It also recently stopped replacing an entire iPhone when only the rear glass is broken.Apple has also improved its iPhone service program in recent years, offering in-store glass replacements rather than swapping out iPhones.Apple’s newer iPhone designs result in fewer warranty claims for broken Home buttons, which often required replacing the entire device.So, there could be many other factors contributing to this reduction in expenses. To be fair, Apple did report $4.4 billion in warranty expenses in 2015, which would have been before the first butterfly keyboard came along, so it’s hard to draw any firm conclusions from this, particularly since Apple doesn’t provide a breakdown of its warranty expenses. In 2019, that dipped slightly, to $3.8 billion, however the 20 numbers fell significantly to $2.9 billion and $2.6 billion, respectively. How Much Did the Failure-Prone Butterfly Keyboard Cost Apple?įrom 2016 to 2018, which was the height of the butterfly keyboard era, Apple reportedly spent over $4 billion per year in warranty-related expenses. Numbers from Apple’s latest Form 10-K financial report uncovered by MacRumors show a significant dip in Apple’s warranty-related expenses in the years following the elimination of the butterfly keyboard from its MacBooks, strongly suggesting Apple was losing over a billion dollars each year by sticking with that keyboard design. Not to mention the class-action lawsuit that Apple is still facing over the issue. New information now suggests that increasing profits was likely the farthest thing from Apple’s mind, as it continued to stubbornly stick to its butterfly keyboard design despite the skyrocketing cost of providing warranty repairs and service programs from thousands of failing keyboards. Instead, they were just likely way too focused on design at the expense of functionality. However, it’s quite likely that thought never even entered the minds of Apple’s designers, engineers, and executives. More cynical folks often suggested that the switch to USB-C was little more than a money grab by Apple - an opportunity to sell adapters and dongles at higher profit margins.
#Macbook air keyboard replacement cost pro#
It was the first step in Apple’s obsession with slimming down the MacBooks as much as possible, which also arguably led to other controversial decisions like the removal of the MagSafe connector and many other useful ports in favour of the smaller USB-C standard.Įven though USB-C ports were versatile enough to be used for just about everything that the prior single-purpose ports offered, they required pro users to carry around a bagful of dongles to guarantee connectivity. Apple decided to stick in around 40 small screws.The butterfly keyboard may have signalled everything that was wrong with the MacBook era of the last five years. The most time-consuming part is removing and putting in the new keyboard. Patience – This process will take around 3-4 hours so you need to have some patience. We did this on our 11 inches mid-2012 MacBook Air model A1465, but it will work on A1466, A1369, and A1370 as well. This process applies to all MacBook Air models (2011 – 2015) and sizes (11 inches & 13 inches). We are not responsible if your MacBook Air doesn’t boot after this process.
#Macbook air keyboard replacement cost how to#
How to Show Battery Percentage on macOS Monterey How to Replace MacBook Air Keyboard For Less Than $30 Warning
Let’s jump into how to replace the MacBook Air keyboard replacement cost is less than $30. The total cost of repair – $30 and three hours, I already had the screwdrivers needed and just had to order the keyboard with backlight. My brain told me, “walkabout bro, it’s time for a DIY” and I obliged. The cost of repair quoted by Apple is around $280. They would have to remove the battery, speakers, solid-state drive, main logic board, fan, etc, and replace the top case. By top case, they meant the metal shell along with the keyboard. They said the metal hooks which hold the key are bent, and they will have to change the top case. I arrived hoping they would just have to pop in a new key, but nada. A few days later it popped out again, so I made an appointment with the Genius Bar. How to Replace MacBook Air Keyboard: The I (signifying Irony of Life :P) key on my mid-2012 MacBook Air-popped out the other day, I just pushed it back in place and continued working.