Judge Approves Apple's Plan to Pay $50 Million to Settle Butterfly Keyboard Lawsuit

Apple's plan to pay $50 million to settle a long running class-action lawsuit over the faulty butterfly keyboard today received preliminary approval from a California federal judge (via Law360). The payment will include $13.6 million in attorney fees, up to $2 million in litigation costs, and $1.4 million in settlement administration costs, with the rest distributed to class members.

macbook pro butterfly keyboard
Dating back to 2018, the lawsuit covers customers in California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Washington, who complained that Apple was well aware of the faulty keyboard mechanism used in MacBook Pro machines between 2015 and 2019. The lawsuit claimed that Apple concealed the defect from consumers in order to continue to sell the devices.

Apple added the butterfly keyboard to MacBook, MacBook Air, and ‌MacBook Pro‌ machines in 2015 and 2016, claiming that the keyboard offered superior key feel and stability while also allowing for a thinner design. Not long after the initial butterfly keyboard Macs launched, customers learned they were prone to failure.

Thousands of people ran into problems with repeating keys, sticky keys, and keys that otherwise failed when dust and other particulates got into the butterfly mechanism. The complaints led to a huge controversy over the butterfly technology, and Apple ended up launching a keyboard repair program in June 2018.

The repair program covered MacBook, ‌MacBook Pro‌, and ‌MacBook Air‌ models for only four years, and Apple was only replacing butterfly keyboards with another butterfly keyboard, so some customers had repeat failures that were ultimately no longer covered. The lawsuit alleged that Apple's repair program was not sufficient for this reason.

Apple attempted to iterate on the butterfly mechanism to make it more durable, so there were three butterfly keyboard generations in total, but all of them were prone to failure. Apple had to replace butterfly keyboards with more reliable scissor switch keyboards, with the company phasing out the last butterfly keyboard in 2020. All Macs now use the scissor switch mechanism that does not experience the same issues.

scissorvsbutterfly
Apple initially agreed to the settlement in mid-2022, but it now has early approval from the judge overseeing the case. Awards to customers from the settlement will be based on the number of repairs required, with amounts up to $395 for those who had two or more topcase replacements.

Mac owners who received butterfly keyboard replacements will begin receiving class notices later in December.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
iphone 16 pro models 1

Here's How the iPhone 17 Pro Max Will Compare to the iPhone 17 Pro

Saturday July 5, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
Apple should unveil the iPhone 17 series in September, and there might be one bigger difference between the Pro and Pro Max models this year. As always, the Pro Max model will be larger than the Pro model:iPhone 17 Pro: 6.3-inch display iPhone 17 Pro Max: 6.9-inch displayGiven the Pro Max is physically larger than the Pro, it has more internal space, allowing for a larger battery and...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's Upcoming Macs Listed in New Report

Thursday July 3, 2025 9:09 am PDT by
AppleInsider's Marko Zivkovic today shared a list of alleged identifiers for future Mac models, which should roll out over the next year or so. The report does not reveal anything too surprising, but it does serve as further evidence that Apple is seemingly working on new models of every Mac, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. Apple is...

Top Rated Comments

mdnz Avatar
34 months ago

Imagine being an engineer and designing a simple switch so poorly that your company gets sued for $50mil
Don't think it was because of engineers per se but rather because of an English bald man at the top and his obsession with thinness.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vicviper789 Avatar
34 months ago
Imagine being an engineer and designing a simple switch so poorly that your company gets sued for $50mil
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
34 months ago
Kudos! I'm glad the lawsuit was justified. A total win for the consumers.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WWPD Avatar
34 months ago
I heard the $20 checks you will get will be personally signed by Jony Ive on meticulously crafted, custom designed paper.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ProfessionalFan Avatar
34 months ago
I had 2 fail on me but Apple handled it very well at the time. I didn't even have AppleCare and they helped me out twice and in a timely manner. I am not surprised there was a lawsuit over it though.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hybrid_x Avatar
34 months ago
$13 million for the lawyers‽ And I get $200 for a keyboard replacement that's guaranteed to fail again, rendering the machine almost useless? That's a pretty terrible settlement.

I had one top case/keyboard replacement on my 2017 MBP. Kept the keyboard under a silicone cover ever since, and it's starting to show signs of potentially acting up again.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)