- Apple Butterfly Keyboard Fix
- Butterfly Keyboard Macbook
- Apple Butterfly Keyboard Models Chart
- Apple Butterfly Keyboard Program
2015's new MacBook model shipped with Apple's butterfly keyboard. This allowed for a thinner laptop thanks to the butterfly keyboard switching mechanism. But the butterfly keyboard has been a. A decent mechanical keyboard will offer anywhere between 2mm and 5mm of travel. Typists complained about the 'flatness' of the Butterfly keyboard. Earlier models were also notoriously loud, registering almost 12 decibels higher than the current-generation 16-inch MacBook Pro, which uses the scissor-based Magic Keyboard. May 04, 2020 Apple in 2018 debuted MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models that use an updated third-generation butterfly keyboard. The third-generation butterfly keyboard has a thin silicone barrier behind each.
Apple has announced a service program for all MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops with butterfly-switch keyboards. The announcement lists every model that's covered, but the short answer is 'every Mac laptop to date with a USB-C port,' meaning 12-inch MacBooks since 2015 and MacBook Pros since 2016.
Many people dislike the feel of the butterfly keyboard, with its minimal key travel, but the problem here is how much more susceptible they are to dust particles than those in previous Mac laptops, leading to more sticky and dead keys. AppleInsider recently calculated that the 2016 MacBook Pro butterfly keyboards fail twice as frequently as those in older models.
Combine that with a possible $700 charge for repair outside of warranty and AppleCare—since the keyboard is built into the MacBook and MacBook Pro bottom case and can't be swapped out—and it's little wonder that there is a lawsuit in progress (see 'Class-Action Suit Filed against Apple for MacBook Butterfly Keyboards,' 16 May 2018).
Apple Butterfly Keyboard Fix
You can get an affected laptop fixed at an Apple Store, an Apple Authorized Service Provider, or by sending it to Apple. Those who have already paid for a repair may be able to get a refund from Apple.
Note that your keyboard is covered for 4 years after your laptop's initial purchase, and if your laptop has other damage that prevents a keyboard repair, that's not included in the free service. If you purchased AppleCare coverage, this repair program extends coverage for just 1 year.
We've had mediocre results with MacBook keyboard reliability here at TidBITS. Agen Schmitz lost his H key earlier this week (he's now known as Agen Scmitz) and is looking forward to a fix. Josh Centers suffered a stuck Tab key, though he fixed it by cleaning the space around the key with a toothpick. And my Space bar and Slash key started acting wonky a few months ago: subsequently, I had a great interaction with the local Apple Store. They did the ridiculously odd keyboard cleaning for me in an hour, supplementing the standard cleaning instructions with proprietary tools, and also cleaned my MacBook Pro's exterior so it looked like it was fresh out of the box. I've had no trouble since, but granted, I shouldn't have had any in the first place.
Even if the repair is free, it may still take a few days to get your MacBook or MacBook Pro fixed, so try a compressed-air cleaning first or an Apple Store visit if you have a similar early warning.
For a company defined by design and attention to detail, the Butterfly keyboard was a tremendous humiliation for Apple. Conceived in 2015, it replaced the previous scissor-switch mechanism for one with a smaller profile, allowing Cupertino to continue shrinking already-svelte laptops.
The first MacBook to carry the Butterfly Keyboard was 2015's 12-inch MacBook, which Apple subsequently discontinued last year. Introducing the device, Apple marketing veep Bill Schiller lauded the Butterfly's precision over previous scissor-based mechanisms, saying it was 'four times more stable' and promised a 'beautiful typing experience'.
The Butterfly mechanism was also 40 per cent thinner than the previous scissor-based keys. It accomplished this by reducing the amount of travel needed to register a key.
The problem is, you need some travel on a keyboard. Firstly, it feels good. There's a reason why typing on a touchscreen feels so unfulfilling, and it's because there's no physical response (save for the occasional haptic vibration) to let you know when you've pressed a key.
The Butterfly keyboard had as little as 0.7mm of travel. The so-called Magic Keyboard (the magic being it works) – which shipped on pre-2015 Mac laptops, and has since returned across the firm's computing line – has around 1mm of travel. A decent mechanical keyboard will offer anywhere between 2mm and 5mm of travel.
Typists complained about the 'flatness' of the Butterfly keyboard. Earlier models were also notoriously loud, registering almost 12 decibels higher than the current-generation 16-inch MacBook Pro, which uses the scissor-based Magic Keyboard.
Those problems, however, are relatively easy to live with. It's not hard to buy a better pair of noise-cancelling headphones, or adjust your muscle memory to cope with a thinner keyboard. The real trouble came when it emerged that the Butterfly keyboard was terribly fault-prone.
With just 0.7mm of travel between keys, it was far too easy for debris to lodge itself under a keycap, causing them to become stuck. Key presses would fail to register, or would register multiple times.
Butterfly Keyboard Macbook
This problem reached a head in 2017, when former Outline journalist Casey Johnston penned a blog post describing her woes with Apple's latest in keyboard tech. The post, titled 'The New Macbook Keyboard is Ruining My Life', catalogued Johnston's repeated visits to the Genius Bar, and described an epidemic of bust laptops that, at that point, Apple had failed to properly acknowledge.
Later that year, musician Jonathan Mann published a song describing his ongoing woes with the Butterfly keyboard on his MacBook Pro called: 'I am pressing the spacebar and nothing is happening.'
Apple Butterfly Keyboard Models Chart
It also didn't help that Apple had designed the Butterfly keyboard in a way that was almost impossible for users to self-repair. The keycaps and underlying mechanisms were fragile, with some keys – particularly the spacebar – more so.
Consequently, Apple's approach to repairing bust units involves replacing the entire top case of the machine, which includes a glued-in battery, speakers, and other crucial components.
Apple Butterfly Keyboard Program
Apple Butterfly Keyboard Program
'There is no such thing as replacing an individual key or just the keyboard,' wrote Johnston. 'The path from 'a piece of dust' to '$700 repair' is terrifyingly short.'
Apple's response to the backlash was typical Cupertino, insofar as it failed to acknowledge the existence of a critical design flaw across its entire portable computer line, minimising it as something affecting a small handful of users. It wasn't as openly contemptuous as Steve Jobs' infamous 'You're holding it wrong' line, but it wasn't far off.
Over five years, it quietly reworked the concept, adding polymer membranes designed to catch debris before it could interfere with the keyswitch mechanism. For the most part, these failed to resolve the overarching problem, which was caused by an almost non-existent amount of key travel.
In 2018, it finally launched a service programme that would give affected users free replacement keyboards, even if they hadn't stumped up for the AppleCare extended warranty. That came just one month after peeved users filed a class-action lawsuit against the company. Separately, the firm also advised users to try and dislodge debris by using canned air – a tactic that frequently failed to resolve the problem. Ms paint for macbook.
Since 2019, and starting with the 16-inch MacBook Pro, Apple has gradually phased out the Butterfly mechanism from its laptop lineup. That process was completed this week, with the launch of the new 13-inch MacBook Pro.
The reputational damage is done. Influential Apple commentator John Gruber described the mechanism as one of 'the worst products in Apple history' – a lineup that includes the Newton, the Cube G4, and the repetitive strain-inducing 'puck' mouse. Apple com update itunes.
Five years ago, you could have argued that Apple had the best industrial design of any consumer technology company. Not any more. 'MacBooks should have the best keyboards in the industry; instead they're the worst,' said Gruber. 'They're doing lasting harm to the reputation of the MacBook brand.'
As Elton John once crooned, 'Sorry seems to be the hardest word.' That's especially true when it comes to Apple, which has yet to formally disavow this catastrophic design. And it's still unclear whether the firm has learned its lesson when it comes to repairability. The keyboard on the 16-inch MacBook Pro is riveted to the upper case of the machine, making it almost impossible to service without simultaneously replacing other components, driving the cost of repairs northward as a result.
Still, at least you can now eat a cronut at your desk without worrying about subsequent trips to the Genius Bar. ®
