Apple now promises next-day turnaround repairs and pickup for MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro keyboard repairs, according to a report from MacRumors.
The publication states that Apple previously sent MacBook Pro laptops with broken keyboards out to repair depots. However, the company is now reportedly telling Genius Bar employees that “most” keyboard-related repairs will be handled in-store “until further notice.”
Further, MacRumors claims that “additional service parts have been shipped to stores to support the increased volume”
While the third-generation Butterfly keyboard featured in the MacBook Pro (2018) and MacBook Air (2018) was reportedly designed to solve the reliability issues of its predecessors, it doesn’t seem to have solved the problem. The hardware malfunction typically involves keys producing two letters or not working at all.
The third-generation Butterfly keyboard features a silicon membrane between the keys that is designed to prevent debris from getting in the key’s mechanism. Apple claims this design change was made so the keys would be quieter. That said, many believe the subtle redesign’s goal was to solve the keyboard’s reliability problems.
I’ve run into this issue a number of times with the multiple MacBook Pro laptops I’ve used over the last few years. I typically solve the issue with a can of compressed air, screen cleaner and by repeatedly pressing the key. That said, given the price of Apple’s laptops, keyboard reliability problems shouldn’t be something users are forced to deal with.
Following the publication of a recent column by The Wallstreet Journal’s Joanna Stern, Apple released a statement regarding the MacBook Pro’s keyboard issues for the first time.
“We are aware that a small number of users are having issues with their third-generation butterfly keyboard and for that we are sorry,” an Apple spokesperson told Stern in a statement. “The vast majority of Mac notebook customers are having a positive experience with the new keyboard.”
Source: MacRumors
