Apple ends support for defective Butterfly keyboard

The so-called butterfly keyboard is a real horror for many owners of the famous MacBook. Apple was also aware of the susceptible mechanism and diligently replaced defective models to minimize customer frustration. Almost ten years after the premiere of the innovative keyboard, the tech company is discontinuing its support for the problem child.

Apple presented the first generation in 2015

The basic idea behind the butterfly keyboard is certainly commendable. Apple wanted to design its MacBooks to be as thin as possible while still stowing a lot of hardware inside. Accordingly, space had to be saved. The tech company started with the keyboard and tried to fit a precise keyboard for frequent typists into as little space as possible. And in the beginning, the plan worked.

Everyone agreed that Apple had created a really good keyboard for frequent typists that was also extremely flat. But after just a few weeks, it became clear that the technology had a serious problem. An increasing number of customers complained that their keyboards had become defective. While for some only one key jammed, for others nothing worked at all.

In most cases, a crumb barely visible to the naked eye was enough to put a key out of action. Once such a grain of dirt landed under the button, it could no longer be easily removed. After masses of criticism were heaped on Apple, the company relented. As part of an exchange program, it offered affected customers the opportunity to repair or completely replace defective keyboards. But this is now a thing of the past.

After five years, it’s over

The Apple experts at MacRumors are giving the all-clear for all those who now fear for their defective Butterfly keyboard. Apple will probably continue to offer its replacement service until the end of 2024. It is not yet clear what will happen after that. When the program was introduced, it was said that it would run for five years. This will expire in November this year. It is possible that the tech group will extend its service again afterwards. As things stand, however, it doesn’t look like it will.

Apple stuck to the idea

Even though it was already clear at the beginning of the ‘butterfly era’ that the technology had a serious problem, the tech company stuck to its idea. The keyboard technology continued to be used until 2019. Only then were keyboards used again that had a little more space and therefore no longer posed a “pinch hazard” for crumbs. Incidentally, Apple still emphasizes today that the problem was artificially exaggerated. It is said that only a small proportion of the MacBooks produced were affected by a defect.