Apple has formally ended its butterfly keyboard restore program

This system was obtainable for all kinds of MacBook fashions bought between 2015 and 2020, together with totally different MacBook Air and MacBook Professional configurations. With the restore program’s finish, nonetheless, it is now not doable to get these machines repaired by Apple for free of charge.

This can in the end trigger frustration for some customers, as they are going to now must resort to third-party restore outlets and have the machine repaired out of pocket. It is broadly identified that the butterfly keyboard has important sturdiness issues, with notable flaws surfacing lower than a yr after its introduction.

In 2015, with the discharge of the 12-inch MacBook, Apple confirmed off a keyboard with a singular butterfly-style change mechanism. In contrast to the usual scissor mechanism used on earlier MacBooks, the butterfly keyboard consisted of a single meeting supported by a chrome steel dome change.

On the time, Apple government Phil Schiller mentioned the brand new butterfly keyboard was 40% thinner than ones with the scissor mechanism, and acknowledged that it was 4 occasions extra secure. Complaints concerning the keyboard quickly started piling up, nonetheless.

Customers began experiencing issues with the new-and-improved keyboard, at the same time as Apple unveiled the second-generation butterfly keyboard with the 2016 MacBook Professional. Widespread complaints included sticky and unresponsive keys, in addition to characters that appeared unexpectedly.

So widespread have been the points with the butterfly keyboard that Apple finally launched a free restore program following a class-action lawsuit in 2018. This system allowed customers who skilled points with the butterfly keyboard to have it repaired for free of charge. This was obtainable as much as 4 years after Apple stopped promoting the affected MacBooks.

In the meantime, the associated class-action lawsuit was settled in July of 2022. Customers who changed a number of butterfly keyboards at their very own expense have been eligible for a most payout of $395, whereas those that changed one keyboard would obtain $125. Even when solely a single keycap was changed, customers have been nonetheless capable of obtain $50 because of the settlement.

Funds for this settlement began arriving in August of 2024. It is value mentioning, although, that solely customers from the states of California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, or Washington who had the machines repaired at their expense are coated by the settlement.

Whereas the 12-inch MacBook was finally discontinued, the corporate continued to make use of the issue-prone butterfly keyboard all through 2018 on the MacBook Air and MacBook Professional. The identical yr, Apple added a silicone membrane to scale back noise, although the iPhone maker made it very clear the transfer wasn’t going to enhance keyboard sturdiness.

Apple additionally made some minor design modifications in 2019, however they seemingly did little to handle the core situation. The butterfly keyboard caught round for a number of extra months after that.

In March 2019, the corporate acknowledged that “a small variety of customers” have been having points with the butterfly keyboard, and issued an apology. The butterfly keyboard was then phased out in October of the identical yr, with the discharge of an up to date 16-inch MacBook Professional.

Regardless that Apple had a restore program in place, the corporate did not robotically exchange totally useful keyboards. Solely customers who truly skilled issues with their keyboard have been capable of get a free restore.

Apple supplied repairs for the butterfly keyboards till November 2024.

Particularly, this included the next issues:

• Letters or characters that didn’t seem when pressed
• Letters or characters that repeated unexpectedly
• A key or keys that felt “sticky” or didn’t reply in a constant method

Apple was required to restore the keyboards on all 2015 by way of 2017 12-inch MacBooks, 2018 and 2019 MacBook Air fashions, in addition to varied 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Professional fashions introduced between 2016 and 2019.

Choose fashions of the 2019 13-inch MacBook Professional have been nonetheless obtainable model new till November 2020, that means that the restore program solely concluded in November 2024. This was the final MacBook to function a keyboard with the problematic butterfly mechanism, as newer fashions reverted to the tried-and-true scissor mechanism by way of the Magic Keyboard.

All the affected machines have been Intel-based, and Apple seemingly has no plans to convey again the butterfly keyboard anytime quickly. In October 2024, Apple introduced a brand new MacBook Professional geared up with the state-of-the-art M4 chip, which helps Apple Intelligence. Unsurprisingly, this mannequin makes use of an ordinary scissor-mechanism keyboard.

There have been no main complaints from customers about keyboard reliability since Apple moved on from the butterfly mechanism. Customers of older MacBook fashions should still face issues with their keyboards, however Apple is not obligated to offer free repairs.