My set of GMK White-on-Black Hiragana finally arrived! I have been waiting for ages for this one.
keyboard
GMK Pretty in Pink — Raising Awareness About the Dangers of Breast Cancer
As some of you may know, I lost both my parents to cancer a few years ago. It’s been over 5 years and still a day doesn’t go by that I don’t think about them. When I heard about GMK Pretty in Pink launching a few months ago, I immediately knew I had to get this kit.
GMK Pretty in Pink is a mod extension kit, featuring an accent spacebar, enter, arrows, and a few novelty keys. The novelties are meant to raise awareness of the dangers of breast cancer, and to show support for those who are currently fighting breast cancer and for survivors. The novelties feature the ubiquitous pink ribbon, a HOPE enter key, and a four heart flower.
All profits from this set will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Pretty in Pink will live on my polycarbonate Think6.5°, paired with GMK Minimal for now. I might pair it with a black set in the future.
Thanks you Jeff “Langelandia” and One Creative Mind for designing this set.
Apple’s Butterfly Keyboard Might Make a Comeback →
L0vetodream on Twitter:
apple did not give up on butterfly keyboard, they are trying to improve on the structure, and solve the issue, we might see it comes back again in future.
L0vetodream’s leaks are 90.5% accurate, according to AppleTrack.org, so I’m really hoping this is one of those that he get’s wrong. I have been using the butterfly mechanism on my own MacBook Pro for years now (since December 2016) and having had the chance to use the new MacBook Pro 16″ (late 2019) and MacBook Air (early 2020) for a month or so, typing on them daily, the new/old scissor mechanism, with twice the key travel, is clearly superior for my needs and preferences.
Lenovo’s ThinkPad TrackPoint Keyboard II →
This keyboard design is an extremely cool design, if it had some way to attach an iPad to it. I would prefer mechanical switches but even with the current scissor switches, this would be a perfect lap keyboard for iPad Pros. Though it would need to be programmable, to be truly useful and universal.
Graystudio Think6.5° Keyboard Guide →
Everything you need to know about this wonderful keyboard. I currently have two of these — one in polycarbonate and one in aluminium — and they’re both wonderful.
GMK Lunar — Inspired by the Apollo Guidance Computer and DSKY Interface
Ever since June rolled over last year, I have been thinking how to commemorate the Apollo 11’s mission’s 50th anniversary. Then I remembered the Apollo Guidance Computer (it made waves over the internet last year, because people were trying to prove that Margaret Hamilton didn’t deserve any credit for it) and its interface — DSKY (pronounced “dis-kee”).
My Photography (72) — AirPods Pro & Think6.5°
The AirPods Pro are probably the best all-rounders for iPhone users and their ANC is more than good enough, even during flights. Most importantly, they fit into that small jeans pocket without issues, so they’re always with me.
Shot with Sony A7R II + Zeiss ZF 100 mm f/2 Makro-Planer T*: f/4, 1/60 s, ISO 5000.
Apple’s Phil Schiller on Reinventing the New MacBook Pro Keyboard →
Roger Cheng, interviewing Phil Schiller about the new keyboard design in the 16-inch MacBook Pro:
Will this keyboard find its way to other MacBooks? There are folks who don’t need the power of the MacBook Pro, but may appreciate the tactile experience.
Phil Schiller’s answer:
I can’t say today. We are continuing both keyboard designs.
It will be a sad day in Mac world if the new keyboard doesn’t propagate to all the other models as soon as possible, in their next updates.
I’m personally waiting for the new 13- or 14-inch MacBook Pro but it’s not a Mac I’ll be interested in, if it doesn’t get the new keyboard.
Mechanical Keyboards as a Hobby — My Collection [2019/11]
I’ve previously written only a few short words about one of my newer hobbies — mechanical keyboards — which has been a fantastic journey, keeping me occupied, teaching me new things, while providing a superior tool for all my writing at the same time. This all started over 30 years ago, when I used my first mechs, but which I left behind when I switched to laptops. Unfortunately, I listened a little too much to Jason Snell and John Gruber talking about their mechanical keyboards on their podcasts, so here I am, and I’d like to share what I’ve collected so far…
RAMA M60-A SEQ2 Updates →
RAMA WORKS:
All M60-A SEQ2 units have been machined. They are now off to be enamel filled on the back-weight and then packaged – this will take around 2 weeks. They will then be freighted to our warehouse for final packaging, packing and shipment!
I have a Moon Stealth pre-ordered. I’m actually more excited about this keyboard than the new iPhones!
iPadOS 13 (beta 5) — My Gripes and Comments When Using An External Keyboard
I have tried using an external keyboard with an iPad since 2010 and while it is possible, it’s nowhere near as good as on MacOS. I have tried various keyboards over the years, including Apple Wireless Keyboards, Magic Keyboards, third-party keyboards, but I am currently using a mechanical Doro67, which is fully user-programmable, connected via USB-C.
Below are some immediate gripes and comments I have regarding external keyboard implementation in the current beta of iPadOS 13:
- Sometimes, when I `Cmd + Tab` into an app, e.g. into Ulysses from Safari, I can immediately continue writing where I left off. The keyboard is active and the cursor is waiting for input. At other times it is not. There is no key that I can press to resume writing without first physically touching the screen with my finger.
- When `Cmd + Tabbing` into Safari, sometimes everything works as intended and I can use the `Cmd + L` shortcut to input the address I want to open or `Control + Tab` to the Tab I need. I can then use the arrows, PgUp, PgDn or Spacebar keys to navigate webpages. Unfortunately, sometimes iPadOS and/or Safari behave as if there is no keyboard connected and I have to touch the screen to make it active again.
- Sometimes the keyboard just behaves like it’s not connected at all and I have to touch the screen to get it to work.
- When switching between apps, there is a small delay, which I need to wait out before I can start typing. This delay is extremely frustrating.
- Sometimes iOS/iPadOS thinks the `Cmd` key is stuck, especially after quickly `Cmd + Tabbing` through your list of previously used apps.
- When using the `Alt/Option + Shift + Left/Right Arrow` to select text in e.g. Ulysses, the selection stops at the end of a word, omitting the space and/or punctuation marks after the word. When doing the same thing in Safari (editing text in WordPress), the word and the space behind it are selected. If there’s a comma or full stop after a word, and then a space, those get selected automatically too. This is inconsistent and Safari’s implementation is wrong. Perhaps this has something to do with WordPress and is not Safari’s fault but I don’t know that.
- The above problem also happens when moving the cursor when editing text. E.g.
Cmd + right arrowwill move the cursor to the end of the word in Ulysses (correct) or to the beginning of the next word in Safari (wrong). - Ulysses has a typewriter mode, which often loses my set position. iA Writer has the exact same problem. I hope it’s not something the developers of those apps can’t fix.
- My PgUp and PgDn keys often don’t work, e.g. in text editors such as Ulysses. `Fn + Arrows` don’t work either. Curiously, Safari is fine.
- It is (mostly) possible to use both MacOS and Windows without taking your hands off the keyboard. There’s basically a way to do almost everything without using a mouse or trackpad. I have been a keyboard-shortcut user for the past three decades, since the DOS days, just because it’s faster. iOS is woefully behind in this regard.
- I use the character picker almost constantly on MacOS (`Control + Cmd + Space`, to add arrows, etc. when needed. There is no way (that I know of) to do this under iOS/iPadOS (the emoji keyboard doesn’t have all of the symbols that I use, e.g. the arrow I used below).
- If you use an external keyboard with your iPad, please make sure to go into Settings → Keyboard → Hardware Keyboard to turn auto-capitalisation and auto-correction on or off (off in my case).
- If you use more than one keyboard language in iPadOS, you can use the `Control + Space` shortcut to switch between your languages — just hold `Control` and tap the `Spacebar` to cycle between them.
Keyboard support has been getting better over the years but it’s getting there at a glacial pace and is still far behind MacOS. I really hope they focus more on it in the future, perhaps even before iPadOS 13.0 rolls out this Autumn.
Photo: 11-inch iPad Pro with a Vortex Race 3.
Doublee EE on My MacBook Pro’s Keeyboard
So whilee my Spaceebar starteed working again afteer cleeaning it with a vacuum cleeaner, my EE keey has starteed to typee two ee’s on eeach preess. I’m on my seecond keeyboard alreeady and it obviously won’t bee my last.
Mechanical Keyboards, Apple Keyboards, GMK Phosphorous — A Brief History of My Keyboard Hobby
Ever since I got my 2016 MacBook Pro, I have had a love/hate relationship with its keyboard. Yes, it’s pretty good to type on. No, it doesn’t offer much feedback and the travel is extremely shallow. There was the one (well, two actually) with the Touch Bar, which I got rid of because of its mediocre battery life and being unable to live with Apple’s latest “innovation”. Then I had to have one on my MacBook Pro Escape replaced.
MacBook Pro Arrow Ket Layout Scandal →
Todd Thomas:
The real scandal with the new MacBook Pros is the layout of the arrow keys. Ugh.
I don’t know when I bought my first Apple Magic Keyboard but it’s been at least 3 years and I still haven’t gotten used to that damned layout, making mistakes almost every single time I reach for them. I did finally fix the issue though, by getting a mechanical keyboard. So. Much. Better.
The MacBook Keyboard Fiasco Is Surely Worse Than Apple Thinks →
David Heinemeier Hansson, on Signal v. Noise:
Apple keep insisting that only a “small number of customers have problems” with the MacBook keyboards. That’s bollocks. This is a huge issue, it’s getting worse not better, and Apple is missing the forest for the trees.
The fact is that many people simply do not contact Apple when their MacBook keyboards fail. They just live with an S key that stutters or a spacebar that intermittently gives double. Or they just start using an external keyboard. Apple never sees these cases, so it never counts in their statistics.
So here’s some anecdata for Apple. I sampled the people at Basecamp. Out of the 47 people using MacBooks at the company, a staggering 30% are dealing with keyboard issues right now!! And that’s just the people dealing with current keyboard issues. If you include all the people who used to have issues, but went through a repair or replacement process, the number would be even higher.
Appl Still Hasn’t Fixd Its MacBook Kyboad Problm →
JoannaStern,forTheWallStreetJournal:
Nop, I havn’t fogottn how to wit. No did my dito go on vacation.
You s, to sha th pain of using an Appl laptop kyboad that’s faild aft fou months, I could only think of on ida: tak all th bokn ltts out of my column. Thn I alizd thatwould mak th whol thing unadabl. So to…
MySpacebarstoppedworkingtheotherday.
Vortex Race 3 — A Mechanical Keyboard for My iPad Pro
My Vortex Race 3 arrived while we were away on our vacation, so naturally I spent most of last night playing around with it, instead of sleeping like any sane person would. I’ve already preprogrammed the first layer and it seems to suit my needs perfectly, connected to both the iPad and Mac.
I’m very excited to go back to a mechanical keyboard, especially since I’m frustrated with the one in my MacBook Pro.
Rainbow backlight turned on only for the purpose of taking the photo — I don’t actually use it.
One of the Best Sounding Keyboards I Have Ever Heard
MacBook Pro Keyboard Popping Sounds →
Steven Peterson:
Today I picked up a new 15” MacBook Pro, fully loaded. It was very expensive. I was excited to have a faster machine for my development work. I just returned it and got my money back because it kept making random popping noises. Then I saw this.
I really hope we get completely redesigned keyboards this year. My trust in Apple is plummeting downhill at a breakneck speed. This means that no new Mac for me for at least two more years, until I’m sure the new ones work properly.
AEK II Inspired XDA Oblique Keycaps for Mechanical Keyboards →
XDA Oblique is a keyset inspired by the keycaps of the AEK, M0116, AEKII, and similar Apple keyboards. The font used in this keyset is Oswald Light and is angled at 18°. This is a very close to Univers 57 Condensed Oblique, the font used on the AEK. The caps will be color matched to Pantone Cool Grey 2 U, which is very close to Apple’s original tone.
I am completely smitten with this design. They are unfortunately already sold-out. I included some samples below but there are more over on Dixie Mech’s site (just click the link in the title of this post).
Keychron K1 — A Low Profile Mechanical Keyboard for Mac (Or Windows) →
I was just about to go ahead and order the Vortex Race 3 when a link to the Keychron K1 flew past me on Twitter, and now I have no idea what to do.
I like low profile keyboards. I like Bluetooth. The Race 3 has neither of those attributes. But it has Cherry MX switches instead of these “blue” switches of unknown origin. The K1 does however feature a full complement of Mac-specific function keys.
Should I just order both?
Apple’s Current MacBook Pro Keyboards Are Badly Designed →
Marco Arment:
After a week of unexpected Overcast work on vacation, I have as much of a love-hate relationship with my 2018 13″ MBP as ever. I’m so glad I have it. I’m so glad it’s as fast and capable as it is. Still HATE the keyboard. Still make tons of errors due to the spacing and layout.
It’s not the butterfly switches, though they’re still unpleasant, ungraceful, unreliable, and a huge unforced error.
It’s the damn layout. There’s not enough space between the keys. There’s not enough curvature on the keycaps. There’s no inverted-T arrow keys. It’s a bad design.
I know this is beating a dead horse, but time doesn’t solve bad designs.
It was a bad design in 2015, it was a horrible decision to make it the only choice in 2016, and it continues to be a horrendous keyboard in 2018.
I’ll move on when Apple does.
I loved the keyboards on the 2008 MacBook Pros and I was surprised when I found that the ones on my 2013 MacBook Air and 2014 MacBook Pro are even better. I have to agree that the most recent iteration is worse and my biggest complaint is the layout of the arrow keys. I have been typing on this keyboard for over two years now and I still make mistakes when trying to press the arrows without looking at them. Turns out that the empty space above the left and right arrows was really important.
Hands on With the Brydge 12.9 Pro Keyboard →
Jason Snell, on Six Colours:
iPads with new shapes usually require new accessories. While I’ve been writing on my new iPad Pro with Apple’s Smart Keyboard Folio, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the release of a new version of my go-to travel keyboard for iPad, from Brydge. It’s a Bluetooth keyboard that’s designed like the bottom half of a laptop, with a couple of clips into which you slide the iPad Pro.
While the new $170 Brydge 12.9 Pro keyboard isn’t yet shipping, the company sent me a prototype to use for a week. It’s going to be hard to send it back and wait for the final version to ship in early spring. It’s the same great laptop-style experience, in a new smaller design that’s shaped like the new iPad Pro itself.
I only wish either iOS or Brydge offered a way to remap keys. Otherwise, while larger than the Smart Keyboard Folio from Apple, this seems like a much better product and something Apple should have made. Though looking at their current pricing policies, I’m glad they didn’t, because it would probably cost $399.
Jason Snell About His Keyboard — The Vortex Race 3 →
Jason Snell, on Six Colours:
[…] I’ve tried a lot of keyboards over the last few years, but I realized that I haven’t yet described my current choice for writing when I’m at my desk. It’s the Vortex Race 3. (The switches are my preferred Cherry Brown style, but other keyswitches are also available.)
This is the rare mechanical keyboard that’s civilized to come with a set of alternate keycaps for Mac users (Command and Option rather than Win and Alt), as well as a few variant color keycaps for modifier keys and the arrow keys. (It’s also got a Mac keyboard mode, so all the keys work properly without any remapping required.) The keycaps feature very pleasant capital letters dead center, and come in shades of gray. I’ve swapped in a red Esc key, yellow arrow keys, and a blue Enter key.
The Race 3 is a “75% keyboard”, which means it doesn’t have a number pad, but it does have dedicated arrow keys and a function-key row. […] It’s got an anodized aluminum base that doesn’t wrap around the bottom of the keys, so they “float” above the board. It’s a nice effect and sure makes it easy to extract crumbs and other detritus from the keyboard from time to time.
This is the keyboard I would love to buy but I can’t get over the fact that it doesn’t have Bluetooth. I’d love to be able to carry it around to use with my iPad Pro without the hassle of having to connect it with a cable.
The Space Bar on My MacBook Pro Doesn’t Register Presses Properly
I recently had a problem with my Control key which I finally fixed by taking out the vacuum cleaner and sucking substantial debris1 out from under it. Today, the Space bar will not register keystrokes on its right half.
(A few minutes later.)
Seems to be working fine again, after thoroughly vacuuming it at max power.
I am not happy with this keyboard and I refuse to buy another MacBook until they fix this issue with a completely new design — silicon condoms membranes are not enough.
- A speck of dust. ↩
My Replaced MacBook Pro’s Keyboard Is Having Issues Again
I had my 2016 MacBook Pro Escape’s keyboard replaced in April 2018, because some of the keys were expanding under heat, making them “sticky”, e.g. when using it in the sun.
I’m extremely happy to report that today my Control key has gone on strike and will only work when it feels like it should, which translates to registering maybe one in ten presses.
This keyboard is great to type on, when it works, but it’s generally a disaster.
Two Keyboards at a Bar →
Michael Lopp, writing on Rands in Repose:
The bar is full. Two keyboards sit at the bar: APPLE EXTENDED II and MACBOOK PRO. The front door opens, TOUCHBAR looks around, sees the two keyboards at the bar, grins, and heads their direction. Skipping.
APPLE EXTENDED II sits at the bar nursing a Macallan 18. Next to him is MACBOOK PRO who has not taken a sip of his glass of water.
Enter at your own peril. Laughter guaranteed.
Vortex Race 3 — The Keyboard I’ll Probably End Up Buying
I’m currently having another mechanical keyboard phase, looking at the various options out there. I would love a Bluetooth keyboard that I could use with both my Mac and iPad. These are hard to come by and I haven’t found anything if interest, apart from the Matias Laptop Pro. I’m holding off on it because of its substantial height.
2016 MacBook Pro Butterfly Keyboards Failing Twice as Frequently as Older Models →
Mike Wuerthele, writing for AppleInsider:
Following anecdotal reports of a keyboard more prone to failure than in previous years, AppleInsider has collected service data for the first year of release of the 2014, 2015, and 2016 MacBook Pros, with an additional slightly shorter data set for the 2017 model year given that it hasn’t been available for a year yet.
Not including any Touch Bar failures, the 2016 MacBook Pro keyboard is failing twice as often in the first year of use as the 2014 or 2015 MacBook Pro models, and the 2017 is better, but not by a lot.
I have had an issue with my 2016 13” MacBook Pro, which is described by Apple as a “popping sound”. I contacted Apple Support and sent them a video, and they immediately set up an appointment with my closest AASP to fix the issue. They fixed it in 24 hours by replacing the whole top case, which includes the keyboard, battery, and speakers. The “popping sound” happens when the keyboard gets too warm and some keys start making a different sound. They also feel marginally stickier when pressed.
The new keyboard feels and sounds different — it’s quieter and a bit stiffer. I’m not sure if this is the same one as in the 2017 model, but I hope it stays fixed. Since this is a problem with the design and the fix is very expensive, I expect Apple to support their users indefinitely (or at least 5-6 years) — we already paid a lot for the MacBook Pro and we should not pay more for design mistakes.
Despite this being a frustrating issue, Apple Support and my AASP were stellar in helping me out.
Rama Works M60-A Keyboard →
The M60-A represents the benchmark and equilibrium between function and design for us at Rama Works. The gently exaggerated design of the frame is not understated, but rather provocative. Inspiration and evolution from previous models are evident in the beautifully articulated design and the well defined aesthetic, the fingerprint of our ‘Industrial Modern’ designs. The M60-A offers a unique contender in the traditional 60% form factor.
The attention to detail in this design is quite amazing. If not for its considerable height and lack of arrow keys, I would be ordering it right now.