Collective action of the Apple MacBook butterfly keyboard solves another obstacle

A California federal judge certified an ongoing class action lawsuit against Apple earlier this month, removing another obstacle for customers who say the company has failed to resolve problems with “butterfly” keyboards on its MacBook laptops.

In a decision handed down on March 8, but made publicly available last week, US District Judge Edward Davila granted class action status to the case, which was filed in 2018. Apple’s designs for its laptop keyboards are at the center of the case, in which customers say Apple knew its new “butterfly” design was defective, but it sold them nonetheless.

The butterfly mechanism, first launched in 2015, was designed to allow for thinner laptops than traditional “scissor” keyboards, whose keys below the keys require more space to move up and down. At the time, Apple said the butterfly was 40% thinner than traditional keyboards, but also four times more stable. “The keys are much more accurate, much more accurate,” said Apple colleague Phil Schiller at the time.

However, not long after its launch, customers began to complain that the keys also did not detect the presses and that dirt and other debris was entering the butterfly mechanism. The problems were so irritating that Apple created a replacement program in 2018, while trying to solve the problem.

The lawsuit marks another chapter in the saga of Apple’s MacBook designs, which critics say sacrifices the quality and resources needed for thinness.

Apple’s butterfly keyboards were not the only features that were questioned. Some customers have also criticized the company’s Touch Bar, touch controls above the numeric keys on the keyboard that change, depending on the application the person is using, to show features like emojis or a search bar or call buttons. CNET’s Stephen Shankland, who bought a MacBook Pro with Touch Bar shortly after its launch in 2016, said it made him “crazy”. “I kept an open mind about its Touch Bar, which looked smart and something that could dramatically change the way we use our computers,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, I don’t see these benefits.”

The collective action against Apple for its butterfly keyboards goes a step further than criticism, citing Apple’s internal communications that the authors argue that prove that executives knew of the problems. No matter how much lipstick you try to put on this pig [the butterfly keyboard] … it’s still ugly, “wrote an executive, according to the lawsuit, which was previously reported by The Verge. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Apple wiped out the butterfly keyboards starting in 2019. “Yes, it helped introduce thinner, lighter and more portable MacBooks, but we can safely say that the butterfly keyboard never aroused joy,” CNET reviewer Dan Ackerman wrote about keyboards last year. “Perhaps the nicest thing we can say about the Apple MacBook butterfly keyboard is: ‘Thanks for your service’.”