Class-Action Lawsuit Against Apple’s Butterfly Keyboards to Proceed Despite Motion to Dismiss

Apple finally moved on from its disastrous MacBook butterfly keyboard, but the class-action lawsuit related to them is moving forward.

A California judge has rejected Apple’s motion to have a class-action lawsuit against the company dismissed, reads a new report from Reuters. The suit claims that Apple knowingly concealed the fact that its butterfly keyboards in previous generations of the MacBook were prone to failure.

In a ruling on Monday, US District Judge Edward Davila dismissed Apple’s attempts to throw out the lawsuit as the firm’s troubleshooting program did not provide an “effective fix” for MacBook design defects or fully compensate customers for their out-of-pocket expenses while seeking repairs.

“Plaintiffs sufficiently allege they have suffered an injury-in-fact: Apple’s alleged failure to repair the defective keyboards, including through the Program, has caused a concrete, particularized, and actual injury to each Plaintiff,” Davila wrote in the opinion, reported by Reuters.

“Plaintiffs sufficiently plead that the Program is ineffective in remedying the allegedly defective design of the butterfly keyboards.”

Apple “must face claims” that the troubleshooting program offered for its troubled butterfly keyboards was insufficient and did not provide an “effective fix” to remedy the problem, explains the report.



The ongoing suit is the latest ding for Apple’s new laptop keyboards. The butterfly keyboards, as they were called, were announced alongside Apple’s newest laptops in 2015, promising a thinner, yet still effective design.

Soon after their launch, however, some customers learned the butterfly keys were prone to collecting dust and of failing to register presses, or of sensing too many. The problems were vexing enough that Apple created a replacement program in 2018, while also attempting to solve the problem.

Last month, Apple introduced a MacBook Pro with a larger screen and new “Magic” keyboard with the “scissor” mechanism more commonly found in the industry.

P.S. - Like our news? Support the site with a coffee/beer. Or shop with our Amazon link. We use affiliate links when possible--thank you for supporting independent media.