My MacBook Pro keyboard broke so Apple gave me a new laptop for free…sort of
Here’s how you can do it too but only if you qualify…
I have a 2016 MacBook Pro 13 inch and have done ever since they came out. Not only was this my first introduction into the world of Apple computers but it was also my first keyboard issue experience.
As you may well know, the first generation of the MacBook Pro with a touch bar suffered from keyboard issues. It came with Apple’s butterfly keyboard which was meant to be thin and streamlined but turned out to be a right pain in the butt for many of those people who used it.
I happened to be one of those people. Now, I am actually a fan of the butterfly keyboard which is a very controversial statement but I like the way it feels but what I don’t like is when it fails on me. The keyboard started failing on me just as I was really getting into the groove of writing about a year ago.
The problem was with certain keys sticking such as the enter key, backspace, tab, shift and an array of letters spread across the keyboard. This was a real pain and resulted in many hours of frustration as the keyboard would often put the same letter 10 times. I even resorted to an external keyboard for a bit which meant typing out and about was a hassle.
So, I did some research and found out that I wasn’t the only one who was experiencing this issue. And to my delight, Apple offered a keyboard replacement programme for my laptop which was more than ideal.
So, I booked an Apple ‘Genius Bar’ appointment and got on the next train to Leeds to get this problem fixed. I arrived and they were very friendly and had obviously had people complain before about these dodgy keys. So, I showed them the problem and they were more than happy to get it sent off for me which was perfect.
It took around five days I think in total which was excellent and I went back into Leeds to pick it back up. When I got it back it turns out Apple had pretty much just given me a whole new laptop for free.
The internals were still the same, and it was my laptop but they had made some changes. They gave me a new display, a new metal case, top and bottom, a new battery, new trackpad and a brand new keyboard which had been updated to the 2019 version. This keyboard works much better than the old one and even has some changes to the backspace key and option key.
The total for this repair job came to £359.83 and I wasn’t charged a penny. This was great news as not only was I low on money but I had also just bought a Pret lunch which really meant I had no money to spare.
I am using that keyboard exactly a year on to type this article on and it handles it no problem which is excellent news. I think the only downfall of the whole experience was the sweaty train journey back to York which had no A/C, was full of drunk Yorkshire men and stank of sweat. Other than that, it was a good experience and means I don’t need to buy a new laptop just yet.
If you think you qualify for this and are having keyboard troubles on your MacBook between 2016 and 2019 then click here to check out Apple’s repair programme.
