Compensation payments for MacBook users with a butterfly keypad are coming in.

Close-up of the problematic butterfly keyboard design found in some MacBooks.
After more than six years, the first class action lawsuit filed over Apple’s MacBook Pro butterfly keyboard design has finally been settled. Owners who have suffered from reliability and flaws will receive settlement money. Apple has agreed to create a $50 million settlement in 2022 for MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro users who purchased machines with the keyboard from 2015 to 2019. The 12-inch MacBook was the first model to feature the butterfly keyboard. It was named after the original design of its low-travel key mechanisms. Over the next two-year period, it was expanded to Apple’s entire notebook line. The company was aware of the widespread keyboard issues in 2016, but it took time to develop and implement the “Magic Keyboard”, which debuted in late 2019 with the 16-inch MacBook Pro and is still used in the latest 2024 model. AppleInsider’s service data for the first year after each MacBook Pro model was released found that the butterfly keyboard failed twice as frequently as its predecessors. The majority of users did not experience any problems with the butterfly keyboard, but there were a few who experienced “stuck” characters, sticky keys and keyboard failures on certain characters. The deadline for filing a claim ended in March 2024. The final settlement does NOT cover all users of models that feature the butterfly keyboard. The settlement only covers owners who purchased a machine in California, Florida, Illinois or Michigan and had it repaired at their own expense. Users who had to only replace keycaps in order to resolve their issue will receive $50 per incident. Users who needed to replace the “top case” to resolve their issue will receive $125 per top case, up to a maximum payout amount of $395. Payments are being sent out via physical checks. Digital payments will begin in the next few days.