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MacBook owners can now claim payout in class action lawsuit over Butterfly Keyboard issues

Back in 2022, a class action lawsuit was filed in federal court in San Jose, California, regarding the Butterfly Keyboard in MacBook models introduced between 2015 and 2019. The lawsuit was settled in November after a judge approved a proposal by Apple to pay owners of affected MacBook models, and now those customers are being contacted to claim their payout.

How to get paid for having a MacBook with a malfunctioning keyboard

An email sent to these customers details that Apple has agreed to pay $50 million into a Settlement Fund. After deducting attorneys’ expenses, service awards, and other fees, the funds will be distributed among the members of the class action lawsuit. However, the payout varies depending on each class group.

For instance, owners of MacBooks that have had their keycaps replaced will be paid $50. Those who have had the entire keyboard replaced will be paid $125, and users who have had to order a keyboard replacement more than once can earn up to $395. It’s important to keep in mind that the Mac must have been taken to Apple or an authorized service provider to be eligible for the payout.

A Settlement has been reached with Apple Inc. (“Apple”) in a class action lawsuit alleging that the “butterfly” keyboard mechanism in certain MacBook laptops is defective, and can result in characters repeating unexpectedly; letters or characters not appearing; and/or the keys feeling “sticky” or not responding in a consistent manner.

Apple denies all of the allegations made in the lawsuit, denies that any MacBooks are defective, and denies that Apple did anything improper or unlawful. The proposed Settlement is not an admission of guilt or wrongdoing of any kind by Apple. The United States District Court for the Northern District of California approved this notice.

Another detail about the lawsuit is that it only covers MacBooks purchased in California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, or Washington. If you have an eligible MacBook, you need to submit an application by March 6, 2023, through the KeyboardSettlement.com website in order to get the payout.

If you want to exclude yourself from the class action lawsuit, you need to do so by February 10, 2023. And if you do nothing, you won’t get paid either.

The Butterfly Keyboard disaster

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The Butterfly Keyboard was first introduced with the 2015 MacBook as a solution to make the computer even thinner. However, after it was put on the market, many customers were frustrated as the Butterfly Keyboard had many malfunctions, such as keys repeating unintentionally or even keys that stopped working.

Even with all these problems, Apple expanded the Butterfly Keyboard to the entire lineup of MacBooks, including the MacBook Pro and then the MacBook Air. In 2018, Apple finally announced a repair program that allowed owners of affected MacBooks to replace the keyboard for free if needed.

It took almost five years before Apple brought back the classic keyboard, now called the Magic Keyboard, to the MacBook. A series of class action lawsuits were filed in a number of US states, alleging that Apple knew from internal testing that the keyboard design was faulty yet released the machines anyway. Apple tried and failed to have the lawsuits dismissed.

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Avatar for Filipe Espósito Filipe Espósito

Filipe Espósito is a Brazilian tech Journalist who started covering Apple news on iHelp BR with some exclusive scoops — including the reveal of the new Apple Watch Series 5 models in titanium and ceramic. He joined 9to5Mac to share even more tech news around the world.