Apple | MacBook Pro’s butterfly keyboard costs Apple $50 million after class-action lawsuit | macbook

The butterfly keyboard was first released in 2015 along with the 12 inch MacBook In the following years, the infamous keyboard was also installed in the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro, up to the models that came onto the market in 2019. The butterfly mechanism should enable particularly flat and stable keys, but the butterfly switches were particularly vulnerable, so many customers complained about defective keys.

Although the design has been revised several times over the years, Apple was never able to completely eliminate the keyboard’s problems until 2020, when it finally introduced the current “Magic Keyboard”, which relies on a traditional scissor mechanism. Apple now had to file a class action lawsuit for the countless defects. On Monday, both parties agreed to $50 million in damages. A judge in San Jose, California, must approve the settlement before the lawsuit can be completed.

The plaintiffs have accused Apple of knowingly delivering defective keyboards and hiding this fact for a long time. The exchange program, which ultimately allowed customers to receive free repairs, was also called insufficient because the replacement keyboards are based on the same vulnerable design.

Customers in the US are eligible for up to $395 in damages if they have replaced a butterfly keyboard multiple times, up to $125 if a keyboard has been replaced once, and up to $50 if only keycaps have been replaced. The biggest winners are the law firms Girard Sharp LLP and Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP, earning up to $15 million in this lawsuit.

I have been writing for various publications in the technology sector since 2009, before joining Notebookcheck’s news department in 2018. Since then I have combined my many years of experience in the field of notebooks and smartphones with my lifelong passion for technology to inform our readers about new developments on the market. My design background as art director of an advertising agency also allows me deep insights into the peculiarities of this industry.