machines, the least you could do is ensure I can perform basic tasks on it— like typing a sentence.

Postscript: Shortly after penning this piece, I wiped my laptop clean and performed a complete OS reinstallation. Guess what? The keyboard lag issue disappeared completely.

"Fantastic!" I hear you exclaiming. "Problem solved."

Yes and no. Remember my visit to the Apple Store, where they insisted the issue was mechanical? It turned out to be software-related. Had I taken their word for it, I would have unnecessarily spent a grand on a new computer.

All I'm suggesting is that they should have had a better understanding of the potential causes of the problem and been less focused on extracting another thousand dollars from me.

Chapter 2: Solutions and Insights

In this video, titled "How to Erase & Reset any Mac to Factory Settings macOS Catalina," viewers can learn effective methods to restore their Mac to its original state. This could be a valuable step for those experiencing similar issues.

The second video, "Recover your data from an unbootable iMac by removing the hard drive," provides essential tips for retrieving data from a malfunctioning iMac, which could be useful in dire situations.