Anika Begay
People are starting to receive checks from Apple to compensate them for having to shell out money when their MacBooks’ butterfly keyboards malfunctioned. By issuing the payments, Apple is closing the book on a problem with stuck or otherwise unusable keys that has plagued owners of Mac laptops made between 2015 and 2019.
The checks are the result of Apple’s $50 million keyboard class-action settlement in 2022. People who filed claims during the claim window that began late last year were entitled to payments of $50, $125, or $395, depending on how extensive or frequent the repairs were. In June, a court ordered Apple to start paying out. Hem Journalist and smart home expert Jennifer Pattison Tuohy received one at the top price, offered to anyone who experienced the problem after replacing the keypad. 9 to 5 MacMichael Burkhardt also reported receiving two checks over the weekend.
Starting with the 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro, Apple began phasing out butterfly switch keyboards, which had extremely low key travel but appeared to be deeply unreliable and prone to failure. The whole saga finally came to an end when Apple released a 13-inch MacBook Pro without butterfly switches in 2020.
