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Repair - Macbook 12" retina keyboard

B

bevo

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 19, 2002
239
12
Hi

So my wife's keyboard is dead. Saw the ifixit repair guide (about 45 steps and $300? or so worth in tools and and parts). Feeling it may be above what I feel comfortable with.

Apple quoted us nearly $600 to fix it.

Anyone have any 3rd party companies that can fix it for less?
 
bevo said:
Hi

So my wife's keyboard is dead. Saw the ifixit repair guide (about 45 steps and $300? or so worth in tools and and parts). Feeling it may be above what I feel comfortable with.

Apple quoted us nearly $600 to fix it.

Anyone have any 3rd party companies that can fix it for less?
Click to expand...
Sorry, I don't have any suggestions. But the quote of $600 from Apple is an outrage. That's like half the price of a new MacBook! I believe the MacBook keyboard is very fragile. I had it replaced once under warranty, and I would not be surprised if I would have get it replaced once more under AppleCare+.
 
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ahostmadsen said:
Sorry, I don't have any suggestions. But the quote of $600 from Apple is an outrage. That's like half the price of a new MacBook! I believe the MacBook keyboard is very fragile. I had it replaced once under warranty, and I would not be surprised if I would have get it replaced once more under AppleCare+.
Click to expand...

My MB2015 had 3 keyboard replacements. I own a 2016 MB now, and 3 months in, space bar is still hanging in there, but not for long. But that's what warranty is for. But never the less, this keyboard is the biggest apple fail in last decade or so. I love to type on it, but the quality of this thing is crap :(
 
Yikes those prices are terrible. You can buy a second hand model for not much more than 600. It is disappointing to see others with keyboard failures as well. Hope my out of warranty keyboard doesn't fail!
 
bevo said:
Hi

So my wife's keyboard is dead. Saw the ifixit repair guide (about 45 steps and $300? or so worth in tools and and parts). Feeling it may be above what I feel comfortable with.

Apple quoted us nearly $600 to fix it.

Anyone have any 3rd party companies that can fix it for less?
Click to expand...

I have an August 2015 MacBook, and the spacebar stopped working a couple of weeks ago. I didn't have AppleCare, and obviously it was out of the 12 months warranty.

I took it into my local Apple Store; they tested the keyboard, and immediately said it had to be replaced AND that this would be free of charge. They returned it to me a week later, with a complete new keyboard, and as promised, there was no charge. The cost of the repair would have been £321.

In the UK we have Consumer Law protection, which basically says that goods have to be fit for purpose for a few years (can't remember off hand how many...), so I would have been able to insist that it was repaired free of charge, but I didn't have to -- they offered before I'd said a word. (One of the real benefits of buying from Apple... -- over organisations would have argued for years...)

Obviously, they tested the keyboard to see that it hadn't been abused, or have water damage -- it hadn't.

Don't you have similar consumer law in the US? A keyboard failing so quickly can't be said to be fit for purpose.
 
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Just had the keyboard on my 2015 refurb rMB replaced under warranty. Several of the keys got stuck and felt dead. Some I was able to unstick myself but I'd be afraid to to pop keys off in an attempt to fix it myself out of warranty. I've never bought Applecare before but may do so on the rMB before the warranty expires if I decide to keep it for another year. Retail price of the repair was around $450 when I dropped it off at the Apple Store.

Edit: The paperwork that came with my repaired Macbook said that they replaced the Logic Board and some audio connectors even though I had no issues with them.
 
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I have had my 2015 rMB replaced as it had several displays replaced due to "delimitation". Then the motherboard quit, had it repaired, and several keyboards. All in all in a little over a year it spent almost two months in transit and repair time with apple. Apple was "gracious" enough to replace it after all of that with a 2016 rMB. Just sent in the new rMB after only a month and half or so for a screen failure. Above someone said that the keyboard is failure, I would like to just add the entire machine is a complete pile of junk from where I stand. I will not purchase another. The non touchbar MacBook looks like it will be my next choice in a few months when this one undoubtedly gives up the ghost.
 
Wow. This thread worries me. I was going to pick up the 2017 rMB as soon as announced. Now I'm not as sure.
 
Aston441 said:
Wow. This thread worries me. I was going to pick up the 2017 rMB as soon as announced. Now I'm not as sure.
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My 2015 rMB has worked perfectly well, except that the keyboard is a weak point. I would definitely recommend it, but just get AppleCare so you have coverage for any keyboard defects.
 
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Aston441 said:
Wow. This thread worries me. I was going to pick up the 2017 rMB as soon as announced. Now I'm not as sure.
Click to expand...
It's always important to realize that only people with problems will complain about it on forums, and we don't hear about all the people whose keyboards have been working just fine for years. Based on the lack of news reports about this it seems like the keyboard is definitely a weak point in some cases and certain conditions, but the problem isn't wide-spread.

But chances are that they'll update the keyboard to the latest version that's also in the new MBPs. Hopefully they've worked out all the problems in that one and it'll be more reliable.
 
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C64 said:
It's always important to realize that only people with problems will complain about it on forums, and we don't hear about all the people whose keyboards have been working just fine for years. Based on the lack of news reports about this it seems like the keyboard is definitely a weak point in some cases and certain conditions, but the problem isn't wide-spread.

But chances are that they'll update the keyboard to the latest version that's also in the new MBPs. Hopefully they've worked out all the problems in that one and it'll be more reliable.
Click to expand...

Sigh. The thing is, my current MBA has lasted six years. I'd hate to, three or four years from now, be looking at a $600 keyboard repair. Applecare I think lasts max 2 years.
 
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It looks like I'm going to have to get AppleCare for my MacBook sometime soon as well, just in case. I use my macbook way too often to part with it for a day or two.
 
I'm not surprised about the price, and you'll probably have to wait days or weeks for it. I am sure there are lots and lots of people who have not had any issues, but I have, and it has been quite frustrating. The most recent problem was a spacebar that locked in place and wouldn't register any key press. That pretty much puts an end to your work. And, no amount of popping it in and out would get it to work again. The Apple folks couldn't figure it out either and ended up replacing the whole keyboard. Great service, but I really shouldn't be there so much they remember my name.
 
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