If your Butterfly Keyboard MacBook Pro breaks, you’re now out of luck

If you have an older MacBook with a butterfly keyboard, I have some bad news for you.

Six and a half years after it first launched, Apple has now officially ended the free program which fixed butterfly keyboard issues on certain MacBooks released between 2015 and 2019 (via MacRumors). This means any user who encounters an issue with the butterfly keyboard on their older MacBook are no longer guaranteed a free repair from Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider.

The history of the butterfly keyboard

It all started nine years ago in 2015

In March 2015, Apple released a super thin 12-inch MacBook, separate from its MacBook Air and Pro lineups. This super thin MacBook featured a low-profile keyboard that used a butterfly switch mechanism. Before this, for much of the 2000s, Apple used a scissor switch mechanism in its MacBook keyboards.

However, the butterfly switch mechanism soon ran into issues, with users reporting letters repeating unexpectedly when typing, or failing to appear at all when pressed. In October 2016, the issue came more into the spotlight when Apple released the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models with its second-generation butterfly keyboard, but users still had issues with it and reported experiencing sticky and unresponsive keys. In 2018, things became really serious when Apple was hit with a class action lawsuit in the U.S. alleging the company knew the butterfly keyboard was defective.

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Apple launched a keyboard replacement program in June 2018 after it finally determined that butterfly keyboards in certain MacBook models may have issues such as letters or characters that repeat unexpectedly, letters or characters that don’t appear, and sticky keys that don’t respond properly or consistently when pressed. This service was offered free of charge, up to four years after the retail purchase date of the affected MacBook. That four-year window has now closed, and all the eligible models have long been discontinued.

Apple officially apologized for the butterfly keyboards in 2019. That same year, Apple switched back to using the scissor switch mechanism in its keyboards, starting with the 16-inch MacBook Pro which was released in November 2019. Since then, all MacBook models have continued to use the scissor switch. In 2022, Apple agreed to pay $50 million to settle the class action lawsuit against them about the butterfly keyboard.