Chosen Solution
My spacebar is sticking and I need to pull it up and clean out. does anyone know how to do this with the new butterfly mechanism? Spacebar is different from rest of the keys and doesn’t just snap back into place.
Sorry, only just came to this question. All these space bars have clips on the top edge, and slide guides on the bottom. it’ll be 4 on top, 4 on bottom, so they are stiffer to get off. But if you start on the left or right side of the key with a thin bit of plastic, making sure to get between the keycap and the scissor clip (not under it), roll it around the top corner and slide it along the top edge, you should feel the lips pop off as you move along. You’ll need to come out and go back in after each clip pops off. but once the first one pops, you can get your nail under the corner you just passed to hold it up.
The leading expert in the world on Apple keyboards is Jon Ridley @thebookyard Jon is a regular contributor to this site and this will notify him you need help. Or you can go directly to them and look it up: http://www.thebookyard.com UPDATE 10/2019 Take to Apple as it is now covered by Apple Keyboard Service Program for MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro https://support.apple.com/keyboard-servi…
The spacebar on my Macbook was sticking so stupidly I just slip a knife under it and popped it off. The part of the Macbook that the spacebar clips onto also came off. Then it was impossible to replace them. One or two of the butterfly clips had broken. I don’t know how. I know I was stupid to remove the spacebar but Apple now refuse to repair the Macbook under warranty and the quote for repair is about £350. I feel this is unfair because there was definitely a problem with the spacebar before I removed it (I wouldn’t be likely to just remove it for no reason) and noone knows how the butterfly clips got broken. They say it was accidental damage but noone knows. Can anyone suggest either (a) how I might replace the space bar and/or (b) how I might persuade Apple to repair it under warranty.
Finally got my problem fixed by apple. Kindly they did it under warranty too. Then another key stuck. Eventually they replaced the whole logic board. My advice is definitely don’t remove your own spacebar because they’re impossible to get back on.
I know this is marked as answered, but i thought i’d reference this, as we’ve had a lot of customers coming to us asking for information on how these keycaps work and fit. Here is a guide we’ve made on how to replace the keycaps on the butterfly clip type ranges. (this includes the 12" MacBook ranges as well, despite them having an older butterfly clip design) https://thebookyard.wordpress.com/2018/0…
Here is a removal and replacement video! https://youtu.be/nhMyJwhCJ0M
heres a disassembly video, follow this but dont remove the screen, remove the battery and logic board and yo should see the keyboard under there, then you will need to remove the screws that hold the keyboard down, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R05RkiPb…
A little late to this, but I found that VERY slightly expanding the opening for the 4 bottom hooks made this super easy. It opens very easily , slight touch of a fingernail did it for me. Hope this helps !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LotkV3ui…
I had Googled the heck out of this with the space bar specifically and have had to (very carefully clean mine a second time) and although I used extreme caution and was very slow and mindful of the fact that the butterfly keys can break quite easily, I now have a crooked-works-5% of the time- space bar. It’s so sad because I LOVE this keyboard.
I have a problem with the up arrow on the same kind of keyboard. At first, it was just a little wobbly. Now it has popped off twice. It still works, but I hate my key popping off while I’m playing a game.
Hello, I’m probably a bit late here but hopefully this complete guide on removing/installing all types of keycaps will help people in the future. The guide includes the spacebar too: How To Replace Key Caps And Butterfly Clips On The MacBook Pro (2016 – 2018)
