Just over six years after the first class-action lawsuit over Apple's flawed MacBook Pro butterfly keyboard design was filed, settlement money will finally be reaching owners who were affected by flaws and reliability issues.
Close up of the problem-prone butterfly keyboard design used in some MacBooks.
Apple agreed to set up a $50 million settlement fund in 2022 to compensate owners of some MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro owners who bought machines with the keyboard between 2015 and 2019.
The first model to sport the butterfly keyboard, named after its original-design low-travel key mechanism, was the then-new 12-inch MacBook. It eventually expanded to all of Apple's notebook line over the next two years.
The company was made aware of widespread issues with the keyboard in 2016, but took some time to create and implement the "Magic Keyboard" design, which debuted with the 16-inch MacBook Pro in late 2019 and is still in use in the latest 2024 models.
Though initial reports were anecdotal, service data collected by AppleInsider for the first year of each MacBook Pro model's release found that the butterfly keyboard failed twice as often as its predecessors in that time.
Most users of the butterfly keyboard design experienced no issues, but a significant number of users found problems that included "stuck" repeated characters, sticky keys, and keyboard failure on some characters. The eligibility period to file a claim for compensation ended in March of 2024.
Not every MacBook Pro owner will get a payment
The final settlement does not cover all users of models with the butterfly keyboard design. Only owners who bought an eligible machine in the states of California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, or Washington and had the machines repaired at their expense are covered by the settlement.
Users who only had to replace keycaps to resolve their issues will get $50 for each incident. Users who had to get a "top case" replacement in order to solve the issue will receive $125 for each top case replacement, up to a maximum payout of $395 for multiple top case replacements.
Physical check payments are currently being mailed out now. Digital payments should begin in the coming days.