Apple faces lawsuit over MacBooks with faulty butterfly keyboards
US-based MacBook users Kyle Barbaro and Zixua Rao have filed a class action lawsuit against Apple in the Northern District Court of California. The company is accused of knowingly selling MacBooks with faulty butterfly keyboards. As per the complaint, thousands of users have experienced failures with the butterfly keyboard due to its dust-prone design. Here is more on it.
The butterfly switch keyboard was first introduced in 2015
The butterfly switch keyboard was launched in 2015 and is since being sold with MacBooks and MacBook Pros. The keyboard was designed to be more responsive and robust than traditional scissor-type keyboards, but its design is apparently so delicate that even a small speck of dust can render the keys non-responsive. Further, Apple's keyboard failure rate has reportedly doubled since the new design appeared.
Apple accused to knowingly selling faulty butterfly keyboards
Barbaro and Rao claim that Apple knew about the issue and still went ahead with selling the keyboard. It should be noted that in 2016, Apple had filed a patent for a dust-resistant butterfly keyboard, which suggests that the company was indeed aware of the problem. However, to date, Apple has never come out with a warning to the customers about the same.
Apple should to recall, replace defective keyboards
The lawsuit also accuses Apple of suggesting "self-help remedies" like using compressed air and demands damages as well as refunds for users who have already gotten their faulty keyboards replaced. An online petition towards the same has up to 19,000 signatures, indicating that a substantial number of users have been affected by the issue.
Apple hasn't responded to the lawsuit yet
Notably, Apple does offer a one-year warranty on new MacBooks so you can get your keyboard changed for free in case of an issue. But the lawsuit claims that it isn't enough as the "core functionality" has been compromised.
