geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboard Keycaps => Topic started by: rhubarbpi on Mon, 06 July 2020, 15:49:06
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(https://macgui.com/upload/gallery/f_0/user_2/regular/upload_428.jpg)
(generic pic of them from internet - do not have geekhack attached to mobile yet! lol)
I gotta say - after getting the Apple IIgs / Alps Orange board last week, I cannot get over how badass these stepped PBT dye subs are.
Absolutely massive 2mm + thickness, the feeling as you jam on them are pretty magnificent.
Why did no other maker after ever attempt this keycap style?
I can tell you If I get another Alps board I would try to get replacements via an Apple IIc donor board to outfit them.
That being said I know the oblique Apple font is kind of divisive, myself I don't have issues with it at all.
:thumb:
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Those are pretty great keycaps. They remind me of modern chiclet keys, but sculpted. My middle school had several IIGS computers with those keyboards, and I bought one years later to use an old Mac. Unfortunately it's pretty yellowed and has a school district's name melted into the top case.
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Yeah, I absolutely love these caps - they feel wonderful, nice and solid and thocky. Unfortunately, bit of an arse to use them with almost anything else due to Apple rotating all the switches 90° in the top row. Apple IIc caps are your only option really, but they are totally flat profile, which equally sucks
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They have me spoiled for real!
I TRIED going back to my other boards today and within minutes I was reconnecting the Apple IIgs lol.
That being said I have an AEK coming in Monday and of course will have to give it a look over.
They have equally thick non stepped PBTs and I'm sure they will please.
Still, the charms of this IIgs are many. Such a unique board, plus I can't get over the full size yet compact form factor (Basically a 75).
I wish 65-75% keyboard makers would look for inspiration in this design!
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I wasn't the biggest fan of the Apple II, as I wasn't exposed to them much in daily life, but the keyboards were excellent.
Someone should bring those keycaps back, but the profile may be copyrighted or something.
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I wasn't the biggest fan of the Apple II, as I wasn't exposed to them much in daily life, but the keyboards were excellent.
Someone should bring those keycaps back, but the profile may be copyrighted or something.
Before I got the IIgs, I was skeptical how the caps would feel even though I thought they looked super awesome.
They ended up *feeling* just as awesome. Your fingers tend to naturally situate themselves in the small spherical concave of each cap & the PBT texture itself is grippy yet smooth.
Perhaps they are an Apple copyright & with many other manufacturers moving away from stepped caps in general, they just didn't follow it up. I could also see the argument on how well they would really translate on an AEK size board. Maybe the smaller form factor here suits them extremely well!
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This needs to revived... and made.
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The contouring of these keyboard rows is a bit special also. The keycaps on the top row are so high that the switches are rotated 90° because the keys would have wobbled too much otherwise.
Later mechanical keyboards from Apple (ASK, AEK/II) have a different keycap design that is still high in the top rows, but not as high. The numeric key row does not have rotated switches but the function key row has.
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These are pretty close: https://www.reddit.com/r/olkb/comments/1nncckz/ad_ergomech_store_new_products_corne_aluminum/#lightbox
Ergomech will be selling them.
"LAK profile" search returns a lot of overseas options. Blanks seem to be pricey, if one were looking to do their own dye-sub.