Apple has begun fixing the dedicated Mute key on Mac keyboards so that its icon matches the actual onscreen indicator when the volume is muted.
iCulture points out that the dedicated Mute key on the new M4 MacBook Air uses a speaker outline with a diagonal line through it instead of a plain speaker outline.
As a result, the icon on the laptop’s Mute key (F10) finally matches the icon that macOS displays on the screen with the volume muted.
For decades, Mac owners had to put up with the confusing Mute key iconography which provided no visual clue that pressing the key toggles the volume between muted and unmuted. But now, we’re seeing the light at the end of the long tunnel.
Apple is fixing the Mute key on Mac keyboards
This tweak isn’t a design mistake or a one-off change: Apple uses the same icon on the new Magic Keyboard for iPad Air. Previous Magic Keyboards that lacked function keys didn’t even have a Mute key, including the iPad Pro version. Apple is likely to roll out this change to all future Mac and iPad Keyboards. This design change also makes it easier to distinguish the latest MacBook Air from earlier ones.
Now, owners of Intel-based MacBook Pro equipped with the discontinued Touch Bar feature (a dedicated OLED strip in place of the function key row that hosts various dynamic app shortcuts) could point out that the digital Mute key on their Touch Bar does show the proper mute symbol which matches the onscreen indicator.
The Mute key has always bugged me, so I’m glad Apple is finally fixing it after over two decades. Better late than never, as they say. Of course, Apple users who have waited for a native Calculator iPad app for 14 years know that innovation takes time. No more mental distress over the wrong icon! The only downside is that I must update my hopelessly outdated MacBook Pro with the old Mute key.
Joking aside, I find it funny that Apple blogs have run this story with dramatic headlines as if people have been fuming over the wrong Mute key icon for decades. However, I didn’t hear blogs complaining about it until iClarified ran the story. Don’t get me wrong—I’m not saying this is an irrelevant change that will only matter to people with too much time on their hands; quite the contrary, detail-oriented Mac users are going to dig it.
Apple added a Mute key to Mac keyboards with the 1999 release of the Lombard version of the PowerBook G3 laptop, which featured translucent bronze-tinted plastics and was the first Mac laptop with a glowing Apple logo on the back.