Apple agrees to pay $50M to settle 'butterfly' keyboard lawsuit

LPETTET/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

• Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has agreed to pay $50M to settle a class-action lawsuit that accused the tech giant of knowing and concealing that the "butterfly" keyboards on its MacBooks were likely to fail, Reuters reported.
• The proposed settlement was filed on Monday in a federal court in San Jose, California and requires the approval from a judge, the news outlet added.
• The settlement covers people who bought MacBook, MacBook Air and most MacBook Pro models between 2015 and 2019 in seven U.S. states, including California, New Jersey and New York.
• Customers from Florida, Illinois, Michigan and Washington were also included in the lawsuit.
• Those covered under the lawsuit can expect to receive $50 if they replaced key caps; $125 if they replaced one keyboard; and $395 if they replaced multiple keyboards, Reuters reported.
• Apple denied any wrongdoing as part of the proposed settlement.
• They are also eligible for four years of free keyboard repairs.
• Apple (AAPL) is slowing down hiring in parts of the company as the economy looks to soften heading into the rest of the year and 2023.

Comments

[Feckless191]

Lawyers making bank. Consumers, not so much.

[Yanks56]

I am on my 2nd MAC with keyboard issues. The second one was built after Apple supposedly fixed the problem

[JCC45]

@marksolomon1117 I have had 3 desktop macs since 2008 and never recall hearing about keyboard issues. Did the issue not impact the desk top macs?

[BWAHAHAHAHAHA]

Great American Company, eh? LOL

[Maginecoach]

You bet they knew and concealed it. I experienced it and I witnessed their deceit in my own case and in others

[mliu76400]

do I have to have replaced the key caps or keyboard in order to qualify for the pay out?

[Blowback2]

No mention of how much; what percentage the lawyers get….

[Logan3355]

I've had my macbook pro's Z key held into the keyboard with packing tape for years now. Keyboard and a lot else about the 2018 macbook pros make them such an awful computer.

[Yanks56]

@Logan3355 my words skip letters. So Apple is App le. Two MACs in a row with the same issue?

[Oil Can]

So out of that $50M - how much did the lawyers get?

[V_uniqueacc]

@Oil Can $50 if they replaced key caps; $125 if they replaced one keyboard; and $395 if they replaced multiple keyboards

🫢

[Jane Wang, econ prof]

@Oil Can The customers’ law firms, Girard Sharp LLP and Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP, may seek up to $15 million for legal fees, which would be deducted from the $50 million settlement fund, court papers show.

[Yanks56]

@Oil Can most of it

[jcat90]

Concealing the fact that the keyboards on its computers were likely to fail is a new low for Apple.

[Blowback2]

@jcat90 Did they really though…..or just wanted to end the case?