Apple butterfly mechanism

Apple butterfly mechanism

Manufacturer	Apple
Switch type	Tactile metal dome with levelling mechanism
Sense method	Metal contact on PCB
Actuation force	70 cN
Patents	US20140116865 A1 (applied for in 2014)

Apple butterfly mechanism is mechanism for a type of scissor switch where the hinge is made of rubber double-shot moulded with the legs. This single-part design improves stability and reduces thickness for extremely low-profile keyboards compared to mechanical hinges.

History

1st-gen

Apple is using this mechanism along with a stainless-steel dome switch on the MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015).<ref name="Apple-MB-PR" />

2nd-gen

The 2016 MacBook Pro (13 and 15-inch, with or without touch bar) come with an updated mechanism.<ref name="arsapple16liveblog" /> The keys are taller at the edges making them easier to find by feel. The metal dome is heftier and mounted to the keycap.<ref name="ifixitmbp16" />

3rd-gen (2018)

The 2018 MacBook Pro keyboard got a protective membrane over the dome switch. According to Apple, it was added to reduce noise but it has been speculated that the real reason was to avoid failure in the "butterfly" mechanism from exposure to dust.<ref name="ifixitblog18" />

4th-gen (2019)

When announcing the 2019 MacBook Pro, Apple told that the keyboard was slightly changed so as to be less susceptible to problems such as keys becoming unresponsive or chattering.<ref name="macworld2019mbkb"/> iFixit showed that the protective membrane got changed from a poly-acetylene to a thicker layer of polyamide (nylon).<ref name="ifixitvideo19" />

Replacement (2019)

It got discontinued for new MacBook models in late 2019. It was replaced with more traditional scissor switches with rubber domes, called Magic Keyboard like the keyboards for contemporary desktop Macintoshes.

Issues

The MacBook "butterfly" keyboards are infamous for bad reliability.

The 2016 MacBook Pro keyboards supposedly fail twice as often in the first year of use as previous types of MacBook Pro keyboards that have a more conventional scissor switch/rubber dome design.<ref name="appleinsider" /> The keyboards are also more expensive to repair, in part because how they are mounted within the laptop enclosures.

In 2019, Apple announced that it would fix faulty keyboards in certain models (stretching from 2015 to 2019), at no expense to the owner.<ref name="macworld2019mbkb"/>

Because of reliability issues, a group of MacBook owners filed lawsuit against Apple in 2018. It got certified as a Class Action suit in March 2021<ref name="vergecacert">The Verge.com—Angry MacBook owners get class action status for butterfly keyboard suit. Dated 2021-03-22. Retrieved 2021-03-22</ref>. The lawsuit concerned Apple's repair program: that it was insufficient to only replace a butterfly keyboard with another butterfly keyboard. Apple agreed to a settlement in July 2022, and a payment plan was approved in November. A payment of $125 goes to a customer that replaced one keyboard, with more to customers who replaced more than one, and $50 if only keycaps were replaced.<ref name="mactrast2211">macTrast—Judge Approves Apple’s Plan to Pay $50 Million MacBook Butterfly Keyboard Lawsuit Settlement. Dated 2022-11-29. Retrieved 2022-12-07</ref>

References

<references> <ref name="Apple-MB-PR">Apple — Apple Unveils All-New MacBook Dated 2015-03-09. Retrieved 2015-07-23.</ref> <ref name="arsapple16liveblog">Ars Technica live blog — Hello Again: Apple’s October 2016 Mac event Dated 2016-10-27. Retrieved 2016-10-27.</ref> <ref name="ifixitmbp16">iFixit — MacBook Pro 13" Function Keys Late 2016 Teardown. Dated 2016-11-01. Retrieved 2016-11-01.</ref> <ref name="ifixitblog18">IFixit blog—Anatomy of a Butterfly (Keyboard)—Teardown Style, by Sam Lionheart. Dated 2018-07-19. Retrieved 2018-10-16</ref> <ref name="appleinsider">Apple Insider magazine— 2016 MacBook Pro butterfly keyboards failing twice as frequently as older models. By Mike Wierthele. Dated 2018-04-30. Retrieved 2018-05-08</ref> <ref name="macworld2019mbkb">MacWorld magazine—[1]. Dated 2019-05-21.</ref> <ref name="ifixitvideo19">iFixit Video on Youtube—We Found the "New Material" in Apple's Fourth Butterfly Keyboard. Posted 2019-05-24.</ref> </references>

Forum threads

• Looks like "Contamination Shields" are back, this time with Apple. Started 2018-07-14
• New Macbook Pro with Touch Bar. Started 2016-10-27

External links

• Wall Street Journal—Appl Still Hasn’t Fixd Its MacBook Kyboad Problm (2019-03-27)

See also

• Touch bar — replaces function keys on some models.
• Apple Magic Keyboard — keyboard type that replaced it on MacBook laptops.
• Apple Smart Keyboard — Range of keyboards for Apple iPad product range with the same metal domes, but lacking the "butterfly" levelling mechanism.