Apple agrees to $50 million settlement over MacBook's old defective butterfly keyboards

If you purchased a MacBook between 2015 and 2019 with the dreaded butterfly keyboard, a couple of Benjamins may soon be on your way, courtesy of Apple.

On Tuesday, Apple agreed to settle a class action lawsuit against the company over its flawed butterfly keyboards. As part of the settlement, Apple will pay $50 million.

Apple users who purchased a new MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro during that time period are likely well-aware of the defective keyboard issue. Customers found that the butterfly keyboards would often get stuck or just outright break and become unresponsive. Dust and small debris like crumbs would easily find their way under the keys of this keyboard and prove difficult to get out, blocking users from being able to press on the key.

On top of the initial issues with the keyboard, Apple's response to the complaints was lacking as well. In order to deal with concerns, Apple launched a repair program for MacBooks with butterfly keyboards. However, users were just provided with another butterfly keyboard as a replacement, resulting in some Apple customers having to return multiple times for MacBook keyboard repairs.

Apple continued using the butterfly keyboard until 2019, when it switched to a new "scissor-switch" keyboard design.

The class action lawsuit against the company claimed that Apple knew that the new-at-the-time keyboard design was defective and tried to obscure the issue. However, as part of the settlement agreement, Apple denied any wrongdoing.

If you are an Apple customer who purchased a MacBook with a butterfly keyboard, there may be some cash compensation on the way. Lawyers expect that customers who had to replace multiple keyboards will receive a payout of up to $395. Those who had to replace one keyboard would get $125. If your MacBook only needed keycaps replaced, then you'll be eligible for $50.

Along with the monetary payout, Apple agreed to continue providing these customers with free keyboard repairs for four years after their purchase.

This is all contingent on a judge approving the settlement, however. Also, only Apple customers in California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Washington who needed repairs would be eligible.

And if you're wondering how hard that $50 million will hit Apple, the company reported $25 billion in profit just last quarter.