Okay, it's shit, but then what? Looking at the blog, the author uses a Mac in general. If they want to use a Mac, then you either need to live with the butterfly keyboard or buy a used machine.

Living with the butterfly keyboard is relatively easy as a developer, since you're probably going to have the computer docked with an external monitor, keyboard and mouse most of the time anyways.

I dunno, that keyboard gave me feelings of RSI literally about after twenty minutes of use when I had to extract it from my desk for assorted trips/meetings/whatever. I ended up getting a 2015 MBP, provided by work, which was technically a downgrade but ended up being an upgrade in basically every way.

The red flag is thus: they give you an apple device manufactured after 2015.

;)

Is it reasonable to be expected to do timed onboarding tests with known problematic hardware with zero opportunity to familiarize you self with it?

I wonder how quickly the HR person who set that test up would do if required to do it on, for example, a UK English keyboard?

That requires getting a desk