Apple No Longer Replacing Butterfly Keyboards. Use Website Selling Replacement Key Kits?

[1madman1]

The spacebar on my MBP 2017 jammed, again, and I was just told by the Apple store that they cant fix it. As was described it would be "cost prohibitive" to replace the top case.

I wouldn't really want to replace the top case as it's otherwise pristine and there is only 100 cycles on the battery. How viable would this be as a self repair? I see there are websites selling replacement key caps and mechanisms. I've pulled apart and serviced my Apple desktops and older (pre-retina) Macbooks / Powerbooks many times, but have never even seen the insides of one of these newer units. They give the impression of being intentionally difficult to service.

Note I also have a much more heavily used and abused 2019, and it's keyboard has never been a problem.

 

[Shirasaki]

Here we go. The cursed Butterfly keyboard mechanism.
Id reckon the difficulty would be immense given how thin those mechanisms are.
Some other idea would be buying some sorts of parts machine with ok keyboard to replace. Or if you are determined enough you can look up tear down videos online And see if 2020 M1 MacBook keyboard would suite your need. At least they are good and my experience backs it up.

 

[chrfr]

The spacebar on my MBP 2017 jammed, again, and I was just told by the Apple store that they cant fix it. As was described it would be "cost prohibitive" to replace the top case.

I wouldn't really want to replace the top case as it's otherwise pristine and there is only 100 cycles on the battery. How viable would this be as a self repair? I see there are websites selling replacement key caps and mechanisms. I've pulled apart and serviced my Apple desktops and older (pre-retina) Macbooks / Powerbooks many times, but have never even seen the insides of one of these newer units. They give the impression of being intentionally difficult to service.

Note I also have a much more heavily used and abused 2019, and it's keyboard has never been a problem.

There are no replacement parts for these computers that will work any better. The key caps are not the problem so replacing those won‘t help.
If your 2019 is a 16“, that doesn’t have the butterfly keyboard, but I have seen several 2019 13” models, which do have butterfly keyboards, with the same keyboard problems; while that iteration of the butterfly design may be slightly more reliable than that in the 2017, it’s still a fundamentally defective piece of junk.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

The 2017 keyboards are riveted into the machine. There is no “replacing” these keyboards. This is why Apple’s repair is to replace the whole top case.

 

[maflynn]

Here we go. The cursed Butterfly keyboard mechanism.

This is why even with the repair program Macs equipped with the butterfly keyboards should be avoided. Sadly, for owners who bought new, and don't want to upgrade prematurely are kind of stuck.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

My advice and my opinion only:

Time to start looking for a replacement. One of the new models with a "scissors" keyboard, like the 2021 MBP 14" or 16".

Perhaps you can sell the 2017 "for parts".

Having said that, I'm thinking we're going to start seeing more and more folks with similar complaints in the months to come...

 

[JPack]

Cut your losses and sell the machine. Self-repair is not viable. That's why so many people got their machines repaired under the service program and then immediately sold it.

 

[1madman1]

Buying an M1 is not an option. Workflow is dependent on Mojave or older for compatibility reasons. Once that is no longer viable next stop may have to be Windows 10.

My inclination right now is to sell of off as parts - although it *looks* great cosmetically - other issues with it are worn out thunderbolt connectors that can barely retain a cable (all 4!), and a blown left speaker. This system also liked to produce random mystery popping noises from day 1.

I have two other MacBooks, a 12" 2017 and a 15" 2019. Both of which are used far more heavily than the problematic MBP 2017. The 2019 has more than 6x as many battery cycles as the 2017 and has seen so much use the black finish is wearing off on some of the keys. Neither one has ever been an issue hardware wise.

 

[Sterkenburg]

As others have pointed out, repairing it on your own is not really a feasible option. My suggestion is to do your math on what would get you more money back between selling it as defective and repairing then selling (given the cost of the repair vs. prices on the secondhand market, my guess would be the former). I know it sucks.

Do not pay for the repair it and hope it won't break again, sooner or later it will. Get away from butterfly keyboards.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"Buying an M1 is not an option. Workflow is dependent on Mojave or older for compatibility reasons. Once that is no longer viable next stop may have to be Windows 10"

If that's the case, then I suggest you start shopping for a Windows laptop.

It would be pointless to buy another Mac laptop with a butterfly keyboard.
And any new Mac you buy won't run Mojave.

Here's an alternative:
Get a 2018 Mac Mini (they can still be bought "as a new item" from Apple, or from Apple's online refurbished store) and a display.
The 2018 Mini runs Mojave just fine (in fact, I'm typing this on a 2018 Mini using Mojave).
And you'll never have keyboard problems again.

 

[ignatius345]

Buying an M1 is not an option. Workflow is dependent on Mojave or older for compatibility reasons. Once that is no longer viable next stop may have to be Windows 10.

My inclination right now is to sell of off as parts - although it *looks* great cosmetically - other issues with it are worn out thunderbolt connectors that can barely retain a cable (all 4!), and a blown left speaker. This system also liked to produce random mystery popping noises from day 1.

I have two other MacBooks, a 12" 2017 and a 15" 2019. Both of which are used far more heavily than the problematic MBP 2017. The 2019 has more than 6x as many battery cycles as the 2017 and has seen so much use the black finish is wearing off on some of the keys. Neither one has ever been an issue hardware wise.

I was going to suggest you could possibly just use it with an external keyboard and treat it like a desktop Mac, maybe plug in some speakers while you're at it. But it sounds like it's on its last legs in several ways anyway. Sorry to hear you got such a lemon!

 

[R9T]

I am in an identical position to you. I was supplied with a fully specced 15" 2017 Macbook pro from my employer. After a year or so the keyboard started playing up. If I had used my own money to purchase it I would have been furious. It hasn't been used much recently, but a change in policy from my employer means I am going to have to use it. So I will be using an external keyboard.

 

[KaliYoni]

Buying an M1 is not an option.

Another alternative to the ones above is to buy an Intel Mac from Apple, either new or refurb, while they're still available. Then even if you decide to maintain this machine on a current macOS, you can run Mojave in a virtual machine. An advantage of this route, despite the necessity to spend $$$, is better security (on a computer used for business purposes?) because the old version of macOS is only run on an as-needed basis.

One well-known virtual machine:

On Intel Macs, VMware Fusion lets you run macOS, Windows, Linux and other x86-based operating systems as virtual machines. On Apple Silicon Macs, Fusion supports the Arm editions of the most popular operating systems including Windows 11. Nearly all programs that run on these operating systems will run with VMware Fusion. Programs can range from common productivity suites (such as Microsoft Office) to graphics-intensive programs such as AutoCAD or SolidWorks which require DirectX 11 on Intel, as well as custom applications. Fusion Player and Fusion Pro can both also run containers and Kubernetes clusters with the built-in CLI ‘vctl.’

Desktop Hypervisor Solutions | VMware

VMware Workstation and VMware Fusion desktop hypervisors are the industry leaders in local virtualization. Learn how VMware’s local virtualization solutions provide an easier way to build, test and deliver any app for any device or cloud.

www.vmware.com

 

[BaggieBoy]

The 2017 keyboards are riveted into the machine. There is no “replacing” these keyboards. This is why Apple’s repair is to replace the whole top case.

It's not impossible to replace keyboards that are riveted in, but it's not easy either. I have an older rMBP that had a faulty keyboard, I was able to source a 3rd party keyboard from China. The existing one has to be ripped out, the rivets break off easily. However to install the new keyboard each rivet (around 100) has to be replaced by a tiny screw. It's very fiddly but it worked (and still is).

 

[PBG4 Dude]

It's not impossible to replace keyboards that are riveted in, but it's not easy either. I have an older rMBP that had a faulty keyboard, I was able to source a 3rd party keyboard from China. The existing one has to be ripped out, the rivets break off easily. However to install the new keyboard each rivet (around 100) has to be replaced by a tiny screw. It's very fiddly but it worked (and still is).

Wow, that’s impressive. I’m glad there is a solution, even if it is a PITA to replace.

 

[1885507]

The spacebar on my MBP 2017 jammed, again, and I was just told by the Apple store that they cant fix it. As was described it would be "cost prohibitive" to replace the top case.

That really sucks. However, technically-speaking, there's no reason you can't just use it as a desktop replacement (KVM switch would be handy) for "mule" for non-urgent, important tasks (e.g., uploading, downloading, rendering, etc.). I have my wife's old unibody white MacBook precisely for this purpose, it works flawlessly for mule-type tasks, albeit at a slower pace. Additionally, even just logging in remotely via screen sharing in OS X would more than suffice for this task.

I, too, have a 2017 (15" 2.9Ghz with Radeon 4GB) but I've kept the APP on it for at least two years after the original one expired for this very reason. I'm likely to let it lapse next year when it expires since I got my iPad Air last year.