Review: The New Apple Keyboard

check out the review of Lorren Morris on his purchase of the Apple Keyboard

I’m a sucker for Apple products. As soon as Apple introduced the keyboard (and updated iMacs), I took out the credit card and bought a new Apple wired keyboard. I wasn’t really in need of a keyboard, especially since I use a MacBook, but that was the reason I decided to purchase it.

The MacBook’s keyboard has been a controversial subject among the Mac community, some love it and some hate it. At first, I hated the Macbook keyboard; I felt the keystrokes were too short and the keys were too far apart, but within about a week, I really liked and prefer the keyboard to others. The new Apple keyboard has been an instant must-have after using (and loving) the Macbook keyboard.

At first glance the Apple keyboard looks like something out of the future. It’s incredibly thin design and brushed metal top make it one of the best looking usb keyboards I have ever seen. Keys are firm and much higher quality than the ones on the MacBook. The two keyboard ports on each side are also a great addition to the $49 keyboard.

Apple has also changed the function keys at the top. F3 activates expose, F4 opens the dashboard, F7 through F10 controls music/video, and F10 through F12 are the new home of the volume keys. Can’t remember all of the function keys? Apple nicely labeled many of them with a corresponding icon.

Using the keyboard for writing posts or longer portions of text is very different. Keystrokes are shorter and keys are spaced farther apart than tradition keyboards. I constantly found myself losing my place on the keyboard and end up having to look down to find my place again. Resting your fingers on the keys like tradition keyboards will leave you with unwarranted button pressing. The Apple keyboard is in no way a keyboard for people who do large amounts of writing, but for the casual blogger/Internet user you’ll be happy with the keyboard.

Unlike most keyboards the Apple keyboard is very quiet, even quieter than the MacBook’s. The biggest problem with the keyboard, like the previous incarnation, will be keeping it clean. Having white keys looks great, but after a few months of use and a couple of people using it, the keyboard will pick up unwanted grime.

Apple also offers an even smaller bluetooth keyboard, sans numeric keypad and dual usb ports. If bluetooth wasn’t such a hassle I would have considered purchasing the $79 dollar keyboard. Apple states the (bluetooth) keyboard uses “intelligent power management” to slow the draining of three triple A batteries it takes to run. I have yet to find if the Apple wireless keyboard is any better than other bluetooth keyboards, but I’m not expecting it to be too much better.

The new Apple keyboard is revolutionary in looks and feel. The metal makes it look more like a giant blade than a keyboard and trying to get through airport security might be difficult. If you’re a MacBook user, you will like this keyboard; if you’ve never used the “chiclet” style keyboard, it will take some time to get used to. Don’t buy this keyboard if you will be doing a large volume of typing because you won’t be nearly as efficient and your hands will get tired quicker.

The Apple wired keyboard is $49 and the smaller bluetooth unit goes for $79. They both can be bought from the Apple online store,or wherever Macs are sold.