Apple now accepts 2018 MacBooks into its keyboard repair program

[sincity]

The saga of Apple's MacBook Butterfly keyboards continues. The Butterfly mechanism used in its recent MacBook lines has been prone to failure, and Apple has apologized for the issue with a repair program on top. Now, coinciding with the release of Apple's first MacBookPro with an 8-core processor, it's expanding its keyboard repair program substantially, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Issues have plagued Apple's Butterfly mechanism since the first iteration with tis 2016 12-inch MacBook. They've been prone to miss key presses, duplicate key presses and accumulate debris underneath the keycaps. The result has been unreliable typing on expensive computers.

The Butterfly keyboards have seen three design generations, and they've appeared in cheaper MacBook Air models and expensive MacBook Pros. The 2018 MacBook Air and 2018 MacBook Pro included Butterfly keyboards, and still suffered issues despite the addition of a membrane aimed at keeping debris out.

Now, Apple is ensuring all the Butterfly keyboards are covered by its repair program.

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You get a repair, and you get a repair and...

Before, the repair program didn't include computers with Apple's 3rd-gen Butterfly keyboards, which showed up in 2018 devices. Now, Apple will repair all generations of the keyboard. That includes the newest MacBook Pro with an 8-core processor, which uses an altered 3rd-gen Butterfly keyboard

This is a positive, consumer-friendly step for Apple to take, and may help avoid future controversy over issues like this. In the past, it's been called for not immediately owning up to clear issues, like when it was deliberately slowing down iPhones with aging batteries.

Better still, the repair program isn't limited to just the US. It includes the UK, Australia and many other countries and regions. You can check the Keyboard Service Program page to see if your region is included.

With any luck, the fourth generation of Butterfly keyboards will finally solve the issues, so customers will rarely have to take their MacBooks in for keyboard repair.

Via: 9to5Mac

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