Choosing an excellent keyboard for your Mac

Let’s face it, Apple produces some great products, but there are two things the past years that they aren’t that good at. They can’t make usable mouses, and the keyboard is less than stellar. The laptop keyboards are ok as far as laptop keyboards go, but after you’ve tried a “REAL” keyboard, you will become a keyboard snob. Thankfully Apple stopped using proprietary connectors many years back, so you can buy any mouse for PC and use that instead. Even USB keyboards made for PC works after changing a setting, by switching the alt-command keys. But you won’t get all the unique keys for controlling iTunes, volume and other settings. The funny thing is, that if you want to find a good keyboard, you see the most extensive selection of keyboards with good, tactile and clicky response among all the PC gamer keyboards. Most of them look horrible though.

I’ve been working with computers since 1979 and here’s my list of the best keyboards ever produced. And I’ll try to give some tips on getting your hands on a tremendous clicky keyboard.

Model M keyboard

I always preferred Macintosh over a PC. But back in 1982 when the first IBM PC came, there was one thing I was impressed with, and that was the keyboard called Model M. The used a technique called buckling spring. They were sturdily built, made a lot of noise, but by god you could write fast on those things! Lexmark sold the manufacturing equipment to some of their employees who started Unicomp who still produces the keyboard. They are pretty expensive but virtually unbreakable. Now you can get modern USB versions and models made explicitly for Linux and Mac computers.

Unicomp Classic Keyboard

Unicomp Buckling Spring Keyboard photo

Here you can get a modern version of the classic mechanical Buckling Spring keyboard. They have a lot of different models to choose from. There are various keyboard layouts and models. A fantastical keyboard.

Apple Extended Keyboard

The beige Apple Extended Keyboard with its coiled ADB cable, full function row and numeric keypad

The best keyboard from Apple that comes close to the feel and speed of the IBM Model M was Apple Extended Keyboard. They had Alps keys and had a great feel to them. They were only produced for three years when the Macintosh II was introduced. I had a bunch of them that I threw away, something I regret now. There are converters from Apples Proprietary ADB connectors to USB available. So you can still use them on a modern computer.

Das Keyboard Model S Professional For Mac

The all-black Das Keyboard Model S, full size with unlabelled keycaps and three blue indicator LEDs

The Das Keyboard is expensive and markets itself to be comparable to the Model M in the way it feels. But they don’t use the Buckling spring keys (which Unicomp owns the patent for.) So they use keys from a manufacturer called Cherrycorp. The Cherry MX keys are high quality, that’s available in four different versions. Black, Blue, Red, and Brown. The keys are rated for 50 million presses, so they should last a long time. I’ll give you the lowdown on the difference later on. Many keyboards that are marketed as gaming keyboards use Cherrycorp MX keys. For gamers, tactile feel is essential, but also the number of keys that can be pressed at the same time. Something that could help a fast typist to get better speed when writing. There’s a very comprehensive article describing the difference between the Cherry Keys that you can read here. The one to go for as a writer is Cherry MX Blue, a tactile & clicky switch.

 

TactilePro

The white Matias Tactile Pro seen at an angle, styled after the old Apple keyboards with Mac command and option keys

Here’s a copy of the old Apple extended keyboard, upgraded with USB hub with three USB 2.0 connectors. Look nice, especially the white version. There is a US, U.K., German and Japanese version. No luck with a Swedish version, but I could live with the US one. I’ll try to find any resellers and give it a go.

Here’s the sales pitch from the maker of the keyboard, Matias.

“The best keyboard Apple ever made” rises again. The Matias Tactile Pro Keyboard is built from the same premium keyswitch technology that Apple used in its original Apple Extended Keyboard, widely viewed as the best keyboard Apple ever made.

Legendary Feel & Speed of Alps mechanical keyswitches. Mac users who crave the feel of Apple’s legendary Extended and Extended II keyboards will love the Tactile Pro. Unlike other keyboards made today, each key is built on an individual Alps Mechanical Switch. They feel better, and you’ll type faster.

 

Noise

The main drawback when it comes to this type of keyboard is the noise. They make a lot of racket. Forget typing in the same room as someone trying to sleep. Or even easily irritated co-workers. But the feeling of these keys is second to none.

I’m going to order a Unicomp keyboard, but meanwhile, I settled for a gaming keyboard called Razor Blackwidow, which was the least ugly one I could find with Cherry MX Blue. Update: I’ve ordered a new keyboard, because I didn’t like the key arrangement on the Razor Blackwidow. So I gave it to my game crazy son, who love it. I’m about to get a shipment of a new Cherry MX Blue-based keyboard tomorrow.

Unicomp doesn’t make a Mac-compatible keyboard with Swedish keyboard layout, so I’ll have to settle for a US model when I eventually get one.