Butterflies In Apple's Stomach? Judge Allows Macbook Owners To File Class Action Lawsuit

Certain buyers of MacBooks made by Apple Inc AAPL between 2015 and 2019, equipped with so-called “butterfly keyboards”, would be able to continue their lawsuit against the tech giant, which has been given class-action status.

What Happened: The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court in California, covers those who purchased the MacBooks with butterfly keyboard in New York, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Washington, and Michigan. 

The keyboard is named after the stainless steel switch under the keycap, which resembles butterfly wings. The keyboards enabled low-travel of keys.

The plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit, first noted on the Verge, alleged that “the low-travel design of the butterfly mechanism makes the keys prone to fail when minute amounts of dust or debris enter the sensitive area beneath the switch.”

The class-action suit covers customers who bought a MacBook between 2015 and 2017, Macbook Pro between 2016 and 2019, or a MacBook Air between 2018 and 2019.

See also: How To Buy Apple Stock

Why It Matters: The plaintiffs allege that Apple knew for years that its butterfly switches were defective and refer to an Apple executive who wrote pointing to the keyboard, “[n]o matter how much lipstick you try to put on this pig . . . it’s still ugly.”

The butterfly keyboard is no longer in use in any Mac product in the current lineup of Apple computers. The allegedly defective keyboard was discontinued in 2019.

The Tim Cook-led company tried to get the lawsuit dismissed in 2019 but failed to do so. The lawsuit was first filed in 2018,  9to5Mac reported.

Cook is likely to testify in another trial related to the company’s App Store policies in a trial involving “Fortnite” maker Epic Games.

Last year, the Cupertino, California-based tech giant settled a $500 million lawsuit over claims that it slowed down older models of iPhones purposely.

Price Action: Apple shares closed nearly 2.8% higher at $123.39 on Monday and fell 0.17% in the after-hours trading.

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