US judge certifies lawsuit against Apple over butterfly keyboards

San Francisco, March 23 A judge in the US state of California has certified the class-action suit against Apple for its fragile butterfly keyboard design.

A group of MacBook users in 2018 filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple for the controversial butterfly keyboards, alleging that the new design failed when even tiny particles of dust accumulated around the switches.

The lawsuit covers those who purchased an Apple MacBook with a butterfly keyboard in seven states: California, New York, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Washington, and Michigan, reports The Verge.

"That includes people who bought a MacBook model dating between 2015 and 2017, a MacBook Pro model between 2016 and 2019, or a MacBook Air between 2018 and 2019," the report mentioned, citing the lawsuit, on Monday.

Apple said that one consolidated suit shouldn't cover multiple tweaks to the butterfly keyboard.

The plaintiffs, however, argued that all butterfly keyboards may have the same fundamental problems due to their shallow design and narrow gaps between keys. Judge Edward Davila then certified their case.

Apple has now launched new MacBook Pro series with Magic Keyboard, which is now available across Apple's laptop lineup, touted as the "the best typing experience ever on a Mac notebook."

The butterfly keyboard was slimmer than Apple's previous design, which used industry-standard scissor switches.

Apple in 2018 offered an extended keyboard service programme to rectify problems with the "butterfly" mechanism after complaints.

The company tweaked its butterfly keyboard multiple times but finally discontinued the switches last year, with Magic Keyboard.

( With inputs from IANS )