U.S. judge rejects challenges to Apple’s $50 million ‘butterfly’ keyboard settlement

A U.S. judge on Thursday approved Apple’s $50 million class-action settlement resolving consumer claims over defective “butterfly” keyboards in MacBooks, in a ruling that prompted challenges to the settlement deal.
Apple’s “butterfly” keyboard
Mike Scarcella for Reuters:

U.S. District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California, federal court in his ruling called the settlement “fair, adequate and reasonable.”
The plaintiffs’ lawyers announced the deal a year ago. Apple denied any wrongdoing.
Class members will receive $50 up to $395 based on the number and nature of repairs made to a keyboard.
More than 86,000 claims for class member payments were submitted as of early March, Davila’s order showed.
One challenge to the settlement said $125 — the compensation for members of one group in the class — was not enough, because keyboard repairs can cost more than $300.
“The possibility that a better settlement may have been reached — or that the benefits provided under the settlement will not make class members ‘whole’ — are insufficient grounds to deny approval,” Davila wrote in his order.

MacDailyNews Take: Close the MacBook on this one.
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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