Apple's New Keyboards

Does anyone besides me NOT like Apple's new design for their wireless and cabled keyboards? It's really not new, in fact, I think it was quite some time ago they revised them. But I find myself slightly irritated with this new batch of keyboards. It doesn't have nearly as much to do with appearance as it does functionality. Because I actually really like the looks of them; the clear glass/white color scheme, and really nice keys.

The difficulty I'm having is with the "edgeless" style. As you can see from the picture, the new keyboards have nothing but a thin piece plastic rising from the edges to "enclose" the keys. The problem I'm having with this, is whenever I go to pick the thing up, I'm accidentally pressing keys (especially eject & escape). Because there is no edge on the thing to grip it by. This is not a minor complaint, because for me, it literally happens almost every time I pick the thing up. Not if all you do is let it sit on your desk, then you probably aren't bothered by this, but if you're using the wireless model, and you like to pick it up, and use the thing remotely, it's infinitely irritating. And to make things worse, the edge is even a little sharp. I realize they where probably trying to do good by shrinking the size of the keyboard, but what is an inch or two compared with dreadful functionality?

Another practical downfall, is the fact that they left a huge space open to the bottom of keyboard on the right side. Making it very simple to drop and loose something in there. But the final issue I'm bothered by is the new location of the keyboard USB hub. Moving the ports to the back of the keyboard was a poor idea. It was so easy before to just plug right into the side of the keyboard. But now you have to stand up and look behind the keyboard to find the slots. And now you need more depth for the keyboard because you'll have your USB plugs protruding from the back. It was much nicer before when your USB cable fit elegantly into the inlets at the top.

I don't want to be a complainer, it's just disappointing when Apple takes good designs of looks and functionality, and turns them into failures. I wish there was a way to let Apple know about these shortcomings. It's like, for most companies they are constantly trying to reach a good design, whereas Apple usually already has one, they just are throwing them away. And they don't know it! It's frustrating sometimes.

jsalzer said:

I have one of each. The older (black keys) is, in my opinion, a fabulous design. Imagine my disappointment when I ordered another one for my Windows machine at work and got the current keyboard. For the price, I felt like I had just been handed a cardboard keyboard. The keys respond fine, but the smoothness of the key shapes, the placement of the USB ports, the wide open "drop crumbs inside me" face, and the lack of those smooth, clear edges really made me wonder how Apple could take such a huge step backward.

Now - I believe there is a company out there that has licensed the design of the older (better) model. I believe it's called the "tactile pro" keyboard. If you're in the market for a new keyboard, I'd do a search and consider ordering one of these. I know I will when the time comes.

John.

Click to expand...

It appears I'm not alone on this keyboard issue. Thank you for mentioning that "Tactile Pro keyboard", I had never seen it before. If I have the funds, and I ever need a keyboard, that's the one I want to get! But hopefully Apple will redesign the current keyboards soon. I don't doubt that they have already seen there poor design and functionality.

It would definitely be an easy and cool thing for Apple to make the wired keyboards backlight just like the powerbooks. And for the price they are charging for these latest models, you'd expect at least some novel features, and a half decent design. But no, as it stands, it's just an above average quality "run of the mill" keyboard; hardly worth $50.