Public Petition Seeks Apple MacBook Pro Recall Over Keyboard Problems

Disgruntled customers complaining about the MacBook Pro keyboard have launched an online petition, calling on Apple to recall the device.

Apple replaced its old "scissor" keyboard design with a "butterfly" mechanism a few years ago, designed to better distribute the pressure from typing. The butterfly keyboards are ultra-slim, roughly 40 percent thinner than the previous MacBook keyboard models.

MacBook Pro Keyboard Issues

On the downside, it seems that the sleek butterfly keyboard are also highly sensitive, and it can stop working if the smallest speck of dust gets underneath a key. Since the keyboard is so thin, the keys have little room to move, so dust does more damage than on other keyboards.

While the design looks great, it also makes the keyboard more likely to get stuck, and MacBook Pro customers have had enough. A public petition launched on Change.org now demands that Apple recalls each and every MacBook Pro released since 2016. 

Petition For MacBook Pro Recall

"Every one of Apple's current-gen MacBook Pro models, 13" and 15", is sold with a keyboard that can become defective at any moment due to a design failure," states the petition. "The problems are widespread, consistent, and infuriating."

Matthew Taylor, who launched the petition, is calling on Apple to release MacBook Pro models from late 2016 onward, and replace their defective keyboards with new ones, redesigned to eliminate these issues. Taylor has been a long-time Apple fan, using Macs since 1981 and publishing more than 50 books exclusively written on Apple computers.

Although he's been using Macs for more than three and a half decades, Taylor only started having issues in late 2016, when he bought a MacBook Pro with a new butterfly keyboard.

Taylor started having issues with the L key less than a year after purchasing the MacBook Pro, so he had it replaced at an Apple Store Genius Bar only to see it fail again in a month, he tells Cult of Mac. In early 2018, the Shift key also started having issues.

Judging by the success of this petition, it seems that many other MacBook Pro users have been facing similar issues. At the time of writing, the petition already has 4,653 signatures and it's rapidly getting more supporters.

Apple's Solution To MacBook Keyboard Issues

These issues affect the MacBook models from 2015 or newer, and the MacBook Pro models from 2016 or newer, all of which feature a butterfly keyboard. With user complaints piling up that the keys are getting stuck or don't work properly after a while, Apple proposed a potential workaround for users to fix the issue.

More specifically, the company suggested that users should try to remove the speck of dust o dirt using compressed air. Apple detailed the procedure on its website, but the trick must not work for everyone since complaints keep piling up.

Recalling all MacBooks with a butterfly keyboard would be a huge hassle for Apple, but Taylor highlights that a keyboard redesign is paramount. Just replacing stuck keyboards with new ones that are exactly the same would not fix the underlying issue, so Apple has to address the design, he points out.

Apple has yet to comment on the matter, but it will be interesting to see what course of action it chooses after this petition. Have you had any issues with your MacBook butterfly keyboard? Drop by our comments section below and tell us about your experience.