By now, you’ve probably caught at least a glimpse of the pictures over at Engadget that purport to show Apple’s new desktop keyboard. Is this the real deal? We don’t know, but the shots are pretty darn convincing. We’ve noticed a few interesting details about the unit’s construction.
Obviously, it looks a great deal like a MacBook keyboard, in terms of its mechanism. This makes it a lot smaller than Apple’s previous desktop keyboards. While I’m a big fan of the MacBook keyboard, there’s definitely a sort of psychological barrier to overcome when moving that to the desktop. We’re willing to put up with shortcomings on laptops precisely because they don’t afford the amount of space that a desktop does. Apple tried to shrink down their keyboard once before (with the original iMac and PowerMac G3); I owned one for years, and while I liked the keyboard’s feel, its layout and size were extremely inconvenient (at least Apple has gone for a full-size keyboard on this one). As for aesthetics, the aluminum finish would seem to mesh with much of Apple’s current product line, as well as the rumors of an aluminum iMac.
Then there’s the rearrangement of the function keys. If the pictures are to be believed, Apple has moved Expose and Dashboard to the F3 and F4 keys (they currently reside at F9 and F12). Meanwhile, mute, volume down, and volume up move to F10, F11, and F12. So what about Expose’s other two functions, which are currently mapped to F10 and F11? If I want to reassign the keys, does that mean I just have to ignore those markings? That’s a little irritating.
They’ve also added play/pause, backward, and forward keys; traditionally the kind of functionality Apple has eschewed building into its keyboards. A Fn key has been dropped in the space where the “Insert” “Help” key lives—though it’s never really been used by OS X. And the eject key moves from the far right (above the numeric keypad) to above the delete/backspace key.
They’ve also dropped the hollow Apple icon from the command key, labeling it with “command” instead. Some have applauded this mood, but I’ll shed a tear for nostalgia’s sake. Profile shots also show the USB hub ports moved to the sides of the keyboard.
My conclusion? Either it’s a really really well-constructed fake, or it’s the genuine Kirk, Spock, and McCoy rolled into one. What think you, readers? An improvement over Apple’s current keyboards, or a step back?
I so hope this is real. It looks amazing! I can't wait for the Blue Tooth version!
In the portables the fn key shifts between the macro keys for brightness, volume, etc. and the actual function keys and also between alphabetic keys and the embedded numeric keypad. It's possible the shift and fn keys are interpreted either in the keyboard or at the driver level. In any case, it is necessary if you want to overload the function keys.
@Fletcher: Sorry, the original was badly phrased and partially incorrect. I meant to say that the "Insert" key was rarely used in OS X, but that's a moot point, since Apple's replaced it with a "Help" key that summons the Help application.
I just bought a desktop keyboard to go with my MBP...because ALL laptop keyboards are nasty to type on. If this is the real thing it is way too thin to have a nice responsive feel and Apple have really missed the game.
We just have to learn to 'trust' this keyboard...
No way. They can't be putting an important -- and potentially annoyance-causing -- key near the Delete key. How many times have we all accidentally hit a key in close proximity to Delete? Putting the Eject key near the Delete key is like putting a sharp needle near the eraser end of a pencil.
What's really weird is how they arranged the top keys: why in the world would we want F16, F17, F18, and F19 keys if that means the volume control has to take over other F-keys? The volume control is fine where it is, and they could've put their play/pause and back/forward buttons in the three-key space between the letters and the num. keypad (currently occupied by F14, F15 and F16). This is kind of a WTF moment for me. Other than that, it sure looks slick, though the brush metal is kind of yellow in Engadget's photos.
Be nice if you could pop the caps off of the assigned function keys and move them where you want them and then remap it. Or something.
Indeed, I really hope that this is the genuine article. I absolutely adore the keyboard on my MacBook Pro and would use it to type on normally at work if it wasn't that the keyboard doesn't have a numeric keypad and that I have the whole thing elevated on a Griffin iCurve. If they produce a Bluetooth version then I'll order as soon as possible.
I think my only concern is the apparent lack of a wristpad, although this can be rectified with a 3rd party product.
This definitely seems fake to me, because there is too much rearrangement. Why change eject? is easy to spot when you need it and out of the way so you don't accidentally hit it. Dashboard to F4? There's no good reason for that. Unless they want to force tiger users to learn a new trick. Same goes for Expose and the Volume keys.
As for the little Apple on the control key. A little extra branding never hurt and I don't think apple will ever loose it. It would be especially disappointing for someone like me, because believe it or not, I take pride in owning an Apple and seeing that logo every time I look at the keyboard makes me feel special.
So that's what's I gots to says! Obviously, I could be totally wrong and feel kinda dumb, but why else would I need an alias?
The design is stunning. I was rather hoping it would lay flat on the table instead of tilted up with those USB ports. Then it would REALLY feel like a laptop keyboard (which I prefer)
I think it is a fake, it doesn't follow Apples consistent standards. The main tip off is the lack of consistency with the justification and alignment. If you look at a true apple keyboard they never vertically align text centered, they always bottom justify unless there is two labels, then they top and bottom justify. Look at the Home, Delete and Clear keys compared to all the other keys. Especially the Clear key compared to the Enter key on the same number pad. Very inconsistent. Also the close up pictures look allot more like silver painted plastic than the real aluminum Apple would use to match the real aluminum on the iMac. Overall I would guess that this is a product someone is hoping to ship out of Taiwan and this is drumming up sales.
It looks real, except... how often do we see white plastic on brushed aluminum coming from Apple?
Kind of sad to lose the apple logo from the command key, but maybe this will be the end of people calling it the "open apple" key. I guess considering shift, function, control, and option are all spelled rather than symbols, it's more consistent to spell it...
I'll miss the Apple logo if it is real. However, I don't see how it would be comfortable. I mean it is so thin, it looks like your wrist would have to touch the table just to type.
@Kotoki-chan: " it looks like your wrist would have to touch the table just to type."
If that's what you're worried about, then you're an RSI case waiting to happen.
@fill the trash: "because ALL laptop keyboards are nasty to type on."
flatter keyboards with less vertical travel are generally BETTER ergonomically. a riser (traditional) keyboard forces you to hyperextend your wrists, which is bad.
@ dood:
don't be so quick to get your panties in a bunch, Apple recently had an update that requires you to hold down the eject key for half a second before it will trigger the disc ejection on its laptop computers, and will likely do the same for this keyboard.
so there : P
I can tell you all it is fake, someone with Photoshop on a PC has designed it.
They don't know what key should do on a Mac so they copyed a PC keyboard, if it was real the pic files wouldn't have had any Photoshop sig in them.
Apple would have to be brain dead to do this key configuration, saying they no longer support Mac and want to support Windows, so it is fake as Apple will allways support Mac OS X not Windows
if that's the real deal, IT'S SO UGLY! i hope it's a fake.
I always thought good notebook keyboards were easier to type on, i.e. IBM Thinkpads.
ok, I know it's a couple days later, but I'm still wondering: is the typo in teh headline intentional?
@mark
lol no man thats some interweb dorkspeak. started out as a typo, now used by PC gamer forum crawlers to indicate an items specialness whenever something is "bringing" something or when it has reached an elite ('L337" as in 'lite) status.
it alot like lolcats and their words.
@ wes harden
I'm not sure about you, but sometimes I hold the delete key down.. seems like it would be easy to have the same problem occur either way.
I hope this layout is a joke, even if the keyboard isn't...
having photoshop in the EXIF data does not automatically mean that the images were faked.
dont be so dense guys.
photoshop has cropping and layout tools, not to mention color correction and whatnot. im sure this person only wanted to make sure the keyboard looked its best for its internet debut.
@mark- ya ya i know but if i do that by the time i realize im hitting both the eject button and delete button i would have already corrected my finger placement based on feeling the crevice between the keys. or in a different scenario, if i miss the delete key altogether and nothing is deleting then obviously ive hit the wrong button.
the point is, the delay for the eject button is good enough to stop unintentional strokes. that cannot be argued. besides i rarely ever miss the delete key anymore.
I think it's fake. I don't think apple would move so many keys around, with no clear reasons. The pictures are semi-convincing, but the ideas behind why they would make the changes aren't.
I posted this to the Usenet group where I first became aware of the pix.
I don't buy it. I don't buy it because the low profile keys will
gratuitously turn off a lot of people. I don't buy it because there are
a number of subtle and fairly pointless deviations from the keyboard
designs Apple has been using for 20+ years. I don't believe it because
frankly, it's ugly (although some of that might be attributable to it
being a prototype).
Some odd "changes" noted for point 2:
1. The icon on the forward delete key deviates from what it's been since
that key debuted on the Mac.
2. Not sure what that is to the left of the 'home' key. It doesn't say
'help'. It _looks_ like it might say 'fn' but a key to activate
function key behavior of the function keys on a desktop keyboard is frankly stupid.
3. The Command key has a text label (which is not inherently a problem)
but
3a. The Option key doesn't have an icon. I'd think if after almost 24 years if
they decide to label the cloverleaf and get rid of the apple that they'd
also put the funky 'option' glyph that shows up in menus on that key.
4. Label placement is inconsistent. Both compared to existing/prior
designs and within itself.
5. Moving the media control keys to share space with function keys that
have a default behavior in a stock OS X install while introducing
higher-numbered function keys that no extant program expects to find and
which don't have overloaded features is brain-dead.
Keyboard-Schmeboard! Where's the new Intel chips? quad-architecture? HMDI port?
larger hard drive (minimum 200GB)...keyboards? Nice, but this is the 21st Century and we are into High Def everything and the Macs have to get up to speed, or be left behind.
Has it occured to anyone that perhaps this is but one version of a few that Apple constructed for development and testing? Maybe this is the real deal, but was never intended as a final version to be released.
It looks sleek, but implimentation is going to suck. I doubt many people will get used to using the thin keyboard. Bad move on Apple's part. Leave design elements like that as concepts and not reality. Apple.. bad.