Users sue Apple over MacBook Pro keyboard issues

Two MacBook Pro users have sued Apple over issues that appear to exist with the keyboard of the laptop’s 2016 version. According to the prosecutors, Apple already knew about the problems before the laptop was released.

In the indictment, the accusers write that keys in the keyboard of the MacBook Pro 2016 tend to get stuck and then no longer register keystrokes. They also complain that when minimal amounts of dust or dirt get under the keys, they stop working. The problem is said to affect thousands of users.

When users with keyboard problems turn to Apple for warranty, in some cases the company refuses to repair the keyboard, prosecutors claim. Instead, the company would only give advice to solve it itself. If users do have the keyboard replaced by Apple, the company would charge 400 to 700 dollars for this, after which in some cases the problems would come back later.

The lawsuit has been filed by users Zixuan Rao and Kyle Barbaro, who are both experiencing problems with the keyboards in their MacBook Pro laptops. They are joined by nearly 20,000 users who have signed a Change.org petition asking Apple to replace keyboards on all MacBook Pro laptops with butterfly keyboards.

Rao and Barbaro hope that the lawsuit will get Apple to pay for the damages and costs of the lawsuit. In addition, they demand that Apple publicly admit that the keyboard design contains design flaws and the company replaces defective laptops.

Last month it turned out that the keyboard in the MacBook Pro from 2016 causes problems relatively often. According to data from AppleInsider, out of 1402 warranty claims, 165 cases involved a defective keyboard, nearly 12 percent of the time. This is more common than with previous models. With the 2017 model, the problem seems to be less common.