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Does your Magic Keyboard With Numeric Keys bends?
- Thread starter Fravin
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Yeah, I've just had one delivered and without even knowing of this issue, the first thing I thought when I got it out of the box was "that's bent"!
When I put it on my desk, the middle touches the desk whereas the edges are unsupported, up in the air like a see-saw, one side more than the other.
When I put it on my desk, the middle touches the desk whereas the edges are unsupported, up in the air like a see-saw, one side more than the other.
2 months in and my keyboard is bent. That is probably too late for an exchange.
As the keyboard has been sitting on a flat service ever since I acquired it, this is clearly a design flaw.
At this point it is fully functional, i.e. no wiggling or noise yet when hitting the ends.
Still very disappointing.
As the keyboard has been sitting on a flat service ever since I acquired it, this is clearly a design flaw.
At this point it is fully functional, i.e. no wiggling or noise yet when hitting the ends.
Still very disappointing.
I ordered some rubber half domes from eBay, to lift the keyboard a few millimetres to a more comfortable height. A bit of gentle bending back into shape over my knee, and I've got to say it's a fantastic keyboard now. I thought the key travel would be too light compared to the wired Apple keyboard, but this has a clickier response.
You have a 12-month warranty so there's still plenty of time to get the keyboard replaced if it is defective.
If you get AppleCare (highly recommended), that becomes three years.
Much ado about nothing.
Apparently the Magic Keyboard has a very gentle convex design for the bottom. But it is not bent. The case is designed that way and you will never even notice it unless you carefully examine the bottom of the keyboard from the side. Then you will see that it is ever so slightly less space between the desk and the center as opposed to the edges. However, measure the height of the case at both sides and center and you will see that the center is about a half a millimeter thicker. The keyboard sits perfectly flatly on the pads and most importantly, the TOP is perfectly flat. Get a long ruler and rest it on top and you should see no spaces underneath.
I think people worrying about this are the bananas.
The rise at each side IS small, but big enough to make the keyboard rattle as you type. Like the sensation of eating at a table with one leg slightly slightly shorter than the others.
For the very expensive cost of this accessory, it’s a pretty fundamental issue, that outweighs some of the good points.
Style over function. I’ve noticed, not only rising prices, but quality issues under Tim Cook’s watch
After reading posts in this thread I took a look at my keyboard, and yes, I see that there does seem to be a gentle convex shape for the bottom.....and the thing is placed on a glass workstation, so no issues of unevenness due to the underlying surface. The keyboard feels solid under my fingertips as I type. Since my keyboard has been working just fine since the day several months ago I brought it home and set it up, I am not going to be concerned about that convex bowing.....as long as there doesn't eventually develop an issue with it rattling and/or every time I type, it begins to rock ever-so-slightly back-and-forth.....THAT would be unacceptable. I'll stick to what I have now, which is working just fine for me, unless and until actual problems emerge, and then at that time I'll trot over to the Apple store and say, "hey...."
This appears to be a design issue, and one which appears to be somewhat common even under normal usage. I don't think they put enough metal on the keyboard, or perhaps the heat treatment of several batches has been subpar. Either way, it's not good 
Hopefully Apple's response is something other than, "you're carrying it wrong." These things are priced as high as some very nice mechanical keyboards...
Hopefully Apple's response is something other than, "you're carrying it wrong." These things are priced as high as some very nice mechanical keyboards...
I find that the bowing increases over time, to the point where it rattles when I type on the far left and far right keys. That said, if I wrangle and twist the keyboard a little back and forth, it usually straightens out enough to stop the rattling. Had this not been the case, I'd definitely have returned the keyboard for a refund, which would have been a shame, as the battery life and typing experience (when it's not rattling!) is very good. I do sometimes wonder, though, if some of the issues experienced with recent Apple products would have made it to market when Steve Jobs was the boss!
That's not good news that the bowing increases over time......so I guess I will need to be looking ahead to the day when I start to type and the thing begins rattling -- ugh! When that happens I will definitely take the keyboard back to the Apple store and request a replacement or a refund. Sigh.....
As for the quality in some recent Apple products......yeah, I don't think some items would have ever left the offices in Cupertino if Steve were still around.
As for the quality in some recent Apple products......yeah, I don't think some items would have ever left the offices in Cupertino if Steve were still around.
Yeah it's a thin keyboard and Apple's new all paper packaging will make shipping damage even easier. Mine arrived a little bent, but having spent most of high school fixing cars and doing body work, I just tweaked it back straight by hand and it's perfect now with no rattle. Someone who is a heavy-handed typist may want to reinforce the middle with matching spec tabs to keep it from bowing again as suggested earlier.
Just had to very gently unbend mine as well :/
There is a 4 to 5 week delay on delivery if you attempt to purchase this keyboard via the Apple UK website, so perhaps they are already aware of the design issue. The fact it's so easy to unbend suggests it's very easy to bend during the manufacturer process.
Obviously a $200 billion company didn't see this problem before mass producing them.
There is a 4 to 5 week delay on delivery if you attempt to purchase this keyboard via the Apple UK website, so perhaps they are already aware of the design issue. The fact it's so easy to unbend suggests it's very easy to bend during the manufacturer process.
Obviously a $200 billion company didn't see this problem before mass producing them.
I was hesitant to say too much either way at first, given the tendency for an isolated issue to quickly become a something-SOMETHING-gate. But, from what I can gather, this is a serious problem that is affecting a significant portion of keyboards - i.e., more than half the models sold from one location have been returned (and, considering not everyone who gets a bendy keyboard is going to return it...) Some have had functional problems - it is unclear if these functional issues were related to the bending, were related to some other design issue, were related to misuse, or something else.
The US version is backordered too. Hopefully Apple is addressing this - whether that means recalling a batch of lots with bad heat treatments, or redesigning the keyboard if this is in fact a design flaw that affects all models.
The US version is backordered too. Hopefully Apple is addressing this - whether that means recalling a batch of lots with bad heat treatments, or redesigning the keyboard if this is in fact a design flaw that affects all models.
They definitely won't recall the faulty keyboards unless they're forced to. Customers are going to need to contact Apple directly if they want theirs replaced.
Had mine since their release and there's clearly an issue.
Contacted Apple, after seeing photos of it via the live chat, they agreed that it shouldn't be like that and booked me in for an appointment to get it changed (nearest being Stormfront, Apple Retailer). Get there, expecting a swap, guy looks at it and wants to take it in for a few days to look at it, after agreeing that it was bent. So yeah, I'm gonna use my computer with mind bullets or something?
Take keyboard with me, contact Apple again, get a keyboard sent out. Sent the wrong one, contacted again, sent the right one, and guess what, bent in the middle just like the one I've got. At one point I thought it was meant to be like this, if so, worst design choice ever. Then I found this thread and the reviews for the product on Apple's website.
So, contacting them again tomorrow.
The saga continues.
If this was a £40 to £50 keyboard, I probably wouldn't have followed up on it, but when you're spending £130 for a keyboard because you expect it to be of high quality, its a little disappointing.
PS: Done the ruler thing and done the flipping it over and angling it so the function key row is "supposed" to be flush with the desk and there's a lot of light getting through it, on both my original and the one they sent out. (Good tests btw).
Contacted Apple, after seeing photos of it via the live chat, they agreed that it shouldn't be like that and booked me in for an appointment to get it changed (nearest being Stormfront, Apple Retailer). Get there, expecting a swap, guy looks at it and wants to take it in for a few days to look at it, after agreeing that it was bent. So yeah, I'm gonna use my computer with mind bullets or something?
Take keyboard with me, contact Apple again, get a keyboard sent out. Sent the wrong one, contacted again, sent the right one, and guess what, bent in the middle just like the one I've got. At one point I thought it was meant to be like this, if so, worst design choice ever. Then I found this thread and the reviews for the product on Apple's website.
So, contacting them again tomorrow.
The saga continues.
If this was a £40 to £50 keyboard, I probably wouldn't have followed up on it, but when you're spending £130 for a keyboard because you expect it to be of high quality, its a little disappointing.
PS: Done the ruler thing and done the flipping it over and angling it so the function key row is "supposed" to be flush with the desk and there's a lot of light getting through it, on both my original and the one they sent out. (Good tests btw).
Those keyboards are designed badly and they will be redone with the next iteration. I bet that is soon. I hold on to mine as long as it is not wiggling when typing. I hope the new ones come out before my one year warranty runs out to exchange it.
Even if Apple released a new model in the near future, (and I very much doubt that's going to happen) they will not and would not ever exchange your current Magic Keyboard with numeric keypad for a newer product revision.
Anybody's got an alternative to the Magic Keyboard Worth buying ... I need a new keyboard (with numeric trackpad) and Apple's is way too expansive (plus, as I can read here, it bends !)
I was in my local Apple Store (50 miles away) the other day, for the heck of it I noticed they had two of the wireless keyboards out on the tables connected to machines. I pulled both close to the edge of the tables, then got down at table height level. Sure enough - they were both bent so that the middles were almost touching the tabletop while the sides were up in the air. Hopefully a redesigned model is coming soon.
While the issue with the keyboard is a definite issue that should be fixed, in comparison to professional typist keyboards the apple keyboards are not expensive. Compared to generic average consumer grade keyboards they are expensive.
My Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad is bend after using it since early June on a flat desktop. Last year I had my regular Magic Keyboard in my messenger bag for a few days, had to straighten it because it became wobbly. The housing isn't really stable. #minimaluminiumalism
The keyboard has a lead time of 3-4 weeks in Germany, nut now available for pick up in some apple stores.
Do you think they were fixing the design or do you think it was only a production shortage and they continue with the old wrong design?
I mean they could easily fix it with some rubber parts in the middle in stead of using only 4 in the edge...where is the problem...?
Do you think they were fixing the design or do you think it was only a production shortage and they continue with the old wrong design?
I mean they could easily fix it with some rubber parts in the middle in stead of using only 4 in the edge...where is the problem...?