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How much would Apple charge to replace a keyboard on a Late 2011 13"?

Jessica Lares

Jessica Lares

macrumors G3
Original poster
Oct 31, 2009
9,612
1,062
Near Dallas, Texas, USA
I let my dad borrow my MacBook Pro to do his taxes and he's left my left side shift key semi functioning (I guess he got frustrated getting the shift and fn keys mixed up trying to make the page go up and down, the app didn't have the scrollbars enabled to use the trackpad instead).

It's a real danger as I could potentially lock myself out a lot of things, including my Apple ID, bank account, college portal, and even the computer since all my passwords use capitals. Plus, I generally type a lot, and it's a hassle to have to correct everything. I can't use my right hand so I generally use the left to walk across the keyboard, hence I just can't use the other key.

Has anyone recently got a keyboard repaired? How much did it cost? I don't have any AppleCare, so this will be out of pocket. It'd probably be the whole keyboard assembly and not just the actual key.

Thought I'd ask here before being extremely disappointed by Apple's response. :rolleyes:
 
Jessica Lares said:
I let my dad borrow my MacBook Pro to do his taxes and he's left my left side shift key semi functioning (I guess he got frustrated getting the shift and fn keys mixed up trying to make the page go up and down, the app didn't have the scrollbars enabled to use the trackpad instead).

It's a real danger as I could potentially lock myself out a lot of things, including my Apple ID, bank account, college portal, and even the computer since all my passwords use capitals. Plus, I generally type a lot, and it's a hassle to have to correct everything. I can't use my right hand so I generally use the left to walk across the keyboard, hence I just can't use the other key.

Has anyone recently got a keyboard repaired? How much did it cost? I don't have any AppleCare, so this will be out of pocket. It'd probably be the whole keyboard assembly and not just the actual key.

Thought I'd ask here before being extremely disappointed by Apple's response. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

If I understand correctly, you've spoken with Apple, and they told you what it will cost.

Unless you're asking for recommendations for other repair sources (which was not indicated in the post), in which case this is a perfectly reasonable question, what anyone tells you here will not change Apple's price quote.
 
It will cost exactly what Apple said it will cost. I don't quite understand why you're asking here though if you already know the answer.

You could try to do it yourself since you're out of warranty (this isn't covered anyway as it sounds like someone damaged it). I would go to iFixit and get the parts you need and do a little surgery.

As for the rest, i don't think there is potential for being completely locked out of your life. When you enter a password, often it has a symbol in the password box indicating your keyboard is using CAPs. I think it is safe to say that with a tiny bit of care, you can proceed for now and not be locked out of your entire life and on the brink of doomsday.

In the meantime, this is a definite annoyance but not much else anyone can say about the pricing after Apple tells you what they want for the repair.
 
Shrink said:
If I understand correctly, you've spoken with Apple, and they told you what it will cost.

Unless you're asking for recommendations for other repair sources (which was not indicated in the post), in which case this is a perfectly reasonable question, what anyone tells you here will not change Apple's price quote.
Click to expand...

GoCubsGo said:
It will cost exactly what Apple said it will cost. I don't quite understand why you're asking here though if you already know the answer.

You could try to do it yourself since you're out of warranty (this isn't covered anyway as it sounds like someone damaged it). I would go to iFixit and get the parts you need and do a little surgery.

As for the rest, i don't think there is potential for being completely locked out of your life. When you enter a password, often it has a symbol in the password box indicating your keyboard is using CAPs. I think it is safe to say that with a tiny bit of care, you can proceed for now and not be locked out of your entire life and on the brink of doomsday.

In the meantime, this is a definite annoyance but not much else anyone can say about the pricing after Apple tells you what they want for the repair.
Click to expand...

I haven't asked Apple yet. I was just hoping that someone here had theirs replaced within the last year (They charge you $50 per incident to call them). That way I can tell my dad and then run to the Genius Bar and take it from there. I'd either get it fixed, or just buy a Chromebook to put Ubuntu on it and deal with it while saving for a Mac Pro for the rest of the year. I can spare $300, but nothing more for now.

Typing isn't the only issue (The caps lock message is only if you turn the caps on BTW), it's that I can't lock proportions in Photoshop, and whatever else that key is needed for (like typing the @).

I refuse to open it up other than to upgrade RAM. I almost lost my finger the last time. :eek:
 
fixing it your own requires some skills, since the keyboard is beneath the logic board.. nothing impossible, but not so easy indeed.
since you're saving for a macpro, a desktop machine, you could think of getting an external keyboard to use with your laptop ;)
 
Jessica Lares said:
Yeah, reading into it some more. $400 seems to be the lowest.

Will see if it magically goes back to normal after a few days of use and take it from there.
Click to expand...

I think the problem these days is they don't repair a lot of things. They don't repair logic boards in-store (and possibly not at all)..

Generally it costs more to have a technician repair a part than it would cost to get a new one.
 
Jessica Lares said:
I haven't asked Apple yet. I was just hoping that someone here had theirs replaced within the last year (They charge you $50 per incident to call them).
Click to expand...

Call the nearest Apple store and see if you can get the price for free from them.
 
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