Apple has begun paying out the $50 million settlement to certain MacBook owners in California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Wahington. This settlement addresses the long-standing issues with Apple’s butterfly keyboard, which was notorious for its unreliability and frequent malfunctions.
As reported by 9to5Mac, the settlement payouts were structured based on the severity of the issues experienced:
- Up to $395 for individuals having two or more top-case replacements.
- Up to $125 for those users having a single top-case replacement.
- Up to $50 for keycap replacements.
The court issued a payment order on June 27th, and as of August 2024, eligible MacBook users for the settlement have begun to receive their reimbursements via mail.
The official website for the settlement confirms that payment issuing is underway. However, those who chose electronic payment methods are still waiting.
In 2015, Apple unveiled a new keyboard design dubbed the ‘butterfly mechanism’ for its MacBook lineup. Initially featured in the 12-inch MacBook, this new keyboard style soon spread to other models in the company’s portable computer range.
However, what Apple had promoted as an innovative improvement quickly became a source of widespread user dissatisfaction. Owners frequently encountered problems such as keys failing to respond, inadvertently repeating characters, or becoming stuck.
These persistent issues caused frustration among users and challenged Apple’s long-standing reputation for producing reliable, premium hardware.
The design flaw prompted Apple to revert to the more reliable scissor-switch mechanism, branded as the Magic Keyboard, starting with the 16-inch MacBook Pro in late 2019 and continuing with the 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air in mid-2020.
However, damage was done to many users who had already purchased the butterfly keyboard-equipped models.
Legal action against Apple regarding the problematic keyboard design started to take shape in 2018. A group of consumers initiated a class action lawsuit, contending that the butterfly keyboards were fundamentally flawed and unfit for their intended purpose.
The legal proceedings culminated in 2022 when Apple agreed to a substantial financial agreement, albeit covering only seven states in the United States. This left many affected MacBook owners in other parts of the country and the world without recourse through this settlement.
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