Tech Paladin

Apple’s new wireless keyboard has caused a lot of debate and chatter for being something as simple as a keyboard. Apple has never been a company to let a product stagnate, and the new Apple Wireless Keyboard is certainly boldly different from its predecessor. The old one was basically the standard wired keyboard sans USB ports and wire. It was just as big and allowed in just as much dust and grime as its tethered brother. The new one, on the other hand, is something else entirely:

First of all, it’s tiny! The entire keyboard is only about 25% deeper than that Apple remote sitting behind it. Type on it in other peoples’ presence and you’re bound to get “holy crap, is that a real keyboard?” at least a few times. This thing is a true marvel of design, and it’s got Apple’s aesthetic written all over it. Bright white keys jut out of an unblemished slab of aluminum and all possible extraneous lines are nowhere to be seen. Even the power light is somehow hidden when it’s off, disappearing into the aluminum frame. God only knows how they pulled that one off.

That aside, style is one of the least important aspects of an input device. This is a keyboard, after all, not a desktop sculpture! Though Apple might disagree, the keyboard is first and foremost a functional device, and without that functionality intact, it’s worthless.

Fortunately, the Apple Wireless Keyboard doesn’t disappoint; it’s just as wonderful to type on as it is to look at. Here’s why:

The keys

If you like laptop-style keys, you’ll most likely feel comfortable with the Apple Wireless Keyboard. In fact, you’ll probably love it if you’re a fan of the MacBook’s keys, since they’re pretty much lifted straight from the MacBook itself, right down to the flat square tops. The keys feel exceptionally firm and responsive, but not clickey or clackey–they’re almost silent, save the gentle tapping of your fingers as they contact the plastic. If you prefer desktop keyboards, especially the really firm old clicky ones, you’ll likely be disappointed, but then again, you’d probably be frustrated with pretty much all laptop keyboards.

The distance between the keys is identical to that of the MacBooks, and it feels perfect to me. There’s usually a period of adjustment to a new keyboard, but I was able to type quickly and accurately on the Apple Wireless Keyboard within minutes of using it. For about 20 minutes after that, I would occasionally type commas instead of periods, but that subsided soon. Overall, the keyboard is extremely pleasant to type on–it’s well-sized, quiet, and firm. Really, what’s not to like?

Some novel decisions

The Apple Wireless Keyboard is not your average desktop-keyboard-with-the-wire-cut. It has no numeric keypad. And no dedicated back-delete, page up, page down, home, or end keys. And laptop-size arrow keys. And function keys with hard-coded software and hardware features. And a command key that’s finally labeled but without the apple symbol.

Either way you look at it, some radical decisions were made with this keyboard. Everybody loves to bitch about its lack of a numeric keypad, and I’ll admit I was skeptical too. Spreadsheet jockeys will rightly complain, but I’d be willing to bet that 99% of them have full-sized wired keyboards, and this device is not aimed at them–not by a long shot. It’s supposed to be super-light and ultra-portable. Besides, typing numbers without a numeric keypad is hardly the living hell it’s made out to be by the keyboard’s detractors.

And the truth is, this keyboard is better off without it. With no number pad, a whole 6.5 inches is shaved off compared to my previous wired keyboard. The weight is also lowered pretty heavily–which, coupled with its downright diminutive size–makes the Apple Wireless Keyboard extremely portable.

Why is this important? When the keyboard is so small that moving it around is practically effortless, you’ll do so more often. Repositioning the keyboard is something that most people don’t do that often, and it’s a shame. By doing so, you give your wrists and hands more variety, which cuts down on RSI. It also encourages you to move the rest of your body around a lot, since your input device can come with you.

For example, I often lean way back and turn the font size up when I have to do some heavy reading, and now I can effortlessly take the keyboard on my lap to scroll up and down. This enables me to sit farther back, reducing eye strain. It also fits much better in my cramped workspace, whose keyboard shelf is slightly too narrow to comfortable accommodate a full-sized keyboard with a mouse next to it. The Apple Wireless Keyboard fits like a dream in such less-than-spacious environs.

Basically, the keyboard is the epitome of portable. Throw it in a backpack, stick it on your laptop bag, move it around your desk as you change posture, because this keyboard was made to move around, and its extreme mobility is one of the most compelling reasons to buy it.

Where are you, page down?

The lack of dedicated page navigation keys seems like it would be a huge issue. In fact, the biggest problem I’ve had with the keyboard so far was that upon first setting it up and starting to type, the fn key didn’t trigger any of the alternate features of various keys. For example, holding down the fn key while tapping the down arrow did not scroll the page down like it does on my MacBook Pro’s laptop keyboard. This was worrying, as page up and down, back-delete and such functions are ones I use quite frequently. Fortunately, I remembered that Apple issued some sort of “keyboard update” recently, so I fired up Software Update and sure enough, there it was. After the install and a tedious restart, the hidden functions sprang to life. Also, Home and End are fn-left and -right, respectively.

Had I not been aware of this update, I would never have searched for it and would have had crippled keys until Software Update opened on its own in a few days. Either Apple should include a driver CD or have Software Update open automatically when a new Wireless Keyboard is plugged in.

Either way, after this minor annoyance, my fn key began working and now I can indeed page up and page down using the arrow keys. Keyboard mavens may scoff at having to depress two keys rather than one one to access this functionality, but it’s really almost nothing, and furthermore, it’s consistent with what you have to do with Apple’s laptop keyboard, so I can synchronize my muscle memory to it.

Speaking of consistency across keyboards, Apple made some changes from the tried-and-true layout of their laptop keyboards–sometimes at the expense of this consistency. First of all, the Enter key that’s directly to the left of the arrow keys on Apple’s laptops has been replaced with an Option key on the Wireless Keyboard. This is a handy change, since an Enter keystroke can still be simulated through fn-return, but the Enter key could not previously be remapped to Option. I use the Option key far more often, especially for navigation while typing, so this change is especially welcome for me.

A more peculiar and arbitrary-seeming decision concerns the alternate functionality of the F keys. Previously, F3 through F5 controlled volume; they’re now F10 through F12. A set of media keys to control iTunes have been made out of F7 through F9, where they controlled external display preferences and keyboard backlighting on MacBook Pros. F3 now toggles Exposé’s all windows mode, and F4 invokes Dashboard.

None of these functions are unwanted or inappropriate–especially the iTunes media keys, which are a welcome addition–but Apple’s decision to make them controlled by hardware rather than solely assignable through software is unexplainable. Furthermore, it breaks muscle memory with the real laptop keyboards; while the iTunes media keys are great, they should be present in the other keyboards as well! Perhaps the repositioning on this keyboard is a harbinger of layout changes in upcoming Apple laptop keyboards; who knows? For now, the change is just arbitrary.

Wo-wo-windows¹

Snags were immediately encountered as soon as Windows entered the equation. I dual-boot my machine to play Windows games, and I figured I’d take the opportunity to test the keyboard’s performance on The Other Side. Sadly, the results were terribly disappointing.

Upon booting up Vista, I opened the Bluetooth control panel to set up a new device. At first the keyboard didn’t show up, and to my chagrin, I realized that it wasn’t turned on–an easy mistake, since the power light doesn’t stay on continuously. Remedying this, I re-scanned and this time the keyboard was found. But during the next step, the signal was lost! I turned it on again, frustrated that the light didn’t stay on all the time. This time I got to the pairing process, but the keyboard didn’t like any of the passkeys Windows offered up. I tried typing in one I defined myself, but had no luck.

At this point, I basically tried random things. I would type gobbledygook until the “I’m ready!’ text bolded itself, then type the passkey, but in that case Windows reported a generic passkey error. I honestly can’t remember what it was I did to get it paired and working, but the keyboard was working after about 15 minutes of futzing. Sadly, my success was short-lived, since the signal was extremely weak and keystrokes lagged. Depressing the caps lock key killed the connection altogether. Every. Single. Time. Sigh.

I’ve read that some have been able to get it working, but nothing I could do worked. This is terribly saddening, since it means I have to keep my old keyboard around for when I use Windows, which practically defeats the point of getting a new one. I guess I should have known better than to trust Windows to figure out an Apple product.

The verdict

As long as you like laptop keyboards, can live without a numberpad, and avoid Windows as if it were on fire and trying to hug you, the Apple Wireless Keyboard is a dream. That may be a lot of ifs, but if you fit, you’re going to love this keyboard. It’s beautiful, innovative, and it really raises the bar for wireless keyboards. Just stay in OS X!

1. I pity those who get this reference. No really, you don’t want to know. [↩]

This entry was posted on Friday, October 19th, 2007 at 10:11 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.