Buying a UK MacBook with a US Keyboard

This is pernickety to the extreme. Sorry.

I'm planning on buying the 15.4 inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display. I have been successfully seduced by Apple. Paying such an extortionate amount for a laptop (with education pricing and/or Black Friday not achieving much as regards savings), I want to keep it for several years. Thus, I want it to be as aesthetically pleasing as possible, in ways other than its thinness and the notorious high-res display. And this falls to the keyboard: I hate the British keyboard. I hate the 'symbols and abbreviations, and too many things on a key (shoving a euro next to @)' approach. The US offering of course features the words 'command', 'shift', 'option', 'caps lock' - and having those on the keys instead of stubby icons would actually make by a lot happier. (I lead a sad life, haha.) I reckon I could acclimatise to the American 'Enter' key.

I don't want anything other than the base config - 2.3 GHz, 8 GB, 256 GB. I suppose it's highly unlikely that UK Apple retail stores would have UK MacBooks modded with US keyboards. I am correct in thinking I'd have to buy online, aren't I?

Thanks for your time.

Ap0ks said:

I would call one of the London branches if they are nearby, they may have some international combinations leftover from the summer (I read they stocked up on them for the Olympics). If not it does look like online would be the only route.

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Thanks - they tell me you can get the Geniuses to replace a normal keyboard with an international variant if you book an appointment with them on the day of purchase. But that's subject to their availability (not much, at the busy Westfield London store), so I think I'll face the interwebs.