I’m lucky, I guess, because I rarely use my MacBook Pros’ built-in keyboards.
I’ve always used them as desktop replacements, at home or in clients’ offices.
ALWAYS with a wired keyboard, trackball and big external monitor.
Not everyone who had a butterfly keyboard-equipped MacBook suffered these problems. But most MacBook owners will actually use the device keyboards from time to time. Note that Apple's marketing materials, commercials, etc. depict people typing on MacBooks and looking at the notebooks' screens.
Like you I rarely used my MacBooks as notebook computers, I basically used them as desktop replacements. So finally (back in 2010) I decided to just get a Mac mini instead as my daily driver. Today I have a cheap Windows ultrabook to take on the road a few times a year but gave up on MacBooks. (I still have an iPad mini.)
I thought about a Mac mini at one point, but MacBook Pros have more powerful processors, GPU, RAM, etc. For my work, architectural design, 3D modeling and photography, I need as much power as possible, so the lower-end Mac mini made no sense to me. I do use it as a standalone occasionally, so that tipped the scale.
My current MacBook Pro is a maxxed out M3. Great machine, definitely not cheap. Definitely NOT a Mac mini.
I’m lucky, I guess, because I rarely use my MacBook Pros’ built-in keyboards.
I’ve always used them as desktop replacements, at home or in clients’ offices.
ALWAYS with a wired keyboard, trackball and big external monitor.
Not everyone who had a butterfly keyboard-equipped MacBook suffered these problems. But most MacBook owners will actually use the device keyboards from time to time. Note that Apple's marketing materials, commercials, etc. depict people typing on MacBooks and looking at the notebooks' screens.
Like you I rarely used my MacBooks as notebook computers, I basically used them as desktop replacements. So finally (back in 2010) I decided to just get a Mac mini instead as my daily driver. Today I have a cheap Windows ultrabook to take on the road a few times a year but gave up on MacBooks. (I still have an iPad mini.)
I thought about a Mac mini at one point, but MacBook Pros have more powerful processors, GPU, RAM, etc. For my work, architectural design, 3D modeling and photography, I need as much power as possible, so the lower-end Mac mini made no sense to me. I do use it as a standalone occasionally, so that tipped the scale.
My current MacBook Pro is a maxxed out M3. Great machine, definitely not cheap. Definitely NOT a Mac mini.
Different people have different usage cases which is why Apple offers a couple of models with slightly different specs for almost every Mac product. Not everyone who wants a MacBook wants to pay what you did and carry around that same device.
I'm using a refurbed Mac mini M2 Pro which replaced a Mac mini 2018 (the upgraded one with the Core i7 processor).
Hell, most of Apple's senior management uses MacBook Airs: they don't need the horsepower of the MBP. But they understand that some people do, so they offer the device you are using.
In any case, this discussion is about Apple's butterfly keyboard class-action settlement payments. While Apple admitted no fault, it's noteworthy that they are sending out checks that are probably 10x what the cost of the actual replacement part is. Some people here say that there's nothing wrong with the butterfly keyboard design but the reality is Apple waffled for a while claiming there was nothing wrong with the design, covered some repairs (but not all), eventually created a keyboard replacement program, reverted back to the scissor-style key mechanism (abandoning the butterfly mechanism), and is now paying out this settlement.
This is not the first time that a bad design has forced Apple to settle. I received a check years ago for an optical drive settlement from Apple.
Anyhow I owned a MacBook that had one of these butterfly keyboards. Thankfully mine did not have any problems (I got rid of the device after a couple of years) so I was not eligible for a payout. In the end, Apple is better off making products that are designed correctly and if they make a design mistake to acknowledge it quickly and move on rather than let these things drag on for years.
MplsP said: You're kind of grasping for straw here - the butterfly keyboards had double the failure rate. That's really all you need to know.
AppleInsider found that the 2016 MBP model had "roughly twice as many failures" as the 2014/15 MBP models. They never investigated the repair rate for the 2017 MBP. Then they investigated the 2018/19 MBP repair rate and found that it was basically the same as the 2014/15 MBP models. I was asked by Chasm to provide a link from AppleInsider that showed this and I did.
In addition, they never investigated the repair rate for any MacBook models or MacBook Air models that also used the butterfly mechanism.
So, by your own anal-retentive admission, AppleIn investigated the 2014 models, the 2015 models, the 2018 models and the 2019 models. They skipped the 2017 models, but found that the problem hadn't been fixed in the following two models, so I think anybody above the age of five could conclude the following:
a. They investigated multiple models of MacBooks, which is what I said.
b. There's a clear inference there that the 2017 models did not magically fix the problem, only to have Apple return to the flawed keyboards for the later models.
You really need to unclench and accept the fact that your initial premise was wrong, as were your conclusions.
Comments
For my work, architectural design, 3D modeling and photography, I need as much power as possible, so the lower-end Mac mini made no sense to me. I do use it as a standalone occasionally, so that tipped the scale.
My current MacBook Pro is a maxxed out M3. Great machine, definitely not cheap. Definitely NOT a Mac mini.
I'm using a refurbed Mac mini M2 Pro which replaced a Mac mini 2018 (the upgraded one with the Core i7 processor).
Hell, most of Apple's senior management uses MacBook Airs: they don't need the horsepower of the MBP. But they understand that some people do, so they offer the device you are using.
In any case, this discussion is about Apple's butterfly keyboard class-action settlement payments. While Apple admitted no fault, it's noteworthy that they are sending out checks that are probably 10x what the cost of the actual replacement part is. Some people here say that there's nothing wrong with the butterfly keyboard design but the reality is Apple waffled for a while claiming there was nothing wrong with the design, covered some repairs (but not all), eventually created a keyboard replacement program, reverted back to the scissor-style key mechanism (abandoning the butterfly mechanism), and is now paying out this settlement.
This is not the first time that a bad design has forced Apple to settle. I received a check years ago for an optical drive settlement from Apple.
Anyhow I owned a MacBook that had one of these butterfly keyboards. Thankfully mine did not have any problems (I got rid of the device after a couple of years) so I was not eligible for a payout. In the end, Apple is better off making products that are designed correctly and if they make a design mistake to acknowledge it quickly and move on rather than let these things drag on for years.