If you bought a new MacBook or MacBook Pro in the past few years, you may have a case against Apple. A new class-action lawsuit claims the company knowingly sold laptops with defective keyboards. Here’s what you need to know about the new lawsuit and how to get involved.
What’s the problem?
Apple first introduced its new butterfly-switch keyboards in 2015 with the 12-inch MacBook (the one without any regular USB ports). The thinner key design made it possible to slim down the laptop’s profile without cutting down on responsiveness—at least, according to Apple. A year later, the same keyboard showed up on new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros.
It didn’t take long for things to go south with Apple’s keyboard “upgrade.” As it turns out, Apple’s butterfly-switch keys can become unresponsive if any sort of dust or debris gets under the keyboard. Worse, fixing this through Apple can cost as much as $700 if you’re out of warranty, and repairs take a week.
Apple hasn’t officially responded to keyboard complaints—or a growing petition demanding Apple recall MacBooks using said keyboards—though it did set up a webpage showing people how to clean out the keyboard with a can of compressed air. That’s something, right?
Who qualifies for the class action lawsuit?
If you bought a MacBook with butterfly-switch keys, you probably qualify to join the lawsuit. That includes any 12-inch MacBook model from 2015 or later. It also covers the MacBook Pro from 2016 onwards (with or without the Touch Bar). And you don’t have to have a messed-up MacBook to participate. Girard Gibbs LLP (the firm behind the new suit) doesn’t specify that you need to have experienced any keyboard issues in order to join the class-action lawsuit.
How to join
Girard Gibbs has an online form you can use to give them your contact info and the details of your experience with Apple’s new MacBooks. If you prefer to talk on the phone, you can also call (866) 981-4800 for a free consultation.
Of course, you don’t actually have to do anything to be a part of the case. As long as you bought a laptop that qualifies, you’ll be included in the class action lawsuit once everything shakes out. Start thinking about what you might do with the sweet $20 you’ll make if the lawsuit prevails—as tends to be the case with litigation like this.
Source:
LifeHacker