Apple’s butterfly keyboard was a terrible time for the company, failing left and right across the MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro lineups. If you had one fail yourself, you might be due part of a $50 million settlement.
That settlement covers people in the United States who bought a MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro between 2015 and 2019 and had to replace their keyboards or keycaps due to Apple’s design flaw. Three groups of people can claim their share, but time’s running out — the March 6 deadline looms large.
The replacements
The Verge (opens in new tab) reports that people who had to replace their keyboard more than once should be good for up to $395 in compensation, while anyone who replaced the keyboard once or had to swap out individual keycaps to no avail can also claim. So if that’s you, you can get up to $125 for that keyboard replacement or up to $50 for replaced keycaps.
Alongside that March 6 date, there’s another catch to note — you need to have had the work carried out by Apple or one of its authorized service providers and have had it done within four years of purchase to be included in the class action lawsuit.
It’s also worth noting that these figures are just a guide and will go down if more people make a claim than is expected. Still, any amount of free money is a good thing.
This came about after Apple repeatedly released Macs with the ill-fated butterfly keyboard installed. It’s claimed the company knew that the keyboard wasn’t up to scratch, with many people having to replace it multiple times because each new one eventually failed. Issues included keys refusing to work or becoming stuck at the slightest sign of dust or debris.
Apple eventually did away with the butterfly keyboard, instantly making the new machines the best MacBooks money could buy.
