Speaking of the new butterfly keyboard, iFixit has put it through some testing:

We pumped this keyboard full of particulates to test our ingress-proofing theory. We started with a fine, powdered paint additive to add a bit of color and enable finer tracking. Lo and behold, the dust is safely sequestered at the edges of the membrane, leaving the mechanism fairly sheltered. The holes in the membrane allow the keycap clips to pass through, but are covered by the cap itself, blocking dust ingress. The previous-gen butterfly keys are far less protected, and are almost immediately flooded with our glowing granules. On the 2018 keyboard, with the addition of more particulate and some aggressive typing, the dust eventually penetrates under the sheltered clips, and gets on top of the switch—so the ingress-proofing isn’t foolproof just yet. Time will tell how long the barrier will hold up. Following the Mythbusters method of testing, we pushed the keyboard to failure with the higher-grit particulate we used last time: sand. And just like last time, a few poorly placed particles bring the mighty butterfly down to earth, never to click again.

I’m hopeful that this means in everyday life, these things will be as robust as the 2015 and earlier keyboards.

A new Apple service document outlines changes to the new MacBook Pro keyboard. Text from the document was provided to MacRumors:

The keyboard has a membrane under the keycaps to prevent debris from entering the butterfly mechanism. Be careful not to tear the membrane. A torn membrane will result in a top case replacement.

This is good news; I hope that it works as intended.

The document also states that it is now much easier to replace individual key caps, and that full top case replacements should be less common now. If a key is stuck, feels uneven or soft, a technician should be able to safely remove and even replace it in store now. That wasn’t the case before, which blows my mind.

John Gruber:

This is what I thought all along: the new third-generation keyboard was designed to better in every way, quieter and more durable, but Apple, for legal and/or marketing reasons, has decided only to tout that the new design is quieter.