US court approves Apple’s $50 mn butterfly keyboard settlement

SAN FRANCISCO: A federal judge in the US state of California has finally approved the $50 million lawsuit over Apple's flawed butterfly keyboard design.

Apple in July last year agreed to pay $50 million to settle the class-action lawsuit over flawed butterfly keyboards in MacBooks. Around 86,000 people filed the claim that the new design failed when even tiny particles of dust accumulated around the switches.

"The court finds the settlement to be fair, adequate, and reasonable," US District Court Judge Edward Davila said in the ruling.

On October 11, 2018, plaintiffs, initially 10 consumers from California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Washington, filed a consolidated putative class action complaint against Apple.

They alleged a number of consumer protection and warranty claims stemming from an alleged defect in certain MacBook "butterfly" keyboards.

"Plaintiffs alleged that their keyboards failed within a year and Apple failed to provide effective troubleshooting or repairs," said the ruling.

The lawsuit covered those who purchased an Apple MacBook with a butterfly keyboard in seven states.

Apple later launched an improved keyboard design in late 2019.

Those who replaced multiple keyboards can expect maximum payouts of $300 to $395 and people who replaced one keyboard can get $125 and those who replaced key 'caps mat' get $50, according to reports.

Apple had extended four years of free key repairs to customers who bought MacBooks with butterfly keys.

Apple then launched a new MacBook Pro series with Magic Keyboard, which is now available across Apple's laptop lineup.

The butterfly keyboard was slimmer than Apple's previous design, which used industry-standard scissor switches.