According to a report by VentureBeat, a new Change.org petition demanding that Apple should fully recall and replace the defective keyboards on its current-generation MacBook Pro models due to a design failure, has already gathered hundreds of signatures.
Apple debuted a new “butterfly” keyswitch design in its ultra-slim 12? MacBook, before incorporating an improved second-generation version in 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pros. The new petition claims that “every one of Apple’s current-gen MacBook Pro models … is sold with a keyboard that can become defective at any moment due to a design failure”.
Although Apple says it designed the keyboard from the ground up, including each key and its underlying mechanism, in order to fit a full-sized keyboard into its ultra-slim MacBook, there have been growing reports of “noticeably reduced key travel”, which is quite frustrating for professional writers.
The subsequent MacBook Pro version remedied that issue by restoring much of the key travel, though some critics maintained that the typing experience remained sub-par compared with prior MacBook Pro keyboards.
After months of use, however, even otherwise satisfied users began to report sticky and unresponsive keys. Users seeking fixes discovered that Apple repairs would be incredibly expensive — in the $700 range — and time-consuming, as the keyboard isn’t user-serviceable.
Do you think the petition will force Apple into fully recalling all affected MacBook models?
Want to see more of our stories on Google?
P.S. Want to keep this site truly independent? Support us by buying us a beer, treating us to a coffee, or shopping through Amazon here. Links in this post are affiliate links, so we earn a tiny commission at no charge to you. Thanks for supporting independent Canadian media!
No.
maybe. they should do the right thing, but they probably won’t. wait for the next macbook pro if you need one. i bet it will be fixed in the next model
Had one keyboard replaced on my MacBook. In the end it is just gunk and crap under the keys. Get some compressed air stick the Mac on the side and blow out the crap. Have had. A few keys get stuck since then and have just resolved the issue on my own. It’s really not the end of the world. I like the MacBook butterfly keyboard better than others now.
dumb kids with their first world problem.
You do understand that these laptops are some people’s lives, their source of income, or their tool for education, right?
Leave if you don’t like MacBook keyboard. Taking your first world issue to change.org won’t solve the problem, it only dilutes the validity of the website. Your money speaks much louder than your keyboard. You’re welcome.
It’s much easier to leave the ecosystem if you haven’t bought it yet, and not everyone has the luxury of stopping their use of the laptop they already bought and simply buying a new one.
I don’t think that a petition is necessarily the right way to go in these cases, but I could see companies such as Apple who try and appear socially conscious may respond to the public shaming that these types of petitions can garner. It’s a first-world problem being complained about by people in the first-world using first-world mechanisms.
I always buy AppleCare with a Macbook. Too expensive of a purchase to not insure it for at least three years.