MacBook owners could be eligible for $395 payment from class-action lawsuit

Some MacBook laptop owners could be eligible for a payment of up to $395 from a class-action lawsuit involving Apple, court documents indicate.

A settlement was recently reached with the tech giant in a lawsuit that alleged certain MacBook laptops sold between 2015-2019 were equipped with defective “butterfly” keyboards, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California announced in an authorized noticed.

The MacBooks in question have keyboards that can result in characters repeating unexpectedly, letters or characters not appearing, and keys feeling “sticky” or not responding in a consistent manner, the lawsuit alleged.

There is now $50 million in funds available for payments to settle class members who had the butterfly keyboard on their MacBook laptop repaired, according to the notice.

The two laptop repair proceedings covered by the settlement are a “topcase” replacement, which involves replacing the entire keyboard module and a “keycap” replacement, which involves replacement of one or more keycaps.

Anyone who received two topcase replacements is considered a “Group 1″ member of the settlement. Those in this group are eligible to receive payment without the need to submit a claim.

Eligible Group 1 members are estimated to receive a payment between $300 and $395, according to the settlement.

MacBook owners who received a single topcase replacement or one or more keycap replacements and declared that the repair failed to resolve keyboard issues is considered a “Group 2″ or “Group 3″ member.

Eligible Group 2 members are estimated to receive up to $125 and eligible Group 3 members are estimated to receive up to $50.

The settlement includes the following Apple MacBook models:

• MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015)

• MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2016)

• MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, 2017)

• MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2018)

• MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2019)

• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)

• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)

• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, 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)

• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)

• MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2018)

• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)

• MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019)

Apple has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

Group 1 members should confirm or update the mailing address for their check by clicking here. Group 2 and Group 3 members can submit a claim by clicking here.

Anyone with questions can call 1-855-579-1311.

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