If you had trouble with a MacBook Pro featuring a butterfly keyboard, you’re in luck.
According to Law360, Apple’s plan to pay $50 million to settle a long running class-action lawsuit over the faulty butterfly keyboard today received preliminary approval from a California federal judge. The payment will include $13.6 million in attorney fees, up to $2 million in litigation costs, and $1.4 million in settlement administration costs, with the rest distributed to class members.
The lawsuit, which dates back to 2018, covers customers in California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Washington, who complained that Apple was well aware of the faulty keyboard mechanism used in MacBook Pro machines between 2015 and 2019. The lawsuit claimed that Apple concealed the defect from consumers in order to continue to sell the devices.
Apple added the notorious butterfly keyboard to its MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro notebooks in 2015. The company claimed the keyboard offered superior key feel and stability while also allowing for a thinner design. Not long after the initial launch, customers discovered that they were prone to failure.
Issues included repeating keys, sticky keys, and keys that otherwise failed when dust and other particulates got into the butterfly mechanism. The complaints led to a huge controversy over the butterfly technology, and Apple ended up launching a keyboard repair program in June 2018.
The program covered MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air notebooks for a period of only four years, with Apple replacing the butterfly keyboards with similar butterfly keyboards, which led to some customers experiencing repeat failures that were no longer covered. The lawsuit alleged that Apple’s repair program was not sufficient for this reason.
Apple attempted to overhaul the butterfly mechanism to make it more durable, and there were three butterfly keyboard generations in total, but each was prone to failure. Apple later replaced the butterfly keyboard design with more reliable scissor switch keyboards, with the company phasing out the last butterfly keyboard in 2020. All Macs now use the scissor switch mechanism that does not experience the same issues.
Apple had initially agreed to the settlement in mid-2022, and it now has early approval from the judge overseeing the case. Awards to customers from the settlement will be based on the number of repairs required, with amounts up to $395 for those who had two or more topcase replacements.
Mac owners who received butterfly keyboard replacements will begin receiving class notices later in December.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.