Following a collective action against Apple, concerning recurring problems on the “butterfly” keyboard, an agreement has been reached. According to its terms, the Cupertino company will pay $50 million (in total) to certain MacBook buyers with faulty keyboards. However, the company still denies the allegations in the complaint, saying that these MacBook models do not have any defects.
The deal in question was filed in federal court in California on Monday, Reuters reports, and must be approved by a judge.
It specifically affects buyers of MacBook, MacBook Air and most MacBook Pro models between 2015 and 2019 in seven US states: California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Washington.
A design that was defended and then abandoned
The “butterfly” keyboard design was introduced by Apple in 2015, as part of its strategy to produce thinner keyboards and slim its laptops. However, the keys were easily blocked by specks of dust or crumbs. Apple has tried to implement various fixes, like a layer of silicone under the keys, but nothing has completely fixed the issues.
Despite numerous complaints from its users, Apple never publicly acknowledged the suffering of users until Joanna Stern, of the wall street journal, publishes a scathing assessment of the MacBook Pro keyboard. Even then, the firm at the apple simply conceded that a “small number of users” encountered this problem with its third attempt at a butterfly keyboard. The brand finally decided to abandon this design in 2019.
In detail, the plaintiffs’ compensation should be minimal, according to their lawyers. The latter estimate that users who had to change their keyboard several times could obtain 300 dollars, 125 dollars for those who changed it only once, and 50 dollars for those who simply obtained the replacement of keys. Case to follow.
Source: ZDNet.com