My daughter just picked up her MacBook Air on Saturday, after having the keyboard replaced. The Apple Store shipped it off to a repair center, and it was gone for over a week. Hers is almost two years old, and the keyboard gave her problems, but she'd lived with it for months. She's talking about trading it in on an M1 MacBook Pro 13".
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MacBook Owners' Butterfly Keyboard Lawsuit Against Apple Gets Class Action Certification
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I got a 16" replacement - their policy is after 3 repairs, the next one can receive a full replacement. Perhaps if you have another issue (even non-keyboard related) it could lead to this? I had the exact same feeling - unless I was able to get one with scissor switches, the longevity of computer would be very short.
Agreed. And because they did not they now are subject to a class action lawsuit. Good.
No, that’s not what’s happening at all. People on this forum from other counties spout their Consumer Law calling it a warranty when it’s not. I see it quite often here; “My consumer Law gives a 6 year warranty so I don’t need the AppleCare Plus.” Not true. It’s not a warranty, it’s a lemon law and we have one here in the U.S as well. The consumer, the product issue and the company have to meet the required guidelines.
That decision made by Apple is a unique one for your situation. When there’s a repair program in place the 3+ times in service leading to a replacement machine doesn’t apply. That only applies to issues not regarding the keyboard and it has to be within warranty or during the AppleCare Plus contract.
An extension of the replacement program would be reasonable, but typically the sought after outcome is $$. Also, I don't think anyone is defending Apple (that much anyway). Most acknowledge the keyboard was a terrible design. Most acknowledge the high failure rate. Most acknowledge that consumers got the runaround from Apple initially when trying to get the issues remedied.
But, you have to prove that those things caused HARM to the consumer that Apple's current replacement program didn't remedy in order for the lawsuit to be successful. Is Apple's 4 year coverage sufficient? Is Apple actually compensating people that paid to get their keyboards replaced before the replacement program was in place? Are their user factors contributing to failure like eating around keyboard, etc, that might be considered to be contributory? I don't pretend to know the answer to these questions, but they are some of the questions that would have to be decided on in a trial by a judge or a jury.
And, I still maintain the most likely outcome is an out of court cash settlement, maybe an extension of the warranty. Apple is happy to avoid bad press, lawyers are happy because they get paid, and the consumer takes what they can get out of it.
But, you have to prove that those things caused HARM to the consumer that Apple's current replacement program didn't remedy in order for the lawsuit to be successful. Is Apple's 4 year coverage sufficient? Is Apple actually compensating people that paid to get their keyboards replaced before the replacement program was in place? Are their user factors contributing to failure like eating around keyboard, etc, that might be considered to be contributory? I don't pretend to know the answer to these questions, but they are some of the questions that would have to be decided on in a trial by a judge or a jury.
And, I still maintain the most likely outcome is an out of court cash settlement, maybe an extension of the warranty. Apple is happy to avoid bad press, lawyers are happy because they get paid, and the consumer takes what they can get out of it.
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I love Apple, but they deserve to be sued and pay for standing by a clearly flawed design for too long.
If the rumors are true, according to Gruber I believe, that Apple accelerated the final iteration after the Wall Street Journal article mocking the keyboard, it shows the hubris and customer hostile behavior they had about this mistake. It took the media for them to ship something that worked.
I’d love to know the real story about what happened here. Why did Apple stand by a clearly flawed and hated keyboard for that long?
If the rumors are true, according to Gruber I believe, that Apple accelerated the final iteration after the Wall Street Journal article mocking the keyboard, it shows the hubris and customer hostile behavior they had about this mistake. It took the media for them to ship something that worked.
I’d love to know the real story about what happened here. Why did Apple stand by a clearly flawed and hated keyboard for that long?
Not completely true. here in Austria we do have 2 years warranty. First year the seller (if different from the manufacturer) has to provide service, second year the manufacturer has to give warranty. 1 year warranty really seems woefully inadequate
Disagree all you want. No way in hell apple settles for $400 a machine. To do so, Apple would have to believe that a jury would award MORE than that. And no user has suffered $400 loss from the keyboard flaw. So no jury could award that if they wanted to (a judge would cut the verdict to the damages actually suffered by the users, which is at most the hassle of getting things repaired, given that apple has been paying for repairs itself. Doesn’t even seem to be a loss of resale value if you compare to past machines.)
I don't think that the end user will see $400 per machine either, but we've all seen a jury award insane amounts of money for "mental anguish" after a slip and fall, etc. I'd expect that the the plaintiff will argue for damages based on the time spent dealing with the issue with Apple while they said such problem didn't exist, shipping times, having to find an alternative machine to use (in my case Apple told me to buy another one and return it after mine came back from the depot).
I don't know about 6-years, but the EU definitely imposes a 2-years minimum legal guarantee to the seller. AppleCare offers additional commercial warranty coverage on top of that: whether the additional price is worth the additional coverage is a personal choice.
Users won't see much or even nothing, but as long it hurts Apple, great.
This was a big design flaw that went over 2-3 MacBook generations.
Instead of fixing it, or rolling back, Apple insisted being proud and unable to admit design flaws, and continued to put design over function on purpose.
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It really was a disaster.
I had my (at the time) 12” Macbook kb repaired 5 times in 1.5 years because of this re-occurring problem,that included 3 full top chassis replacement,because the keyboard is not detachable,the sticky /stuck keys would return in few weeks.
In the end,I sold the Macbook after the last repair and bought an iMac.
Good thing I bought extended coverage..
poor flawed design that not only was unreliable but also felt terrible to type on.
Butterfly was the worst laptop keyboard I ever used.
I had my (at the time) 12” Macbook kb repaired 5 times in 1.5 years because of this re-occurring problem,that included 3 full top chassis replacement,because the keyboard is not detachable,the sticky /stuck keys would return in few weeks.
In the end,I sold the Macbook after the last repair and bought an iMac.
Good thing I bought extended coverage..
poor flawed design that not only was unreliable but also felt terrible to type on.
Butterfly was the worst laptop keyboard I ever used.
And if it hurts Apple it will in turn hurt the consumer as prices will go up so you might wanna rethink that vindictive mentality. 🙄
I certainly hope you’re not gonna compare mental anguish from a slip and fall to a few faulty keys on damn keyboard. SMH.
Well, how fanboys like to say in here in context of AppStore/Epic "there are alternatives->Android".
So "there are alternatives->PCs" if they lift up the prices. 🤣
But these guys would probably even pay 10k for a MacBook that will be put on a vintage list after 5 years, as long there is a bitten Apple on it.
Walled garden, enjoy! It's their right to sue...
We were talking settlement, not jury verdict.
As for those other measures of damage, since they vary from person-to-person, they wouldn’t likely work in this case, which is a class action lawsuit.
Yup that’s how class action usually comes into place, because of all the imaginary issues of people who are not sophisticated enough to use a keyboard.
If they just had used Siri more often, the Keyboard would be in a perfect condition.Yup that’s how class action usually comes into place, because of all the imaginary issues of people who are not sophisticated enough to use a keyboard.
Rude insults to members here. If Macs aren’t your game then you can move on to a forum to discuss computers from companies whom you respect. Many people run their business on Macs and prefer to use the system. Being willing to pay an upgrade price in order to get work done and to avoid Windows doesn’t make someone a fanboy. Good Lord! 🙄
If they have to type their court documents on that keyboard they should be paid 60% instead just for the cruelty of having to use that crap.
What you are referring to is likely the Consumer Rights Act valid in the UK, which indeed allows for a claim period of 6 years in England and Wales and 5 in Scotland.
Apple actually acknowledges this in their consumer rights information page for the UK where it compares the statutory rights with their Apple Care warranties.
You’re summarising a normal day on any tech forum. All issues no positives.