Apple is finally sending checks for its bad MacBook keyboards

Folks are beginning to receive checks from Apple to compensate them for having to spend money when their MacBook butterfly keyboards malfunctioned. As the payments go out, Apple is closing the book on an issue with stuck or otherwise unusable keys that plagued owners of Mac laptops made between 2015 and 2019.

The checks are the result of Apple’s $50 million settlement of a class action lawsuit over the keyboards in 2022. People who filed during the claims window starting late last year were eligible for payments of $50, $125, or $395, depending on how extensive or frequent the repairs were. A court in June ordered Apple to begin paying out. Verge reporter and smart home expert Jennifer Pattison Tuohy received one for the maximum amount, offered to anyone for whom the issue recurred after having the keyboard replaced. 9to5Mac’s Michael Burkhardt reported getting two checks over the weekend as well.

Starting with the 2019 16-inch MacBook Pro, Apple started doing away with the butterfly switch keyboards, which had extremely low key travel but seemed to be deeply unreliable and prone to failure. The whole saga finally ended when Apple released a 13-inch MacBook Pro without butterfly switches in 2020.