We will like to inform you that Mega Tech companies such as Apple make horrible products. And Apple’s Butterfly keyboard is one of the disaster product features in its portfolio.
What is a butterfly Keyboard?
In 2015, Apple introduced its new keyboard mechanism called the Butterfly keyboard. It is launched by Apple having the objective to reduce the thickness of laptops. Unfortunately, this move backfired on Apple and ended up being one of the most horrible decisions in design and working mechanisms.
As per the Apple Butterfly keyboard wiki, Engineers introduced it to keep the device slim and lightweight. While keys were made to provide more realistic feedback but all of this backfired due to some major flaws in this keyboard.
How does the Butterfly Key work?
Unlike the scissor keyboard, the Butterfly keyboard has a wing-like mechanism. It relies on a hinge mechanism which pressed and sits on each other in U or V shape.
To make the Macbook slimmer and lighter they introduced this keyboard. Different from their claim that these keys are comfortable and faster to type but all ended up having a full replacement programme. They have to replace a range of their products that used butterfly switches between the period of 2015-2019.
Major problems with Apple keyboard?
Hope you have understood by now what is a butterfly keyboard and its major design flaw. Its two halves were linked with the middle hinge. The hinge created a space that made dust, small particles, insects, etc clog the functionality of keys. Therefore this made a huge chunk of users go through horrible typing experiences in aftermath of buying a premium laptop.
Even the Apple team tried to improve the mechanism of keys over a period of 5 years, but it couldn’t solve the problem 100%. Steps such as adding a thin silicone membrane and improving the quality of keys didn’t world well too. And in the end, the Apple team decided to run a recall program to finally replace the existing keyboard
Why Brand Apple Butterfly keyboard replacement is done?
As per the tech enthusiasts and the majority of Macbook users, the Apple Butterfly design was totally unreliable. The quality of the keyboard was so brittle that we have iterated in the “what is a butterfly keyboard”, it literally comes out in bits and pieces. While the replacement of a single was not possible whole laptop needs to open up and change the entire keyboard instead of replacing a single key. Even in 2019, apple tried to improve the keyboard by adding an extra membrane to improve reliability but it didn’t work well.
What is the Keyboard service programme for Macbook?
Though Apple never admitted that it sold quite a bad product with horrible Butterfly keys, but they do run a service programme to replace it. As the keys repeatedly registered false strokes, stucked keys, uninterrupted keystrokes automatically, etc.
People who own Macbook Pro and Macbook Air got to take their laptops to the authorised service centre to get their faulty keyboards replaced for free. Additionally, we have compiled a list in which all eligible models which are listed for free Apple butterfly keyboard replacement.
List of eligible model and Macbook Pro replacement keys
- MacBook (12-inch, Early 2015, 2016 & 2018)
- MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018 & 2019)
- MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2019)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016 2017,2018, 2019 having Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017, 2018,2019)
- MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019)
Conclusion
With so much mud-slinging and legal suits on Apple, they finally had to replace its faulty keyboard after a period of 5 years.
Later they came up with a new keyboard design having keys working on the scissor mechanism. This type of keyboard by tech enthusiasts as well as normal users who love typing on their laptops. Hope anyone who is facing difficulty and has issues with the old Butterfly design then they can follow the set rules in the above paragraph to replace faulty keys or keywords.
