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Keyboard: from wired to bluetooth. Please reassure me!

Stormz

Stormz

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 21, 2007
130
182
I need a new keyboard for my Mac. I've used wired all my life, but looking at what's available these days, it's clear things have moved on and I'm excluding a lot by excluding bluetooth.

So I think I'll switch, but I just need some reassurance. What happens when the bluetooth connection drops while you're logged out of your Mac? How do you get back in to disconnect/reconnect bluetooth or whatever if you can't even type your password to log in in the first place?

Does it make a difference whether you get an Apple or non-Apple keyboard?

I use a Logitech mouse if that makes any difference.
 
That's great. But if bluetooth dropped while you were logged out, how would you reconnect it?
 
Buy one of the Logitech keyboards that has it's own [radio band] "unifying receiver".
More reliable than bt, in my opinion.

Something like this:
(original URL was too long, this points to amazon)

I believe it comes with a USB cable to recharge the internal battery from the Mac.

I can't confirm (I don't yet have one myself), but I think that when it's plugged in for charging, it also functions "as a keyboard" via the USB connection as well.
 
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Fishrrman said:
Buy one of the Logitech keyboards that has it's own [radio band] "unifying receiver".
More reliable than bt, in my opinion.

Something like this:
(original URL was too long, this points to amazon)

I believe it comes with a USB cable to recharge the internal battery from the Mac.

I can't confirm (I don't yet have one myself), but I think that when it's plugged in for charging, it also functions "as a keyboard" via the USB connection as well.
Click to expand...

This. Go with a keyboard with a USB dongle for wireless - avoid Bluetooth if at all possible. Not all keyboards are created equal, and Bluetooth will introduce noticeable input delay if you're coming from wired.
 
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I haven't checked lately but when I got my Keychron K5SE the BT connection was terrible to my Mac Studio M1. I wasn't disappointed much as I planned to use USB for that and my mice/trackpad.
 
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Thanks for all the replies. I'll check out the Logitech options.
 
I also used USB keyboards exclusively until 2020 when I got a new Mini. Apple had discontinued their wired keyboard by then, so I got their bluetooth keyboard with keypad. What I especially disliked was logging in. Seems that the first character was "eaten" when typing your password, often leading to errors. Got in the habit of hitting the shift key once just to wake it up without inputting anything.

Got tired of doing that, and really didn't need bluetooth functionality for a keyboard one foot away from the Mini. So I have just used it plugged in since then with no problems. With the Apple keyboard, if you leave it connected with the USB cable, it will use the USB interface instead of bluetooth (so it actually becomes a wired keyboard).

Have read this might lead to battery problems eventually if it's always plugged in, but haven't seen any yet. The advantage to bluetooth however is that it frees up a USB port. So I do sometimes use it wirelessly when I need to have a lot of peripherals connected.
 
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Big fan of the Logitech KB's on the Linux/Win side of things (really happy with the G413 SE).

I use a wired Matias FK302 for my regular Desktop use.

Never, ever, have I used a KB wirelessly; so, I cannot speak to such things ;)
 
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I gave up on BT on my mechanical keyboards (both Keychron and Nuphy). The dongle they come with is a bit better. But I'm now wired and like it. No more charging, doubts about connecting, worries about backlight draining the battery, etc.
 
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If you can spring to it, the Logitech MX series are good and the Bolt dongle just feels as instant (to me) doing things like typing and waking from sleep as having it connected via. USB. Plus if you have an MX mouse then it pairs to the same dongle so you only need one port.
 
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Stormz said:
That's great. But if bluetooth dropped while you were logged out, how would you reconnect it?
Click to expand...

???

They are paired, when it wakes up they reconnect, just like any other BT device. It is not always instant but never more than a couple of seconds.

The unifying receiver is good as well I just didn't want a dongle hanging off my laptop 24/7, if I were using a desktop I would probably use the receiver vs BT.
 
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Boyd01 said:
Got in the habit of hitting the shift key once just to wake it up without inputting anything.

Got tired of doing that,
Click to expand...
This is what I do, and I don't find it tiring. Usually, my screen is asleep after being away from the computer, so tapping the extra key (I use option or control, any key that doesn't input a character will do) does double duty of reconnecting the Bluetooth and waking up the screen. Can't start typing password until screen is awake, so no time lost.
 
I have a whole bunch of really nice mechanical keyboards. I only use wired USB. That way I don't have to worry that any backlighting is draining the battery, I don't have to worry about connection interference (or the very unlikely digital eavesdropping), and I don't have to worry about latency. The keyboard doesn't move on my desk, so having a cord din't much of an inconvenience.
 
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Night Spring said:
This is what I do, and I don't find it tiring.
Click to expand...

I live alone, so the only time I need to type a password is at startup and I found this very annoying. The final straw (admittedly my fault, but never would have happened with a wired keyboard) was hitting the shift key at just the wrong time during startup which booted me into safe mode. That really confused me at first! 🤣
 
Boyd01 said:
I live alone, so the only time I need to type a password is at startup and I found this very annoying. The final straw (admittedly my fault, but never would have happened with a wired keyboard) was hitting the shift key at just the wrong time during startup which booted me into safe mode. That really confused me at first! 🤣
Click to expand...
Actually, there's a way to bypass entering password at startup. It's been a while since I did it, so I don't recall the exact steps, but I found out how through Google. Perhaps it an option you can consider since you live alone.
 
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I use an Apple Magic Keyboard (without the numbers, but with Touch ID). It has never dropped out. It just works and I've never had any problems with it at all. It's the best keyboard I've ever used in terms of typing too. A pleasure to use. Touch ID is a real boon for entering Keychain passwords, and it also unlocks the Mac if you're not wearing an Apple Watch - in which case that unlocks the Mac instead when you press any key.
 
I don't really think there's anything you're truly missing out on by not going Bluetooth. Case in point lots of the popular enthusiast mechanical keyboards you can get today are dual mode devices that can be used with or without wires.

I've owned lots of keyboards including more than my share of Bluetooth ones. They fall into two categories. Ones that are rock solid and ones that have a mind of their own.

The Apple Magic Keyboards fall into the rock solid camp, just don't pair them with multiple devices unless you know what you're doing. It's very easy to get confused as to what device your keyboard is connecting to and sometimes it'll start inputting to an iPad three rooms away while you're wondering if it's time to change the battery because nothing's happening on the screen in front of you.
 
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Japan Ricardo said:
I use an Apple Magic Keyboard (without the numbers, but with Touch ID). It has never dropped out. It just works and I've never had any problems with it at all. It's the best keyboard I've ever used in terms of typing too. A pleasure to use. Touch ID is a real boon for entering Keychain passwords, and it also unlocks the Mac if you're not wearing an Apple Watch - in which case that unlocks the Mac instead when you press any key.
Click to expand...
Seconded. I used a Logitech K800 keyboard for years, and had to buy an extra USB cable to ensure the dongle was close to the keyboard and mouse; otherwise they would freeze up half the time. I still have a brand new K800 in my junk cabinet, but the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID is so much better. I don't get all this talk of lag. If you're gaming maybe? My Magic Mouse and keyboard seem instantaneous to me. And I'll never use a keyboard without Touch ID again (until the Mac uses Face ID ;)).
 
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