Mac keyboard options

[wordfool]

Just started a job at a Mac-only company so am looking for an alternative to the gad-awful aluminum keyboards that Apple makes, but am curious how the Filcos etc. of the world play with Macs. I am used to using a Filco brown, but also have a Topre Realforce squirreled away.... will either of these work with a mac?

I know there is one Mac-specific mechanical switch kb out there -- the matias tactile pro -- but from watching youtube vids I figured those alps switches are gonna be far too noisy for the office. How much louder are they in real life compared to the cherry browns on the filco?

I would prefer a mac-specific board just for the special keys, but if there is no other option I will use a PC keyboard

[iindigo]

Filcos work with Macs fine if I'm not mistaken. Not sure about Realforces.

While not Mac-specific, WASD Keyboards lets you order Command keycaps to replace the Windows keys on your Filco or on one of their own keyboards. Das Keyboard also sells command and option keycaps that will work with Filco/Das/other costar models. After you change the keycaps, you just need to swap the positions of Command and Option/Alt in System Preferences.



If you're into buckling springs, Unicomp offers a variant of the Spacesaver that has Command, Exposé, and media playback keys.

[whiskerBox]

Im using a Filco on a Mac no problem. Windows keys = Command Keys.

[daerid]

Im using a Filco on a Mac no problem. Windows keys = Command Keys.

Ditto... although I've switched the locations of the alt and windows key caps, in addition to swapping them in Sys Prefs

[pitashen]

DSI modular mac keyboard I use. Not very popular among geekhackers though. It's not perfect, but its got some pluses that I wish other mech boards could have.
 
Boards like Topre and Filco will def. work with mac. The only possible annoyance (if you consider it to be) is the context menu key thats stuck in between right ctrl and right alt that's basically useless to mac.

[orytek]

The Das Silent is a good keyboard for Mac as well as the original Apple Extended II which you can get used at Ebay for about 20-30 dollars, but you will also need the iMate adb adapter for your
usb port.
They both work great in Lion and the iMate has been selling cheaper than usual lately at Ebay. The alps switches on the Apple keyboard are dampered so not as loud as most alp switches.

[Gerk]

Ditto... although I've switched the locations of the alt and windows key caps, in addition to swapping them in Sys Prefs

^^ this. Just about any USB keyboard will be fine and it only take a minute to swap the modifier keys in the system prefs so that command and option are in the usual places (for Mac).

I've used a Leopold Tenkeyless, a Matias Tactile Pro 3, a Das Professional silent, a Kinesis and another noname alps based board on my Mac without issues.

[theferenc]

I vote a Matias, but with switches from a Focus. Or, if the noise is an issue, the switches from an AEKII. Those are pretty near silent.

That said, if you have a realforce you can connect to it, it's pretty damn hard to go wrong with that. I love me some Topres.

Basically, anything but the Noppoo (and possibly other, similar NKRO via USB keyboards) should work fine on the Mac.

[shrap]

It's usually plug and play. The Windows key that you never use turns into the Apple key that you always use.

[wordfool]

Thanks all..... nice for this Mac noob to know all his keyboards will work

[fusillijerry]

Filcos work with Macs fine if I'm not mistaken. Not sure about Realforces.

While not Mac-specific, WASD Keyboards lets you order Command keycaps to replace the Windows keys on your Filco or on one of their own keyboards. Das Keyboard also sells command and option keycaps that will work with Filco/Das/other costar models. After you change the keycaps, you just need to swap the positions of Command and Option/Alt in System Preferences.

If you're into buckling springs, Unicomp offers a variant of the Spacesaver that has Command, Exposé, and media playback keys.

Realforce works on the Macintosh out of the box, but follow the same steps as described for the Filco for swapping command and opt/alt.

[HeavyArms]

I too am using a flico with my mac and have had zero issues.

[whiskerBox]

I understand why people would switch the alt & windows key, but for me and anyone that uses a virtual machine to run other OS its kinda redundant so think about that as well if you run windows on your mac as well.

[iindigo]

I run VMs fairly regularly and even boot into Windows on occasion, but I rarely if ever use the meta and alt keys when using Windows either way. I suspect that this is a case for a lot of those with OS X as their primary operating system.

[whiskerBox]

I run VMs fairly regularly and even boot into Windows on occasion, but I rarely if ever use the meta and alt keys when using Windows either way. I suspect that this is a case for a lot of those with OS X as their primary operating system.

Yes that is so true. I feel as if windows stole the idea of a windows key from apple, but I say this as a thought not belief so no back lash people

[LOUDTYPINGLOL]

Does anyone use the Noppoo Choc Mini on a mac?

[keyboardlover]

Welcome to Geekhack. Nope, they don't work on Geekhack.

I think your username has caps lock turned on.

[keyboardlover]

Welcome to Geekhack. Nope, they don't work on Macs.

I think your username has caps lock turned on.

[LOUDTYPINGLOL]

Welcome to Geekhack. Nope, they don't work on Geekhack.

I think your username has caps lock turned on.

THANKS BUDDY!
So they do work on the rest of the internet then..? :/

Someone proposed a hack with ps/2 to usb converters and back, here:

I wanna know if anyone is doing this..

[keyboardlover]

Haha whoops I meant to say "they don't work on Macs".

Not sure if anyone hacked a noppoo to work on a Mac.

[LOUDTYPINGLOL]

Forgive my ignorance, but what are Noppoos clones of?

[LOUDTYPINGLOL]

Haha whoops I meant to say "they don't work on Macs".

Not sure if anyone hacked a noppoo to work on a Mac.

http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?14300-Noppoo-mac-driver (2nd to last post)

Several of the Cherry Corps shrunken layout keyboards.

THIS IS AN EXCITED CHERRY CORP NATIONAL SALESMAN!!!!
[video=youtube;ycWLZ4RKjmU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycWLZ4RKjmU[/video]

lol

Allright, so I just need a keyboard that works on a Mac and is suited for brogramming in Vim and I don't wanna break the bank. This Noppoo Choc mini seems ideal, I like the compactness of and it'd be awesome if those multimedia keys would work on a Mac...
So I could just say **** it lets buy it, and we'll hack our way to those things. But if you guys say there are alternatives that work out of the box, I would love to hear em. THANKS!

[whiskerBox]

http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?14300-Noppoo-mac-driver  brogramming

lol. sorry

[LOUDTYPINGLOL]

lol. sorry

 
??

[pitashen]

Forgive my ignorance, but what are Noppoos clones of?

ripster simply likes to call any cherry switch board designed in Asia but outside Japan to be clones (of Filco boards). Don't take it too seriously.

[ashort]

Wondering about the feasibilty of a Filco as a Mac keyboard.  What about the keys that only Apple makes almost indispensable on the keyboard:  Eject, Vol+, Vol-, Mute.  

If your keyboard doesn't do this, there is no other physical button that works for you, you are reaching for your mouse/trackball every time.  They are important to me, they may not be all that important to you.

[Gerk]

For eject hold down F12 for a couple of seconds, I think the OS defaults to use that.  For the other stuff I really needed I mapped F13-15 (Play/Pause, Previous song and next song -- I don't use the volume up and down on my machine as it's digital out and doesn't do anything).  Using better touch tool you can map just about anything key (or combo) to do just anything like that.  It's pretty awesome, and if you want to go even further with key mapping and the like (for alternate key layouts) I hear Ukelele is good (I never needed more than BTT).

I'm typing right now on a Leopold on my mac so I don't forsee any problems with a Filco  as long as you can map what you need to some keys and be happy with it.

[pitashen]

Wondering about the feasibilty of a Filco as a Mac keyboard.  What about the keys that only Apple makes almost indispensable on the keyboard:  Eject, Vol+, Vol-, Mute.  

If your keyboard doesn't do this, there is no other physical button that works for you, you are reaching for your mouse/trackball every time.  They are important to me, they may not be all that important to you.

you can map spare F keys for those functions. mac osx is a lot more flexible than  people think it is.

[ashort]

I probably should have already known that about key remapping, but thank you for refreshing my memory!

[whiskerBox]

Wondering about the feasibilty of a Filco as a Mac keyboard.  What about the keys that only Apple makes almost indispensable on the keyboard:  Eject, Vol+, Vol-, Mute.  

If your keyboard doesn't do this, there is no other physical button that works for you, you are reaching for your mouse/trackball every time.  They are important to me, they may not be all that important to you.

yeah I could see where that could be an issue. for me its not I have my filco hooked to a MBP so if I really need to use those keys I can just reach over, but I dont and for the volume I dont use that either I have a turn table next to my desk so I listen to that.

[file_id]

Razer makes the Blackwidow and Blackwidow Ultimate in Mac format.

[oayhyc]

I am using a filco tenkeyless and "KeyRemap4MacBook " alongside with MBP. Perfect match; no problem at all.

Between a PC keyboard and a Mac, "KeyRemap4Macbook" plays a crucial role; it allows me the make the setting the beginning, and then I am free from the chaos of the keyboard. Although the built-in function "Modifier Keys" in System Preference was quite helpful, it just sometime went crazy after a simple restart or the unplugging and plugging the USB hub. And I were getting annoyed because of the chaotic Modifier Keys.

Plugging more other keyboard with the similar layout, will function in the same way as well. "KeyRemap4MacBook" also provides many detail customizable remapping features so that it is feasible to appoint pc keys as mac keys, e.g. vol+, vol-..etc. As mac people, you may like it.

[LOUDTYPINGLOL]

KBC Poker also works on Mac it appears:

[video=youtube;jMXa4F0ppGQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMXa4F0ppGQ[/video]

(he uses Mac vol+- keys near the end)

Imma buy this one, i think. Or anyone got any horror stories?

[Chrontius]

Even without the eject hard key, there's always just clicking on the disk, and whacking E (command-E, for those of you viewing this outside of OSX).

If those Spacesaver models had been available a couple years ago, I'd not have picked up the Matias Tactile Mk.1 on eBay, though a hardware Dvorak keyboard may just tempt me away from this.  Oh, by the way, this is a recommendation for the Matias Tactile if you can find one - mine is a Mk.1, but the Mk.3 is pretty nice, too.

The SMK-88 by DSI is discontinued, but it's pretty okay if you like linear switches (Cherry Black) and small footprints.  The Happy Hacking Mac is quite nice - best membrane switches you will ever use, and rated to have about 3 times the service life of most membranes.  Lots of reliance on function keys to get all the F-keys and the system hard keys, though, and it lacks the more modern media-playback stuff as well as dedicated Dashboard/Exposeé/Launchpad/Mission Control keys, but I've always just bound the right half of the F-keys since Tiger.  

And that's just the stuff that's built for macs.

I know of no illuminated keyboards for Mac on the market, but I've yet to see that Razer ship.

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

Wordfool,

I'm typing this message on a RealForce 86UB connected to a MacBook Pro. Topre's work great on Macs, so do the Das Model S. In fact the only keyboard I can think of with certainty that isn't Mac-compatible is the Noppoo Choc Mini. The control/alt/command keys can be easily switched via System Preferences. I also use a (very powerful) program called ControllerMate to remap the print screen/scroll lock/pause keys as volume controls. It's shareware and costs $20 for a license, but boy is it worth it.

[Clickey]

DSI modular mac keyboard, its cherry blues NKRO and cost around $130.

[ashort]

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/keyboards/keyboard/devices/wireless-solar-keyboard-k750-mac

Just saw this on Lifehacker.  Don't know if it is any better than apple's aluminum keyboard, but it's an Apple layout and it's wireless and solar.  No battery changes ever.  Thought it was at least a cool idea. It's probably foolish to expect anything more than scissor over membrane switches, though.

[daerid]

Imma buy this one, i think. Or anyone got any horror stories?

Nope! Good choice, it's hard to beat the Poker in terms of portability

[dorkvader]

Assuming it has the cherry MX keyswithesl, this looks like a nice choice for apple users:
http://www.ergocanada.com/ec_home/products/compactmini_2.html#Product7

It says it's discontinued, but they claim they still have stock (It's also in clearance for $95)

[ashort]

Assuming it has the cherry MX keyswithesl, this looks like a nice choice for apple users:
http://www.ergocanada.com/ec_home/products/compactmini_2.html#Product7

It says it's discontinued, but they claim they still have stock (It's also in clearance for $95)

I've got a version with black cherries.  Others here have a version with blue cherries.  It's not a bad layout for a Mac spacesaver, but the strong springs in the blacks and blues aren't my thing.  If they made a version with browns and reds that would really be something.  I think they ARE discontinued which means if they have the switch you want, $95 is a pretty good deal.

[file_id]

So I finally pulled the trigger on the Razer Blackwidow Ultimate for the Mac. It's a nice keyboard. No spacebar problems or keys sticking from what I could tell. All the media keys work. F1-F4 media keys need the razer blackwidow software in order to work properly, thankfully the software isn't bloated and simplistic. The gaming mode function by hitting fn-f13 actually is very useful in playing starcraft 2 for mac because you can turn on gaming mode on and the media keys will be disabled and f1 - select all workers and f5-f8 can be bound to positions on the map.

[Index]

Honestly, if you can afford it, the HHKB Pro 2 is the best mechanical keyboard for the mac. I got one about 2-3 months ago, and I don't regret the 300$ price tag at all. It's the best keyboard purchase I have bought, programming-wise. Gaming-wise, well it's not that I don't like the HHKB Pro 2 per say, it's more that I perfer cherry mx browns over topre switches because I find double tapping on topre switches to be difficult.

Also, the double tapping problem on the topre switches only applies to Starcraft II, for FPS games, the topre switches are just as good as cherry mx browns. I also noticed that you own a Realforce, so I'm betting that you already have a good opinion on topre switches.

That's just me though, most people here find topre switches to be a great switch for gaming and Starcraft II.

[dorkvader]

I've got a version with black cherries.  Others here have a version with blue cherries.  It's not a bad layout for a Mac spacesaver, but the strong springs in the blacks and blues aren't my thing.  If they made a version with browns and reds that would really be something.  I think they ARE discontinued which means if they have the switch you want, $95 is a pretty good deal.

Hm that's cool, I didn't know that. The price did look good, though. Thanks for the info.

[theferenc]

Just be careful with your dipswitch settings if you go HHKB. What works great on my windows and linux machines is INSANELY aggravating when I plug it into a mac without swapping some of the switches.

[DEUCE SLUICE]

Are most of the Mac users in this thread content using third party programs to map things like volume, media, and brightness? What about not having the legends on the keycaps? Would there be demand for a set of replacement keycaps? Or a tenkeyless-type board that had all the standard functions right out of the box?

[duncan]

Would there be demand for a set of replacement keycaps?

A few firms who used to sell these have stopped so it seems the demand is not enough to be worth it in their opinion.
Can still be found if you look around.

Or a tenkeyless-type board that had all the standard functions right out of the box?

Again it doesn't seem that there is that much of a demand.
Since the standard Apple gear is scissor switch most people find it superior in feel to nasty RD boards (the 'island' layout is another issue) and at least as good as most 'good feeling' RD boards.

The sort of geeks/nerds who use mech boards on Macs seem okay with (or even attracted by) the need to hack about to get it working as desired.

So, all in all, the evidence suggests that there is not the demand for Mac specific mech boards to be worth it as a commercial product. Happy to be proved wrong though.