Apple has publicly acknowledged that the Butterfly keyboards in MacBook and MacBook Pro are causing some problems and has launched a new repair program that promises to fix problems with these keyboards for free, whether the consumer has purchased AppleCare or not.
Apple writes that certain MacBook and MacBook Pro models “may exhibit one or more of the following behaviors”:
Letters or characters repeat unexpectedly. Letters or characters are not displayed. Button(s) feel “sticky” or do not react uniformly
In these cases, “Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider will repair the MacBook and MacBook Pro keyboards free of charge. Apple also says that consumers who have previously paid for service can contact the company to request a refund.
It is difficult to say how widespread the problem is. Apple did not give any figures, but Maclife is also aware of cases in which the keyboard of the MacBook Pro 2016 caused massive problems. This was eliminated free of charge by Apple as part of Apple Care.
Last month, AppleInsider found that the Butterfly keyboard-powered MacBook Pro 2016 had twice as many keyboard repair events (without touch bar repairs) as the MacBook Pro 2015 with the older chiclet design. The same data suggests that small optimizations to the keyboard design of 2017 models reduced the frequency of repairs.
However, the new repair program also covers the MacBook Pro 2017, not just the 2016 models, and Apple has published a list of computers covered by the new regulations:
MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, early 2015)
MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, early 2016)
MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, 2017)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, two Thunderbolt 3 ports)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, 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)