I know there are countless posts about the butterfly keyboard and need to get the top case replaced, I searched and most are years old. I've had the keyboard (top case) replaced once about a year and a half ago and since then, have returned to the "Genius Bar" countless times to report space bar sticking and the letter "M". I've had it cleaned 3 times, and told that I can either pay $600+ to replace the top case or trade in my perfectly working computer for $500. Its ridiculous that I would have to pay to replace, yet again, the butterfly keyboard when it is a known defect. I have tried reaching out to corporate just to get a canned response, that I am out of warranty and I have no options but to pay to replace. Has anyone worked with a senior advisor and had success replacing it a second time on Apple's dime? I'm incredibly frustrated and refuse to pay a penny to fix their issue. Help?
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Keyboard problems
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If included among the listed how can they refuse to fix for free?
Keyboard Service Program for MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro - Apple Support
Keyboard Service Program for MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro
support.apple.com
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The OP didn't tell us what year the MBP is.
It's possible that he has one that is now "beyond" the 4-year extended warranty.
OP, if that's the case, you have only two real options:
- Pay to get the top case replaced ($700, not worth it).
or
- Trade it in ($500?) for something new.
The current MacBook Pro 14" would be a good choice.
Aside:
We're probably going to be seeing more posts like the one above in the months to come, as the out-of-warranty butterfly keyboard MBP's start "goin' bad"...
It's possible that he has one that is now "beyond" the 4-year extended warranty.
OP, if that's the case, you have only two real options:
- Pay to get the top case replaced ($700, not worth it).
or
- Trade it in ($500?) for something new.
The current MacBook Pro 14" would be a good choice.
Aside:
We're probably going to be seeing more posts like the one above in the months to come, as the out-of-warranty butterfly keyboard MBP's start "goin' bad"...
It just seems like such a ridiculous things, to replace a perfectly good laptop simply because Apple replaced their defective keyboard with the exact same defective keyboard which now is also failing. Unless they figure out how to replace the keyboard with one without the known issue, I think they should replace it as many times as it fails. So incredibly frustrating. I don't have the finances to do either, replace the laptop or pay to replace the top case.
They said because they already replaced it once. Even though they replaced it with the same keyboard with the same defect. Now, it has gone out of the 4 years so they wont help.
I'll jump in to agree with how frustrating this is. I have a 2016 15" MBP and had a keyboard replaced a while back. My O and the I key, I think, are double pressing regularly. I've had dust blown out and even single keys replaced (apparently, from what they told me) at a local Apple store, but to no avail. It is about that time for me to get a new MBP, but still, the fact that they replaced a defective keyboard with the same defective keyboard is rather aggravating.
As I said above -- we're going to see a lot more posts from folks with similar problems... butterfly keyboard failing on an otherwise-good laptop, but it's past the 4-year keyboard warranty.
Not much to do, other than pay for a repair (which is unadvisable at this point), or trade it in for something new (or perhaps Apple-refurbished).
Not much to do, other than pay for a repair (which is unadvisable at this point), or trade it in for something new (or perhaps Apple-refurbished).
Yeah... I can relate. Here I am with the last of the butterfly keyboards, I've had it replaced before and I'm out of warranty. (Mine is a 2019 13" MacBook Pro, retina display, terrabyte, etc. etc.) I bought it refurbed in 2020 and I'm pretty sure the 4 yr keyboard warranty starts from the original point of sale (ie 2019 - not 2020 when I got it refurbed). It works great - except for the keyboard. My left shift key stopped working today in the middle of my work day and I was unable to finish a deliverable for a client. Great! About a year and a half ago, I had to have the keyboard replaced because the M or N didn't work. They didn't say anything about the keyboard problem just replaced it for free and "nothing to see here..." To add salt to the wound, I'm now seeing that there was a class action lawsuit and March of 2023 was the last opportunity to participate. I never found out about it til now. I guess I'm going into the genius bar tomorrow to see what they can do. The funny thing is I'm typing right now on my 2012 11" MacBook Air. Yeah, the keys are loud and click-y, but I never once had an issue with this keyboard, FFS and it's over a decade old and I used it up until 2020 (7-8 years).
If you bought it from Apple as a refurb in 2020 it should still be within the 4 year keyboard service program.