2016 Sticky Keys & double letters

[jw1977]

My machine is nearly 5 years and all of a sudden I'm getting numerous double letters when I type. I took into the store and they tried cleaning it and taking a few of letters apart but it's just as bad if not worse. They want $599 to replace the keyboard, I have a few questions:

1. Does it make sense to replace? won't it just end up doing it again?
2. I got a trade in number but one of the questions is does it have keyboard issues? The guy at Apple said they'd do it but is this real?
3. If don't do the repair or trade in i have a device that is pretty much useless, ,seems like I should do one or other.
4. At this point, do i wait for the MBP to come out?

 

[JonnyBMac]

This is the godawful butterfly keyboard failing. If it was within 4 years since purchase, you could get it fixed for free:

Keyboard Service Program for MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro - Apple Support

Keyboard Service Program for MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro

support.apple.com

Not now.
You also may well experience "flexgate," which will kill your display.
Even if you replace your keyboard, it will likely die again.
My advice is to not put good money after bad. 2016-18 Macs are failure-prone moneypits.

 

[Kung gu]

My machine is nearly 5 years and all of a sudden I'm getting numerous double letters when I type. I took into the store and they tried cleaning it and taking a few of letters apart but it's just as bad if not worse. They want $599 to replace the keyboard, I have a few questions:

1. Does it make sense to replace? won't it just end up doing it again?
2. I got a trade in number but one of the questions is does it have keyboard issues? The guy at Apple said they'd do it but is this real?
3. If don't do the repair or trade in i have a device that is pretty much useless, ,seems like I should do one or other.
4. At this point, do i wait for the MBP to come out?

Don't pay Apple any money for the 2016" MBP to get it repaired. There are bad machines with bad cooling and keyboards.

Apple finally got rid of the butterfly keyboard in 2019-2020.

 

[Madhatter32]

The newer machines are of much higher quality all the way around. If I were you, I would sell the 2016 MBP and put it to a new M1 16" MBP that is rumored to be released over the next coupe of months. You got five years out of your laptop -- not too bad.

 

[jw1977]

Of course it happened 4.5 years in so they wouldn't cover anything. If i try a trade in do I have to say the keyboard has a problem. They guy at Apple told me i could trade it in and he knew the problem.

 

[Acronyc]

I wouldn't put any money into that machine, as others said it has a high risk of failing again and at this point I think it's better to put the money towards a new computer.

A few months ago my 2016 also failed after almost 5 years but it was the display that went (I luckily never had any keyboard problems). Apple quoted me $500+ in repairs. At the time I was just about to take a long trip and urgently needed a computer. I decided it was better to spend the money on a new computer than to spend it on a nearly 5 year old Mac that has a high risk of future problems, so I got an M1 MBP that I've been very satisfied with in the few months I've had it.

Instead of doing a trade in, have you thought about selling it locally? I sold mine locally for $450 even with the display issue. This helped offset the cost of the new M1 MBP, which was nice.

 

[Mendota]

I myself would trade it, and let Apple deal. It is useless with that keyboard so in order to sell it you would have to be dishonest, and I could not myself do that to someone.

 

[Acronyc]

I myself would trade it, and let Apple deal. It is useless with that keyboard so in order to sell it you would have to be dishonest, and I could not myself do that to someone.

Why would you have to be dishonest?

When I sold mine, I included in the ad information about the flickering display and that it is the 2016 model with the much maligned butterfly keyboard. I also included in the ad that the top case (keyboard, trackpad, battery, etc.) was recently replaced by Apple and was essentially unused since I used it as a desktop.

I still was able to sell it within 2 days of putting the ad up. No need to be dishonest to sell something locally, and I think I got more for it than Apple would have given me (my config on the 2016 was 512GB SSD with 16GB of RAM).

 

[Mendota]

Why would you have to be dishonest?

When I sold mine, I included in the ad information about the flickering display and that it is the 2016 model with the much maligned butterfly keyboard. I also included in the ad that the top case (keyboard, trackpad, battery, etc.) was recently replaced by Apple and was essentially unused since I used it as a desktop.

I still was able to sell it within 2 days of putting the ad up. No need to be dishonest to sell something locally, and I think I got more for it than Apple would have given me (my config on the 2016 was 512GB SSD with 16GB of RAM).

I was referring to the idea of people selling broken machines and not mentioning the issue.

 

[Damtoft]