Apple's worst laptop keyboard - time is running out for service claims on affected MacBooks

In March 2015 Apple released the 12 inch Macbook. While you might remember this laptop for such innovations as its single USB type C port that doubled as the charging port, or its woefully underpowered Core M3 processor with soldered RAM and SSD, this tragic excuse for a netbook laptop actually spawned one of the most hated keyboards in history. Apple’s notorious “butterfly” keyboard. 

The butterfly keyboard had an innovative two-sided hinge that vaguely resembled a pair of butterfly wings, as opposed to the more traditional scissor switch. This made it up to 34% thinner than previous MacBook keyboards (that were lauded at that time as one of the finest laptop keyboards ever made). 

Not content with leaving the rest of the lineup as it was, Apple then proceeded to roll this design out to both the MacBook Pro and Air. Needless to say, with such fine tolerances it wasn’t long before people realised that even the smallest amount of debris would cause keys to become sticky or cease to function. Ultimately resulting in a class action lawsuit filed in 2018 that claimed Apple knew the butterfly design was flawed, but concealed the problem while continuing to use the notorious mechanism across the range.

In 2018 after 3 years of denial, Apple eventually started the “extended keyboard service program” that would fix any laptops with faulty keyboards free of charge. That program has been running for 6 years and is finally coming to an end.

One of the caveats to the repair program is that the device has to be within 4 years of its original purchase date to be eligible, and as it stands now there are only a few models left that are still covered. This includes the 2019 MacBook Air and 2019 MacBook Pro, which will no longer be covered by November of this year. 

No one will miss the butterfly keyboard. A blemish on Apple’s otherwise pristine reputation for selling devices that far outstrip the competition in terms of hardware lifespan and software support. Thankfully, Apple has abandoned (and arguably even reversed) its quest for the thinnest devices possible. Even going so far as to start giving people more ports as opposed to less. A reversal welcomed by pretty much everyone.

However, if you haven’t felt the need to upgrade and are hanging on to one of those last machines with the butterfly keyboard, be sure to get in on the service program if you need to, because trying to fix one yourself is almost impossible. Even if you don’t want to go with the latest and greatest, a renewed M2 MacBook is on sale on Amazon* for a very reasonable $829. Now if they could only address the notch issue.