Yeah; to me this is the thing that is so strange: removing the function keys? OK, I get it. I used to use the function keys a lot 25 years ago, but I think I haven't used them once in over a decade (note: I mean "as function keys", as opposed to "as media control keys"). But removing the escape key? That key is still being used by a lot of people and software, and I don't just mean us console editor people :/.

I'm happy about it, if only because it finally got me to adopt mapping CAPS to Esc, which is glorious.

I'm not happy about it, because I have Caps mapped to control, and last I checked, you can't map the bottom-left ctrl key to Esc. I actually don't have a MacBook anymore because of this.

You can do that. That’s how I have mine set up currently.

System Preferences->Keyboard->Modifiers

You can swap Control to Espace there (probably the same place you mapped Caps to Control???)

But where do you have ctrl mapped to?

My 3-week old last gen butterfly keyboard's Caps lock is starting to fail...

But I want physical volume buttons, too! (The Touch Bar volume buttons aren't available at all when video is in full screen mode.)

I don't understand why it isn't an optional feature.