People whopaid to repair oneof Apple’s problematic “butterfly” keyboards on aMacBookwill at last be able to claim settlement money from a class-action lawsuit – two years after the case was resolved, according to an update on thesettlement’s website. The site notes that the court issued a fresh order on June 27, and payments should be delivered for approved claims by August. The exact totals paid to claimants will depend on the repairs involved.
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Those who paid for keycap replacements will receive up to $50. The ceiling rises to $125 for people who got a topcase replacement, and $395 for people who went through at least two topcases. Lawyers aren’t accepting any more claims, however – that deadline expired after June 24, 2025. Terms of the settlement were approved on May 25 the same year, and in fact, it’s not exactly clear why payments are only now heading out.
Apple was originally sued over the keyboards in 2018, with complaints coming in from customers across the US. The company was accused of knowing about faults but continuing to sell defective MacBooks regardless. It only agreed to a settlement in July 2022, providing $50 million to compensate affected owners.
The history of the butterfly keyboard
Apple began using butterfly keyboards in 2015, ultimately putting them into the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro, and the now-defunct entry-level MacBook lineup. The name stems from a slimmer switch design, which was intended to keep MacBooks as thin as possible while still providing a familiar typing experience.
Buyers quickly ran into problems, however. Keys would often stick or repeat, making typing cumbersome, and sometimes those switches failed outright. The problem was debris – if enough of it got trapped in the right places, the switches would jam. Over the years Apple implemented two modifications of the butterfly design, but these never completely eliminated problems.
Part of the impetus for the class action was a repair program Apple launched in June 2018. The company offered free repairs for affected MacBooks, but would only replace keyboards with more butterfly units, perpetuating the situation. Since it was only willing to cover Macs for four years, there was a strong chance of getting stuck with broken hardware.
The sheer volume of complaints eventually forced Apple to phase out butterfly keyboards, but they were only fully discontinued in 2020. Apple reverted to a more standard scissor switch design.
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