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The $395 is only for people who've gotten multiple repairs done, $125 for a single keyboard replacement, and $50 for only having keycaps replaced (was that even a thing?). What about those of us who just put up with it because we couldn't give up our work computer for however long a repair would take?
3rd time I needed mine fixed apple made me pay like $500 because the keyboard included part of the case or some non-sense

digusting company, my wife now refuses to use apple-anything because of how badly they treated her when trying to get her keyboard fixed because it wasn't apple's fault and bufferfly keyboards were great

even with how crap their laptops were if they made them easily replaceable and fixable it wouldn't have been a big deal but instead they blame their customers

I was part of that group. Just went with an external keyboard because realistically going without a workstation for up to two weeks wouldn’t happen unless I planned my vacation around Apple’s repair appointments, which also wasn’t going to happen.

I’m just happy everyone’s on the same page now that those keyboards were an abysmal downgrade from prior generations.

I was one of those that had multiple repairs. Each time I sent them in on a Friday afternoon. I got them back the following Monday. This was shipping things from the Midwest to Texas.

I realize that doesn't help you now, but the three times I've sent devices in to Apple for repair I've gotten them back the next business day. Maybe I'm an outlier on this, but that's my experience at the very least.

Same here.

I just put up with my R key not working right, it was my main work machine and the disruption would've been way more expensive. But Apple was lucky cuz I mostly use an external keyboard. All this until I got a new laptop (the m1 max which is phenomenal) so I've mostly forgotten it but I feel Apple got off too easily on this.

They should be punished harder for this shitty design that they didn't immediately backtrack on.

Zero dollars! Woo!!!

I think I should have gotten it replaced. I just felt like I would get the same terrible keyboard, but I now realize it would have been better for a while, and that would have been good for productivity. Ah well. (I used an external keyboard but got it out less than half the time.)

This adds insult to injury.

> because we couldn't give up our work computer for however long a repair would take

And because a $400 replacement isnt worth it.

Sometime in early 2018, we received one of those clear biscotti containers from an Apple Repair Center filled with replacement butterfly keys. That's when we knew it was bad.

Also, as I learned from the OG Pixel microphone class action, the squeaky wheel gets the payout. I felt like I'd bugged them enough after getting two RMAs for other problems that I just bought some Bluetooth headphones and didn't complain about the mic. Missed out on a few hundred dollars even though I could prove I was affected.

Interestingly I got the full amount because I got the keyboard replaced and the battery replaced at a separate time (which required the top case to be replaced as well). I'll take it though since the keyboard was also having issues at that time.
I literally did the expensive route of churning through laptops about once a year. (Selling the old one of course) A week of downtime was far more expensive than a new machine.
I had mine actually replaced once, and then had a repair ticket for a second, but didn't end up sending it in for the reason you state here.

I wonder which group I'll fall into.

Google/Fitbit refunded entire price of Ionic watch when they found out that there were issues with battery.

Apple under Tim Cook has gone into a state where it doesnt care about the customer.

The whole no adapter thing moved the entire industry into suck a Scam-Customer state that even Trimmer companies are not offering adapters.

Apple is spoiling entire electronics industry.

I will keep typing 'i' in my keyboard, and it will instead type 'ii'

Apple - You need to send a full refund for manufacturing such as pathetic laptop.

I agree on one point: Apple should be refunding a fractional laptop value to anyone who bought a device with the butterfly keyboard. This is a pretty underwhelming agreement.

I disagree on your other point: I think Apple absolutely did the right thing removing the charger. Everyone's got a charger at this point, and making it a nominal option during the purchase of the device would be good enough.

And in fact, I think the law should be that anything that can be charged by a Lightning/USB-* charger should be. I recently acquired a rechargeable flossing device, and an electric razor and I see no reason why these should have their own proprietary chargers.

I have an M1 now and it is glorious but back when I had the MBA with the butterfly keys, someone pointed me to https://github.com/aahung/Unshaky and it helped eliminate 99% of the double-typing or ghost keys. You will have to tweak the ms until you find the right number that fits your typing speed but once you get it all setup, the butterfly keyboard will become much more tolerable.

Or.. you could just swap it for an M1. :)

All of us will forever be baffled about how not only did Apple produce the dumbest laptop keyboard ever, but then defended it.

If there was a museum of terrible technology, Apple's butterfly keyboard would be right up there with Windows ME, the Virtualboy, Juicero, etc.

(Also removing Magsafe was clearly a dumbass decision. And at some point people will realize that current Apple laptops are once again thick enough to have K-lock slots again.)

And even if they somehow didn't already know about the reliability problems, the butterfly keyboard just felt so..bad.
> All of us will forever be baffled about how not only did Apple produce the dumbest laptop keyboard ever, but then defended it.

It's obvious: they thought they could get away with it. The settlement is for $50m. If they saved $50m on keyboards then it was worth it for them.

Jony Ive was one of the top decision makers at Apple, maybe second only to Tim Cook.

Jony believed the butterfly keyboard was his crowning achievement & legacy, and was willing to fight to the death to preserve it. Loss of the butterfly keyboard was actually the definitive factor in Jony Ive's departure.

You're Holding It Wrong!
My friend had a terrible experience with Apple.

Her MacBook pro wouldn't turn on. It was less than a year old and she paid for AppleCare+ so she was told it would be covered under warranty.

She got a call to pick it up and when she arrived she was told there was internal water damage and she had to pay $450. Also that the screen was scratched and they would replace it when the part came in. Her screen was not scratched when she dropped it off.

But she noticed her stickers were gone and the shell was all scratched on the top and bottom.

She asked someone if this was even her laptop and they checked and ensured her it was and the shell had to be replaced and that's why her stickers were gone but the shell wasn't new as it was all scratched.

Then she asked why the background would have changed and they told her they had to reset everything and she lost all of her files.

She was devastated as they said they would call and discuss options if it came to that.

They said they could undo the repair and she could take it somewhere else but if Apple can't recover the files then no one else would be able to recover them.

Ironically I had a covered device that failed prematurely but not for the recall reason. I was suspicious of the keyboard redesign so I bought and used a keyboard cover from day one, and I never had a problem with any of the keys.

Instead the ribbon connecting the screen failed. I took it to a reputable repair shop, who told me based on their experience the failure rate on these for other display-related reasons was high enough that in their opinion I'd be throwing good money after bad. So I told them to just use mine for parts or recycle it. (It was old enough by then that the latest OS X no longer supported it, thus defeating its purpose for software development. In return I decided to simply no longer support Mac versions of software I write.)

These generations of MacBook does not only have faulty keyboard design, everything is just wrong.

My 2018 15-inch MacBook Pro is constantly overheating. The heat significantly degrades the battery, resulting a battery warning at the one-year mark; and the screen was also burned yellowish/pinkish after a few months’ use.

I was lucky to have that Apple Care, I went to Apple Store, they replace the whole body — everything except the board because they don’t take off the screen / battery at the store.

So no, I don’t have a receipt for keyboard replacement, even if the keyboard get stuck once a while, that is not the worst issue for me. It is just the tip of the iceberg. But for that, I won’t get compensated for whatsoever.

Last spring, I replaced it with a M1-Pro MacBook Pro and never looked back.

Been having to stutter through typing on a 2018 MBP right now with four broken butterfly keys, one of which is entirely missing now. Attempting to organize a repair from rural east africa not easy. I was chiding myself for causing it because I snacked on crackers too close to the keyboard, and crumbs got in causing the key breaks. I didn't realize this was a widely known failure mode and design flaw. I feel a little less sheepish about it now.
In this case I praise the act relating to consumer purchases in Norway. I bought a butterfly MacBook Pro in January 2017. After numerous repairs and complaints to the reseller, I decided to make my case to the consumer council in January 2020, and boy did that resolve the problem: It took the reseller less than 24 hours to replace the old faulty MacBook with a new one with a post butterfly keyboard. I did spend some time going through the consumer law to make my case, and the resellers' poor customer relations and inability to resolve the issue ended up working in my favor. It's bonkers that this issue still isn't resolved for many people.
If you live in the UK or the EU, I think you can follow the process I went through in 2019, provided that you bought the laptop in the last N years, where N seems to change depending on which country you're in. England is 6 years, Scotland is 5.

https://charlieegan3.com/posts/2019-11-02-refunding-another-...

Any chance of being able to do similar in the UK? e.g. is there likely to be me-too legal action in the UK/EU?
Only for US citizens. I received communications on the progress of this thing for years, kind of a letdown.

I have to assume there isn't a special case for that time I happened to be in the US, booked a Genius bar appointment, and the Genius promptly ruined the spacebar on my keyboard, and just straight up lied to my face about it. By far the most bizarre interaction I have ever had with another human face to face.

It's karma because there was only one laptop butterfly keyboard, on the ThinkPad 701C. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRVJCtREW38
Apple already have a free extended warranty (keyboard replacement) program for these models: https://support.apple.com/keyboard-service-program-for-mac-n...
I received 4 new keyboards over the life of my old MacBook and swore I'd never buy a Mac again. Apple wanted to charge me $1000 for a 5th logic board/keyboard. I did end up getting a M1 Max MBP, and I guess the $395 is nice. It'd be nicer if Apple admitted it was a defective design and recalled the product.
Oh crap, my letter M key is broken but I'm not back in Australia for a while and I assume they only carry British keyboards in the UK.

I don't even have a proble with the low key travel on touchbar acs, just how easily they break.

EDIT: My mistake, this is about claiming copensation, not about the replaceent progra.

I shared my insane MBP repair history on HN last year (including 5 top-case replacements and 2 complete laptop replacements): https://pqvst.com/2021/08/24/my-macbook-pro/

Kind of funny, I'm still on my most recent replacement/repaired unit, and it's still working great since my AppleCare Protection Plan expired (knock on wood). But I guess it's only a matter of time until I'll have to buy a new one.

The really frustrating aspect of this whole story were the attacks to the users who were reporting these issues. Apple was officially ignoring them, but their army of fanboys and payroll-“journalists” were straight out making fun of people: “you don’t know how to maintain a laptop”, “you are dirty” etc

If not for Casey Johnston and Joanna Stern, who clearly have some journalistic integrity and went against the giant, we would still not have acknowledged the problem.

Sadly I never got repairs done because the wait was longer than I could afford to wait. I ended up having to replace the laptops with different laptops.
I find it amazing that they've set up an entire website [1] to handle whatever should happen next.

Unheard of in my country.

Is it Apple or the law-firm that built the site?

Is this kind of thing common with class-action lawsuits in USA?

[1] https://www.keyboardsettlement.com/

Too bad class-action lawsuits only (apparently) apply for that class of people in a particular legal jurisdiction. I went through two broken-keyboard leading to topcase-replacements for my 12" MacBook over the years, but I live in Canada, so I'm guessing there's no $395 coming my way.
I think the new keyboard design has issues on the post-2021 MacBooks as well. I've had keys randomly falling off. To Apple's credit, they replaced them for free. Some of them fell off after a wipe of isopropanol too even though they recommend it on their own website for cleaning.
I wish they would so something about iPad magic keyboards and sticky keys. Mine stated with one sticky key and quickly others become sticky. Cleaning didn’t help. It’s out of warranty and I can’t justify spending another $399(?) on a new one.
I pulled out my old laptop to get the serial number off of it for this, and man it's almost unbelievable how terrible that thing was.

The newer macbooks aren't perfect (I really wish they had USB ports), but they're a lot better than that one.

I had multiple keyboard replacements but when I followed the link that was emailed to me it had me down for just one. I emailed the people and sent them my repair info, and they’re apparently looking into re-categorizing my claim to multi-repair.
2 months? what can I say... that's really convenient, considering a lot of people will only find out about this after the deadline
I have one of these but unfortunately never had keyboard issues other than it sucks to type on. The touch bar on the other hand…
(in the united states)
Does Apple offer free replacement of keyboards mentioned in the article or only refunds?
Up to $395. Likely $15.
Silly low compensation for not being able to type effectively on a mobile computer.

As a EU citizen, I stopped buying Apple's hardware after this keyboard fiasco. Almost immediately after buying affected MBP, I sent it for repairs and got keyboard and case replaced with the same garbage. They had no idea how to handle it in other fashion than stating that everything works as intended (bit still replaced it).