Technologies

How to Claim Money From Apple’s $50 Million MacBook Keyboard Settlement

A class action suit claims Apple knew for years that the «butterfly» design in its MacBook keyboards was seriously flawed.

Did you buy a MacBook that had keyboard issues? If so, you might be eligible for part of a $50 million settlement Apple has agreed to in response to allegations it hid a known keyboard design flaw from customers.

Apple agreed to the multimillion-dollar payout in July, and a California court granted preliminary approval on Nov. 28.

MacBook Pro owners have started to receive emails and postcards notifying them they are eligible for payment, and the settlement website began accepting claims on Dec. 12.

Below, find out more about the MacBook settlement, including who qualifies for money, how much you could get from Apple and how to submit a claim.

For more class action suits, learn why Keurig is shelling out $10 million to users of its K-Cups and see if you’re eligible for money from T-Mobile’s $350 million data-breach settlement.

What is Apple accused of in the class action suit?

Apple introduced its «butterfly» keyboard design in 2015 in its 12-inch MacBook. The keys were attached with a wing-like hinge, as opposed to traditional keyboards, which use two pieces of plastic that, when pressed, cross each other and close like a pair of scissors.

At the time, the tech giant said the butterfly design was 40% slimmer, meaning its laptops could be too. But customers complained about the propensity for the keys to be sticky and miss or repeat typed characters.

Apple launched a repair program that covered MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air laptops in 2018. But it only replaced old butterfly keyboards with new ones.

Finally, in 2019, Apple phased out the butterfly design and introduced a redesigned Magic Keyboard that once more relied on a scissor-switch mechanism.

The butterfly design «had some things it did really well,» then-Apple marketing director Phil Schiller told CNET that year. «It felt more firm and flat under your finger — some people really like that, but other people weren’t really happy with that.»

Schiller also acknowledged there were «quality issues we had to work on.»

In a class action lawsuit filed in California in 2018, a group of plaintiffs claimed Apple knew about the quality issues and «fraudulently concealed» them from customers.

As a result, they claimed, laptops were knowingly equipped with keyboards that could result in «characters repeating unexpectedly; letters or characters not appearing; and/or the keys feeling ‘sticky’ or not responding in a consistent manner,» according to the settlement website.

Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment, but in filings, it denied any wrongdoing.

Who is eligible for a payment from Apple?

If you bought a MacBook between 2015 and 2019 and had to replace the keyboard or individual keys, you are eligible for compensation.

If you’re not sure if your model is covered, you can check here.

How much money could I get from the MacBook keyboard settlement?

The amount of the individual payout depends on how many repairs you had to have on your MacBook.

Consumers who had to swap out multiple keyboards within four years of purchase are considered Group 1 Settlement Class Members. They are eligible for an estimated payment of between $300 and $395 and should be receiving an email this month.

You can still qualify for Group 1 so long as you require two or more topcase replacements before Nov. 28, 2024. (The topcase houses the keyboard and other components.)

If you believe you’re part of Group 1 but didn’t receive a notification, you can call the claims administrator at 855-579-1311. (You can also fill out a change of address form, if needed.)

If you had to replace the keyboard once, you’re considered part of the Group 2 Settlement Class and could receive as much as $125. You’ll need to submit a claim form, though.

And if you only had to replace individual keycaps, you’re eligible for up to $50. (You’ll also have to submit a claim form.)

How do I file a claim in the Apple butterfly-keyboard settlement?

You can submit a claim on the settlement website or mail a completed form to:

re: MacBook Keyboard Litigation Settlement
c/o JND Legal Administration
PO Box 91341
Seattle, WA 98111

For all class members, if Apple doesn’t have a record of your repair or purchase, you’ll have to provide proof of purchase or repair.

The deadline to file a claim is 11:59 p.m. PT on March 6, 2023. If you want to object to the settlement — or exclude yourself and retain the right to separate litigation — the deadline to notify the court is Feb. 10, 2023.

When will I get my money?

A final approval hearing is scheduled for March 16, 2023. Any payments would go out after that, but the process could be delayed by appeals.

Technologies

Google’s New AI Features Are Trying to Make Data Entry a Thing of the Past

More Gemini AI features will come to Google Docs, Sheets and Slides.

The latest batch of Google updates to its workspace tools highlights AI’s promise to automate mundanity in the workplace. Google Docs, Slides, Sheets and Drive all have new AI-powered features, the company announced Tuesday. The one thing all these updates have in common? Gemini is using your files, emails and chats to give you relevant information, not random answers gleaned from the web.

These updates come as AI is playing a bigger role in our work lives, for better or worse. Agentic tools like Claude Cowork and coding assistants like Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex are more capable than chatbots and able to handle tasks announced independently. AI tools are also becoming more customized, with Google’s personalized intelligence rolling out across its platforms to help refine AI outputs to things that are relevant and useful for you. Google continues that trend with this new batch of Workspace updates.

New Gemini AI features in Google Workspace apps will cite their sources after each query. For example, if you ask Gemini in Google Docs to fill out an itinerary template, it will pull the information from your email, chats and files. The «sources» tab in the Gemini side panel will show you where it found the information it used, like your flight confirmation email and chats discussing dinner plans. Seeing where Gemini pulled its answers from is also how you’ll double-check Gemini’s work.

The most impressive new features are in Sheets, where AI can fill in the holes in your spreadsheets. You can describe what you want the AI to do with a simple prompt and avoid writing an exact formula. You can click on an empty cell, select the pop-up that says «Drag to fill with Gemini,» then highlight the cells you want Gemini to fill in. That deploys an AI agent to search the web to fill each cell with the necessary information.

For example, if you have a spreadsheet of the contact info for local companies, you can have Gemini search the web to fill in a the location, CEO and other publicly available information of each company. The tool aims to dramatically reduce the time needed for manual data entry. Gemini can also summarize, categorize and create charts with prompts alone.

You can also chat with Gemini in Sheets and have it scour your raw data to make custom reports and charts. No need for pivot tables if they confound you as much as they baffle me. One of the biggest uses of AI at work is helping create presentations.

In Google Slides, you can now tell Gemini in natural language what you want to appear on a slide, and it will create it, matching the style of your existing slides. You can also ask Gemini to edit your slides if you don’t want to waste time painstakingly moving design elements around the slide. The AI should fill the slides with relevant information based on your instructions and the work files it has access to, so you shouldn’t need to replace a bunch of filler text.

If you use Docs, Sheets and Slides through the Workspace account of your company, then you won’t be able to turn off AI features individually. The managing company is in control of AI access for users. Personal users can tweak their settings to limit Gemini. The new features are rolling out in beta now, in English only, to Google AI Ultra and Pro subscribers in the US, as well as some Google Workspace customers who are part of the Gemini Alpha testing program.

For more, check out the new cowork feature in Copilot and how to use Perplexity AI for deep research.

Technologies

Nintendo Switches Lanes, Sues US Over Tariffs

Mario wants his money back.

Tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump were struck down by the Supreme Court last month. Companies that were subjected to those fees, such as FedEx and Dollar General, have since sued the federal government, and Nintendo wants a piece of the action.

Nintendo filed a lawsuit against the federal government in the US Court of International Trade on Friday, as first spotted by Aftermath. The complaint seeks refunds of tariffs Nintendo paid, plus interest, and asks the court to declare the tariffs unlawful and stop the government from collecting them going forward.

«Since February 1, 2025, President Trump has executed the unlawful Executive Orders, imposing tariffs on imports from a vast swath of countries,» Nintendo said in the complaint.

When reached for comment, Nintendo of America confirmed the lawsuit.

«We can confirm that we filed a request. We have nothing else to share on this topic,» Nintendo of America said in an emailed statement on Friday, March 6.

It’s unclear how much Nintendo paid in tariffs, and it did not state an amount in the lawsuit. While the Switch 2 was priced at $450 when it launched last year, and has stayed at that amount, Nintendo did increase the price of the original Switch and accessories for both consoles. Microsoft and Sony also increased the prices of their hardware and accessories last year due to tariffs.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Feb. 20, the Supreme Court ruled by a vote of 6 to 3 that the sweeping tariffs Trump instituted last year exceeded his executive powers. Following the ruling, on the same day, Trump announced a new set of tariffs of 10% on imported goods that would last for 150 days, starting Feb. 24.

The decision on what to do with the collected tariffs — a reported $166 billion — has been left to the US Court of International Trade. Judge Richard Eaton told the US Customs and Border Protection on Wednesday, March 4, to refund the importers that were forced to pay tariffs, which is more than 330,000. On Friday, the CBP said it couldn’t easily issue tariff refunds because its system requires duties to be recalculated and refunds processed entry by entry. This process would involve tens of millions of transactions. The agency said it’s updating its systems and could start providing refunds by late April.