Apple butterfly keyswitch afflicted users finally start to receive payouts of up to $395 per laptop

Apple Butterfly keyboard
(Image credit: iFixIt)

Eligible MacBook owners have started to receive payments relating to Apple's butterfly keyboard mechanism class action lawsuit in the U.S. 9to5Mac editor Michael Burkhardt said he received two $395 checks in the mail on Saturday. Burkhardt and others who have been affected by butterfly keyboard issues have endured very long waits for their payouts, as the suit was filed back in 2018.

Apple introduced its underlying butterfly keyboard mechanism starting 2015, touting it as an improvement on traditional scissor switches on laptops. Key benefits (apologies for the pun) were supposed to include greater key stability, precision, quietness, and user comfort. Sadly, as the tech rolled out to more laptops in subsequent years, issues with its reliability and durability became ever clearer with the buying public.

Rather than the mechanism being inherently at fault, its issue was that small amounts of dust or debris could seriously disrupt the keyswitch operation - and who lives in an environment without dust? Thus Apple refined and tweaked the butterfly design multiple times, but it couldn't protect the mechanism from ingress thoroughly enough. It threw in the towel and went back to scissor switches on new laptops starting in late 2019.

User trials and tribulations with the butterfly mechanism became quite a hot topic in the later 2010s. Apple finally admitted there was a design problem in 2018. Around the same time, several class-action lawsuits related to the butterfly mechanism were filed. Only now are affected users starting to see payouts from this legal action.

These first reported payments have arrived as part of a no-fault $50 million settlement in 2022, from a class action filed in 2018. The payouts you could claim for your keyboard troubles were as follows:

  • Up to $395 for 2 or more top case replacements
  • Up to $125 for 1 top case replacement
  • Up to $50 for keycap replacements

MacBook Pro butterfly keyboard

(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Please note that you would not just get these payments automatically. Only those who filed a claim form for their 2015 to 2019 MacBook woes would qualify (applications were open from May 2023, but deadlines have all now passed). Moreover, the class action only covered residents in California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Washington. 9to5Mac editor Michael Burkhardt obviously claimed for two affected laptops he had the misfortune of purchasing, with each requiring a full top case replacement during their service life.

Mark Tyson
News Editor

Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

Read more
Razer Zephyr Face Mask
Razer settles 'deceptive' marketing FTC lawsuit for over $1 million — 6,764 Zephyr mask buyers to get full refunds
Intel receives $536 million payment from EU following antitrust fine reversal
Asus X870E Crosshair Hero
Asus China compensates and assists owners with damaged GPUs due to PCIe Q-Release Slim mechanism — confirms revision on the way
A Logitech office in Belgrade, Serbia.
Logitech repair program offers OEM replacement parts for 20+ devices — available in 62 countries
a Photo of the White House
White House reviewing CHIPS Act awards, upcoming payments possibly delayed
Apple MacBook
This 14-inch Apple MacBook Pro (2024) laptop is only $1,589 at Amazon
Latest in Macbooks
MacBook Air (M4, 2025)
MacBook Air (M4, 2025) review: Blue skies ahead
Apple MacBook
This 14-inch Apple MacBook Pro (2024) laptop is only $1,589 at Amazon
Apple laptop
Apple MacBook Air M2 laptop is now only $749 at Amazon
Apple M1
AAA gaming comes to Apple M1 thanks to the latest Asahi Linux build — Control, Cyberpunk 2077, and The Witcher 3 are playable with respectable frame rates
Apple MacBook Pro M4 unboxing
Russian outlet nabs Apple M4 MacBook Pro, posts unprecedented pre-release benchmarks — M4 is reportedly 25% faster than M3
Apple M4
Apple may switch to 16GB of memory as default for new M4 series — test machines hint at a transition even on the base model
Latest in News
Intel
Ex-Intel CEO Gelsinger warns TSMC's $165B investment will not restore U.S. semiconductor leadership
ReFS in Windows 11 preview build installer
New Windows file system option supports up to 35 petabyte volumes — ReFS appears in latest Insider build
New Windows 11 Game Bar Update
Microsoft updates the Windows Game Bar to be more user friendly with PC Handhelds
Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi Pico fightstick randomly mashes buttons for fighting game combos
The world's first color e-paper display over 30-inches
Mass production of 'world's first' color e-paper display over 30-inches begins
RTX 4090 48GB
Blower-style RTX 4090 48GB teardown reveals dual-sided memory configuration — PCB design echoes the RTX 3090
  • artk2219
    "Rather than the mechanism being inherently at fault, its issue was that small amounts of dust or debris could seriously disrupt the keyswitch operation - and who lives in an environment without dust?"

    I dont know, I think that sounds like the mechanism is at fault, because it wasn't designed to meet the operating specs for the environment they knew it would be operating in. The craziest thing is this was self inflicted for no real reason, the change in keyboard design didn't even give them that much of a change in case height, or a huge weight reduction. Apple does what Apple does sometimes I guess, but they never admit that they were wrong in the first place.

    A Narcissist's Prayer
    That didn't happen.

    And if it did, it wasn't that bad.

    And if it was, that's not a big deal.

    And if it is, that's not my fault.

    And if it was, I didn't mean it.

    And if I did...

    You deserved it.
    Reply