The history of Apple devices has highlights and shadows. Like virtually any other technology, it is actually sometimes right and sometimes wrong. The key in these cases is not so much the failure itself as the response given once it is identified, either before or after launch…but especially after it has been launched, that really makes the difference. , that is, when users start to suffer.

In this respect we have seen cases of all colors, from companies preemptively opting for a massive overhaul and/or replacement plan, to others that try to look the other way, and only take responsibility, even to the most limited extent, when there is no other option. Something that may eventually backfire on her if concerned users decide to organize and file charges against her.

This has already happened more than once in the case of Apple. The most famous case is the iPhone 6, for which those from Cupertino had to face class action lawsuits all over the world, including our country. And less well-known, though probably more outrageous (and in this case I speak from personal experience because I was a victim of it), the case of the butterfly keyboard, an innovation that went wrong and caused many users to see the keyboard of their MacBook Air and MacBook Pro has stopped working properly. In some cases it didn’t even catch a hit, in others it repeated several times. It was unbearable.

Even so, Apple installed it on its laptops between 2015 and 2019, and when the first cases began to appear, it was a little less in denial. Those are all affected models in chronological order:

• MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, early 2015)
• MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2016)
• MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, 2017)
• MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018)
• MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2019)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, two Thunderbolt 3 ports)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, two Thunderbolt 3 ports)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, two Thunderbolt 3 ports)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
• MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)
• MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
• MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
• MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019)

When the evidence could no longer be denied, Apple launched a service campaign to replace defective components in the according to the company, very few devices are affected. In my case, when I went to the Apple store to make the change, they told me that the problem was that I was smoking while using the computer and that the failure was caused by nicotine. However, they told me that they would prove it to me by replacing it… I leave the conclusions to you, dear reader.

As we told you at the time, a class action lawsuit was filed against Apple in the United States last year over the butterfly keyboard, and today we know from MacRumors that Apple eventually agreed with the plaintiffs that the compensation could reach up to $400. Something that may seem like a lot of money, but when you remember the slightly more than 3,000 euros I paid for my MacBook Pro 15 in my case, it doesn’t seem so much anymore. Not to mention the other types of users who could get a $50 compensation.

Apple provided 50 million dollars to pay said compensation in the United Statesbut in exchange, the court was spared a guilty plea, allowing the company to make the following claim:

«Apple denies all allegations made in the lawsuit, denies that any MacBook is defective, and denies that Apple did anything improper or illegal. Apple asserts a number of defensive claims in this case. The proposed settlement to resolve this case is not an admission of guilt or wrongdoing of any kind by Apple.»

Of course, I can’t help but wonder if, in such a case, the most logical place to settle with the plaintiffs would be to complete the court proceedings. If indeed everything raised by demand were uncertain, Why give away $50 million to people who lied about participating in a lawsuit? Maybe because they weren’t lying and really the butterfly keyboard was a mistake?