A top Apple pundit has sparked rumours that the company will stop manufacturing its unreliable butterfly laptop keyboard for its upcoming MacBook computers.
Ming-chi Kuo, a financial analyst with sources in Apple's supply chain in Asia, has reported that Apple will ditch the keyboard due to high production costs.
The company first adopted the keyboard for its MacBook laptop computers in 2015.
The butterfly ? so-called because the mechanism beneath it resembles a winged insect ? proved so liable to break it prompted a class-action lawsuit from frustrated customers.
Rumours of new scissor-switch keyboard
Kuo has suggested that Apple will bring in a new keyboard made from glass fibre that uses more traditional scissor-switch keyboard technology. In a scissor-switch keyboard, keys are attached with two pieces of plastic that interlock like scissors.
"There have been successful developments in the new scissor keyboard," Mac Rumors reported Kuo saying.
"The new keyboard could improve the typing experience by offering longer key travel and durability by adopting glass fibre to reinforce the keys' structure."

Scissor-switch mechanisms beneath each key offer less room for dust and debris to get stuck underneath keys.
"Though the butterfly keyboard is still thinner than the new scissor keyboard, we think most users can't tell the difference," continued Kuo.
"Furthermore, the new scissor keyboard could offer a better user experience and benefit Appl...