Apple to pay $50m settlement for rotten butterfly keyboards
- Reference: 1658259007
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/07/19/apple_butterfly_settlement/
- Source link:
This week, the Cupertino electronics giant agreed to pay $50 million to settle a class-action lawsuit, according to court documents released Monday
[1]PDF
. Plaintiffs in the now four-year-old court battle alleged Apple knowingly concealed the fact that its butterfly keyboards were prone to failure and argued steps by Apple to mitigate the defect were inadequate.The keyboard design at issue made its debut in 2015 alongside the short-lived MacBook — a 12-inch ultra portable powered by a passively cooled Intel Core-M processor. In order to accommodate a larger battery into the slim aluminum chassis, Apple introduced a new “butterfly” keyboard mechanism, which had a shallower travel than traditional scissor-switches used in prior generation MacBooks and most PC laptops.
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Despite early warning signs that dust and debris could work their way into the mechanism rendering it inoperable, Apple brought the keyboard design to its mainstream MacBook Pro line a year later and the MacBook Air in 2018.
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As the butterfly switch saw widespread adoption, reports of sticking or inoperable keys became [5]commonplace . However, Apple remained silent on the issue, at one point advising customers with sticking keys to invert their notebooks and direct compressed air at the keyboard deck.
In subsequent MacBook models, Apple [6]modified the mechanism, apparently in an attempt to mitigate failures, and eventually added a membrane around the switches, seemingly in an attempt to limit the ingress of foreign particles.
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Eventually, Apple said it would replace the keyboards on affected notebooks at no cost for a period of four years after purchase, under a [8]service program . That repair would have otherwise cost customers several hundred dollars if out of warranty.
[9]Apple's M1 MacBook screens are stunning – stunningly fragile and defective, that is, lawsuits allege
[10]Remember Apple's disastrous butterfly keyboards? These lawsuits against the iGiant just formed a super class action
[11]2020 MacBook Air teardown shows in graphic detail how butterfly keyboards were snipped for scissor switch
[12]That magical super material Apple hopes will hit backspace on its keyboard woes? Nylon
However, as plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit pointed out, the replacement keyboards were themselves prone to failure, leading to situations in which customers had their keyboards serviced repeatedly.
In 2019, Apple began phasing out the butterfly mechanism, returning instead to a tried-and-true scissor switch.
This week’s settlement, which is subject to the judge’s approval, covers customers who bought MacBook, MacBook Air, and most MacBook Pro models between 2015 and 2019. According to court documents, customers from the following states are eligible to receive compensation: California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Washington.
Customers who replaced their keyboards on multiple occasions are expected to receive upwards of $395, while those who replaced their keyboard at least once can expect to receive $125. Meanwhile, those that replaced keycaps can expect about $50.
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Meanwhile, the law firms representing the plaintiffs in this case have asked for more than $13.5 million from the $50 million settlement fund to cover legal fees, and an additional $2 million for expert witnesses.
Despite the settlement, Apple, as it has throughout the butterfly switch debacle, denied any wrongdoing, arguing that changes to its keyboard components and repair rates showed no common defect. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2022/07/19/apple_butterfly_settlement_agreement.pdf
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YtcpgSghPibGjKDwjHYpbwAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YtcpgSghPibGjKDwjHYpbwAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YtcpgSghPibGjKDwjHYpbwAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2018/06/28/butterfly_macbook_keyboards_dust/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2018/07/16/apple_gives_keyboard_rubber_pants/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YtcpgSghPibGjKDwjHYpbwAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://support.apple.com/keyboard-service-program-for-mac-notebooks
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/16/apple_m1_macbook_screen_lawsuits/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/23/apple_butterfly_lawsuit/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2020/03/26/ifixit_macbook_air_teardown/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2019/05/24/apple_macbook_pro_keyboard_nylon/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YtcpgSghPibGjKDwjHYpbwAAANE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Ive
I have thought for a long while that after aerialgate, batterygate and a couple of other gates, the boardgate thing was the last straw. And they fucked Ive off. He was in charge of design and must have cost Apple serious coin.
Re: Ive
Ive needed someone like Jobs to hold his worst impulses in check. Once he was gone there was no one who was able to say no to him. Sure Cook is CEO but he's a supply chain guy not a product guy, he wasn't evaluating prototypes and giving thumbs up or thumbs down like Jobs.
With Ive gone Apple is looking to find a middle ground between design and functionality where compromise is necessary but neither totally compromises the other. You can see the M2 Macbook Air that got rid of the silly wedge form factor, the walkback of the unnecessary port removal on laptops, etc. for the changes/improvements that have been made on that front.
California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Washington
"customers from the following states are eligible to receive compensation: California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Washington."
And if you live anywhere else, good luck going through the entire case all over again, since it never got to court and doesn't apply to you. Clearly Apple decided it's much cheaper to pay out $50m now while kicking the can down the road for every other jurisdiction in the hope others will fail to organise or just feel it's not worth 4 more years for something they have already written off as "lost" anyway.
Talk about pattern and practice..
We have been a Mac shop for a long time, and we learned a long time ago how this game works. When a device has a defect, Apple first goes through denial, then a period of withdrawal where they avoid talking about it, perhaps followed by a bit of victim blaming, then acknowledge it grudgingly but say it only impacts a handful of devices, then as the howls mount, admit it actually is bad enough they have to do something about it. Then the lawsuits start. Those that save their paperwork may be in for a tidy little payout, or pennies and pain, but in the end, they (Apple) never lose money on the deal. They only have to occasionally give a little of your back. With no admission of wrongdoing.
Why would they ever stop.
The next one looks like it's going to be broken screen glass on the Macbooks, just where the hinge on the top case meets the glass. They moved the pivot deeper and there is zero clearance now. You also know they are aware of the issue because the installed tape over the contact area at the factory, instead of shaving 1.5mm more metal off the case to provide a little clearance. First time a crumb or bit of grit gets in there, boom, cracked screen glass.
We already send two in, told my co-worker to start a spreadsheet to start tracking the RMA's. Today's paperwork is tomorrows payday. $$
Re: Talk about pattern and practice..
Today's paperwork is tomorrows payday.
Advice to live by.
In their defense
They tried to write out a full Mea Culpa , but the "o" and "e" keys were broken; the only thing they could write was "N0 WR0NG D0ING".