Court approves Apple’s $50 million settlement over MacBook ‘butterfly’ keyboard

A court has granted preliminary approval to a $50 million settlement concluding the MacBook “butterfly” keyboard class-action lawsuit against Apple. The lawsuit alleged that issues with the company’s infamous butterfly keyboard could result in characters typed being repeated unexpectedly or keys not responding in a consistent manner, among other problems.
Apple’s “butterfly” keyboard
Malcolm Owen for AppleInsider:

Originally agreed by Apple in July, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has granted the preliminary approval for a settlement, in the class-action lawsuit concerning the controversial “Butterfly” keyboard mechanism.
Filed on November 28, the order granting the approval signed by Judge Edward J. Davila now means Apple will be paying $50 million to settle the legal action.
The lawsuit, which gained class-action status in 2021 and originated in 2018, applies to owners of the MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro models released in 2015 and 2016… The settlement applies to seven states: California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Washington.

MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s new Magic Keyboard with a traditional scissor mechanism replaced the company’s butterfly mechanism fiasco. It debuted in the 16-inch MacBook Pro in late 2019, followed by the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro in early 2020. All of Apple’s current MacBook products ship with the Magic Keyboard which is about 0.5mm thicker than the lawsuit-worthy “butterfly” keyboard models.
We’ve had to endure years of inferior keyboards in order to shave off half a millimeter about which no one not named Jony gave a rat’s ass. — MacDailyNews, April 2, 2019
Hey, Jony: Enough with the thin. Everything is thin enough. Sometimes too thin. Thinner isn’t the answer to everything, nor is thinness intrinsic to good design. We’d gladly take a bit more robustness and battery life over more unnecessary thinness, thanks. – MacDailyNews, June 25, 2018
The law of diminishing returns can also be applied to industrial design. Apple’s eternal quest for thinness eventually runs into issues such as bulging camera assemblies, battery capacity, strength (breakability), etc. – is Apple’s quest for thinness now bordering on the quixotic? So, is it “you can never be too thin” or is it “thin enough is thin enough?” — MacDailyNews, December 21, 2015
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