Butterfly keyboard MacBook owners compensation payments are arriving

AppleInsider · August 3, 2024 8:33PM

Just over six years after the first class-action lawsuit over Apple's flawed MacBook Pro butterfly keyboard design was filed, settlement money will finally be reaching owners who were affected by flaws and reliability issues.

Close up of the problem-prone butterfly keyboard design used in some MacBooks.

Apple agreed to set up a $50 million settlement fund in 2022 to compensate owners of some MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro owners who bought machines with the keyboard between 2015 and 2019.

The first model to sport the butterfly keyboard, named after its original-design low-travel key mechanism, was the then-new 12-inch MacBook. It eventually expanded to all of Apple's notebook line over the next two years.

The company was made aware of widespread issues with the keyboard in 2016, but took some time to create and implement the "Magic Keyboard" design, which debuted with the 16-inch MacBook Pro in late 2019 and is still in use in the latest 2024 models.

Though initial reports were anecdotal, service data collected by AppleInsider for the first year of each MacBook Pro model's release found that the butterfly keyboard failed twice as often as its predecessors in that time.

Most users of the butterfly keyboard design experienced no issues, but a significant number of users found problems that included "stuck" repeated characters, sticky keys, and keyboard failure on some characters. The eligibility period to file a claim for compensation ended in March of 2024.

Not every MacBook Pro owner will get a payment

The final settlement does not cover all users of models with the butterfly keyboard design. Only owners who bought an eligible machine in the states of California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, or Washington and had the machines repaired at their expense are covered by the settlement.

Users who only had to replace keycaps to resolve their issues will get $50 for each incident. Users who had to get a "top case" replacement in order to solve the issue will receive $125 for each top case replacement, up to a maximum payout of $395 for multiple top case replacements.

Physical check payments are currently being mailed out now. Digital payments should begin in the coming days.

Read on AppleInsider

macxpress · August 3, 2024 9:24PM

The fake lawsuit....

motif88 · August 3, 2024 9:56PM

Nothing fake about it… I had my butterfly keyboard replaced twice. Did you try and type on that POS for 2+ years? I did.

Just received my well earned $395 check today.

jeffharris · August 3, 2024 10:15PM

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.

foregoneconclusion · August 3, 2024 10:36PM

motif88 said:

Nothing fake about it… I had my butterfly keyboard replaced twice. Did you try and type on that POS for 2+ years? I did.

Just received my well earned $395 check today.

AppleInsider tried to assess what the repair rates were for the MBPs with butterfly mechanisms. Their final conclusion was that MAYBE the 1st year of MBPs with that mechanism had higher repair rates. That was about as definitive as it ever got. And you have to remember that the MacBook got the butterfly mechanism a year earlier than the MBP and didn't generate complaints.

Xed · August 3, 2024 10:47PM

foregoneconclusion said:

motif88 said:

Nothing fake about it… I had my butterfly keyboard replaced twice. Did you try and type on that POS for 2+ years? I did.

Just received my well earned $395 check today.

AppleInsider tried to assess what the repair rates were for the MBPs with butterfly mechanisms. Their final conclusion was that MAYBE the 1st year of MBPs with that mechanism had higher repair rates. That was about as definitive as it ever got. And you have to remember that the MacBook got the butterfly mechanism a year earlier than the MBP and didn't generate complaints.

I owned several MBPs during that transition in and out of the butterfly keyboard and I was still able to get work down. It wasn't great experience to use, but it did work.

macxpress · August 3, 2024 11:04PM

motif88 said:

Nothing fake about it… I had my butterfly keyboard replaced twice. Did you try and type on that POS for 2+ years? I did.

Just received my well earned $395 check today.

You must have bad luck or something. We've used hundreds of these at work that not only sat in an office, but also went out into construction sites and used in other dirty/dusty areas and not ONE was ever sent back for a keyboard replacement. Not even a complaint about a key on the keyboard not working properly or at all. This is something that was blown way out of proportion and some people (including the media and scumbag lawyers) took this and ran like the wind with it.

skitahoe · August 4, 2024 12:47AM

Thanks for the timely article guys.

I got my check in the mail today and promptly threw it away without looking at it. I read this article and it clicked in my head that I saw this on an envelope today. Dug it out of the trash and deposited my $395.

Much appreciated.

nubus · August 4, 2024 11:23AM

motif88 said:

Nothing fake about it… I had my butterfly keyboard replaced twice. Did you try and type on that POS for 2+ years? I did.

Just received my well earned $395 check today.

Got 2x replacements as well. With a new battery each time it is still in use for surfing. Initially decided against buying due to the keyboard. US consumer protection is better than EU on this one as we get: € 0.

chasm · August 4, 2024 12:26PM

For the naysayers above ... let's try reading the actual article, shall we?

"Though initial reports were anecdotal, service data collected by AppleInsider for the first year of each MacBook Pro model's release found that the butterfly keyboard failed twice as often as its predecessors in that time." (emphasis mine)

This was service data limited to repairs on MacBook Pros, but it wasn't just the first year, as ForegoneConclusion misleadingly states.

"Most users of the butterfly keyboard design experienced no issues, but a significant number of users found problems that included "stuck" repeated characters, sticky keys, and keyboard failure on some characters." (again, emphasis mine)

It seems like a number of commenters here failed English comprehension 101, or at a dead minimum never got taught logic -- looking at Macxpress and Xed in particular. I'm literally typing this on one of the last 2019 MBPs with a butterfly keyboard right now, and I've never had a problem with it after literally millions of words written. But that doesn't mean that the problem was imaginary, or that other users couldn't possibly have had an experience that was different than mine.

Clearly, there were enough cases with documentation of problems and repair bills to match that Apple was forced to settle the case and compensate people. Ipso facto, some users had issues. Why is that so hard to accept?

foregoneconclusion · August 4, 2024 1:11PM

chasm said:

For the naysayers above ... let's try reading the actual article, shall we?

"Though initial reports were anecdotal, service data collected by AppleInsider for the first year of each MacBook Pro model's release found that the butterfly keyboard failed twice as often as its predecessors in that time." (emphasis mine)

This was service data limited to repairs on MacBook Pros, but it wasn't just the first year, as ForegoneConclusion misleadingly states.

Nope. Whomever wrote this article made a mistake. It wasn't EACH release. It was the first release. AI never claimed they had evidence of high repair rates outside of that first MBP model with the butterfly mechanism. And like I said, the MacBook had the butterfly mechanism a year earlier than the MBP and there were never any reports of unusual repair rates.

"Most users of the butterfly keyboard design experienced no issues, but a significant number of users found problems that included "stuck" repeated characters, sticky keys, and keyboard failure on some characters."

Do an internet search on keyboard problems. Those are standard issues with scissor mechanism keyboards too.

https://www.reddit.com/r/macbookpro/comments/1aihjkc/m3_pro_macbook_has_two_sticking_keys_that_require/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/new-macbook-pro-2023-m2-has-wobbly-keys-sticky-trackpad.2397562/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Lenovo/comments/bq88xr/do_not_buy_lenovo_laptops_they_develop_keyboard/

Also, the "twice as often" quote has no context relative to what an acceptable rate of failure would be for a manufactured product like a laptop keyboard. A design could be more prone to failure and still be within the acceptable margin overall.

chasm · August 4, 2024 1:35PM

foregoneconclusion said:

Nope. Whomever wrote this article made a mistake. It wasn't EACH release. It was the first release. AI never claimed they had evidence of high repair rates outside of that first MBP model with the butterfly mechanism. And like I said, the MacBook had the butterfly mechanism a year earlier than the MBP and there were never any reports of unusual repair rates.

a. There hasn't been a computer keyboard invented yet that has NEVER EVER had ANY issues for ANY USER.

b. Again, AI just did indeed claim that. In this article. Reading comprehension much?

c. I worked as a Mac tech during those years and I certainly did see MacBooks (non-Pro) that had butterfly keyboard issues. I could not say if the issues for those models were above average overall, but we spent several years routinely fixing/replacing those keyboards, up to and including top case replacements.

foregoneconclusion · August 4, 2024 2:12PM

chasm said: b. Again, AI just did indeed claim that. In this article. Reading comprehension much?

Again, the person who wrote this article made a mistake. Go back and find an AppleInsider article from the butterfly mechanism time period that claims EVERY first year of EVERY butterfly MBP model had twice the failure rate for keyboards. Never happened. Apple was tweaking the design the first few years. AI's claims about having evidence of high repair rates were always centered around the 1st MBP release with the butterfly mechanism. They didn't make that claim about the revised versions. And they also didn't make that claim about the MacBook that came out a year earlier with the same mechanism design.

Has AppleInsider ever provided a repair rate comparison for different versions of scissor mechanism laptops? No. Has AppleInsider ever provided a comparison of reliability between PC laptops with scissor mechanisms and Apple laptops with the same? No. So the whole thing with the butterfly mechanism had no real context at all. It's not like it's difficult to find people complaining about issues with their PC/Apple scissor mechanism keyboards.

danmoch · August 4, 2024 3:06PM

Thankfully my 2016 12" Macbook keyboard never failed but I was never happy with the typing experience. The butterfly keyboards are generally awful in terms of key travel, keystroke feel, and overall satisfaction of typing on that keyboard. I realize the type of keyboard that can be installed in an extremely slim laptop is limited but of all the laptops (both Mac and Windows) I've ever owned, the typing experience was the worst on the 12" Macbook.

chasm · August 4, 2024 3:56PM

foregoneconclusion said:

chasm said: b. Again, AI just did indeed claim that. In this article. Reading comprehension much?

Again, the person who wrote this article made a mistake. Go back and find an AppleInsider article from the butterfly mechanism time period that claims EVERY first year of EVERY butterfly MBP model had twice the failure rate for keyboards. Never happened. Apple was tweaking the design the first few years. AI's claims about having evidence of high repair rates were always centered around the 1st MBP release with the butterfly mechanism. They didn't make that claim about the revised versions. And they also didn't make that claim about the MacBook that came out a year earlier with the same mechanism design.

Has AppleInsider ever provided a repair rate comparison for different versions of scissor mechanism laptops? No. Has AppleInsider ever provided a comparison of reliability between PC laptops with scissor mechanisms and Apple laptops with the same? No. So the whole thing with the butterfly mechanism had no real context at all. It's not like it's difficult to find people complaining about issues with their PC/Apple scissor mechanism keyboards.

Tell you what: you're so sure of yourself without a single link to support your claims, YOU do the research to prove your (mistaken) point. At least I can read and understand an article the first time!

foregoneconclusion · August 4, 2024 6:51PM

chasm said:

foregoneconclusion said:

chasm said: b. Again, AI just did indeed claim that. In this article. Reading comprehension much?

Again, the person who wrote this article made a mistake. Go back and find an AppleInsider article from the butterfly mechanism time period that claims EVERY first year of EVERY butterfly MBP model had twice the failure rate for keyboards. Never happened. Apple was tweaking the design the first few years. AI's claims about having evidence of high repair rates were always centered around the 1st MBP release with the butterfly mechanism. They didn't make that claim about the revised versions. And they also didn't make that claim about the MacBook that came out a year earlier with the same mechanism design.

Has AppleInsider ever provided a repair rate comparison for different versions of scissor mechanism laptops? No. Has AppleInsider ever provided a comparison of reliability between PC laptops with scissor mechanisms and Apple laptops with the same? No. So the whole thing with the butterfly mechanism had no real context at all. It's not like it's difficult to find people complaining about issues with their PC/Apple scissor mechanism keyboards.

Tell you what: you're so sure of yourself without a single link to support your claims, YOU do the research to prove your (mistaken) point. At least I can read and understand an article the first time!

Here you go:

"For comparison, we took the data for the MacBook Pro models that were on sale in 2014 and 2015, then looked at how many service events they had in their first year. That is, within one year of purchase, the number of machines that had problems which were dealt with by our sources.

Comparing that to the first year of the butterfly keyboard, we saw roughly twice as many keyboard failures. It was still only a small proportion of issues that needed repair, but keyboards were brought back for fixing significantly more than before.

That changed after 2016, though. It changed quite dramatically, with the data we collected over the 2018 and mid-2019 MacBook Pro returning to around the same levels as the vaunted 2012 through 2015 MacBook Pro models.

It's hard to say how that 2016 model is doing now. As the years pass, fewer and fewer come in for service for an assortment of reasons. But, we're not seeing any long-term bad trends on the 2018 or 2019 iterations of the Butterfly keyboard, so if you like the typing experience, don't be afraid to get one."

https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/05/05/initial-failures-of-apples-butterfly-keyboard-doomed-it-from-the-start

Like I said, AppleInsider's claims about significantly higher levels of keyboard failure were always limited to the FIRST release of the MBP with the butterfly mechanism. They've never claimed that the first release of the MacBook with the butterfly mechanism OR any other release of MBP with butterfly mechanism had the same level of failure. Also, as I've pointed out before, saying that the 2016 MBP had "roughly twice as many keyboard failures" doesn't actually tell you if the failure rate was beyond what would be acceptable for a laptop. It just tells you that specific release year was worse than 2014/15. There's no context for how good or bad the 2014/15 rates actually were relative to the industry as a whole. For all we know, Apple could have significantly lower failure rates for any type of keyboard relative to the PC industry.

MplsP · August 4, 2024 11:59PM

foregoneconclusion said:

chasm said:

foregoneconclusion said:

chasm said: b. Again, AI just did indeed claim that. In this article. Reading comprehension much?

Again, the person who wrote this article made a mistake. Go back and find an AppleInsider article from the butterfly mechanism time period that claims EVERY first year of EVERY butterfly MBP model had twice the failure rate for keyboards. Never happened. Apple was tweaking the design the first few years. AI's claims about having evidence of high repair rates were always centered around the 1st MBP release with the butterfly mechanism. They didn't make that claim about the revised versions. And they also didn't make that claim about the MacBook that came out a year earlier with the same mechanism design.

Has AppleInsider ever provided a repair rate comparison for different versions of scissor mechanism laptops? No. Has AppleInsider ever provided a comparison of reliability between PC laptops with scissor mechanisms and Apple laptops with the same? No. So the whole thing with the butterfly mechanism had no real context at all. It's not like it's difficult to find people complaining about issues with their PC/Apple scissor mechanism keyboards.

Tell you what: you're so sure of yourself without a single link to support your claims, YOU do the research to prove your (mistaken) point. At least I can read and understand an article the first time!

Here you go:

"For comparison, we took the data for the MacBook Pro models that were on sale in 2014 and 2015, then looked at how many service events they had in their first year. That is, within one year of purchase, the number of machines that had problems which were dealt with by our sources.
Comparing that to the first year of the butterfly keyboard, we saw roughly twice as many keyboard failures. It was still only a small proportion of issues that needed repair, but keyboards were brought back for fixing significantly more than before.
That changed after 2016, though. It changed quite dramatically, with the data we collected over the 2018 and mid-2019 MacBook Pro returning to around the same levels as the vaunted 2012 through 2015 MacBook Pro models.
It's hard to say how that 2016 model is doing now. As the years pass, fewer and fewer come in for service for an assortment of reasons. But, we're not seeing any long-term bad trends on the 2018 or 2019 iterations of the Butterfly keyboard, so if you like the typing experience, don't be afraid to get one."
https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/05/05/initial-failures-of-apples-butterfly-keyboard-doomed-it-from-the-start
Like I said, AppleInsider's claims about significantly higher levels of keyboard failure were always limited to the FIRST release of the MBP with the butterfly mechanism. They've never claimed that the first release of the MacBook with the butterfly mechanism OR any other release of MBP with butterfly mechanism had the same level of failure. Also, as I've pointed out before, saying that the 2016 MBP had "roughly twice as many keyboard failures" doesn't actually tell you if the failure rate was beyond what would be acceptable for a laptop. It just tells you that specific release year was worse than 2014/15. There's no context for how good or bad the 2014/15 rates actually were relative to the industry as a whole. For all we know, Apple could have significantly lower failure rates for any type of keyboard relative to the PC industry.

You're kind of grasping for straw here - the butterfly keyboards had double the failure rate. That's really all you need to know. Apple had a design. They changed it and the new one failed twice as much. How often that is relative to anything else really doesn't matter. If you need more evidence, Apple proceeded to modify then completely abandon the butterfly keyboard. That's not something a company does with a solid, trouble free design.

I had one of these keyboards and it never outright failed but I had more issues with it than I've had with any other keyboard I've ever used, and that was despite the fact that I babied it like I have not other keyboard.

Aside from having insanely small tolerances, the keyboard had 2 other critical design flaws. First, you couldn't remove the key caps to clean underneath them if something did get stuck. Second, if my memory serves me, you couldn't simply replace the keyboard, you had to replace the entire logic board.

bloggerblog · August 5, 2024 4:29AM

I actually prefer the butterfly keyboard over the current one, I may have been lucky to not have experienced the issues others have. But once I upgraded to the MBP M2 the keyboard felt outdated, the key travel was longer and the keys wobbly. I wish Apple spent more time refining the butterfly.

foregoneconclusion · August 5, 2024 1:28PM

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.

alanshutko · August 5, 2024 6:53PM

Not sure why all the reporting says it is only for certain states. The settlement website doesn't limit it to certain states, and I just got my check (not in one of those states).

mpantone · August 6, 2024 4:58PM

jeffharris said:

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.)

Butterfly keyboard MacBook owners compensation payments are arriving

Not every MacBook Pro owner will get a payment

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