As part of what I can only describe as the result of some sort of nerdy midlife crisis, I purchased a used Apple Extended Keyboard II.

Why The Apple Extended Keyboard II

The Apple Extended Keyboard II was a favorite keyboard of my youth that I acquired along with my least favorite Apple computer, the Power Macintosh 7100. Because I am actually not super picky about keyboards, I would often switch back and forth between this and other Apple keyboards that came with newer Macs. At some point using the keyboard required an ADB to USB adapter and the one I acquired turned out to be a lemon. By the time my interest got around to trying again with a different adapter, my precious keyboard (like the comics and baseball cards of those before me) was sold at a tag sale by my parents. Now over a decade later, my interest had reached a new peak with the added curiosity of whether my love of the Apple Extended Keyboard II would hold up after all these years.

About This Keyboard

This keyboard was purchased used on Ebay. It arrived in a very clean and good condition with the one exception that the space bar was sticking ever so slightly. Some investigation revealed that the dampeners had become sticky with age and replacing them with a couple layers of electrical tape seemed to do the trick. I am using it with a 2016 MacBook Pro using a homebrew-ish adapter, also acquired via Ebay.

My Impressions

First things first, is this keyboard as good as I remember? In short, yes. Typing on this Apple Extended Keyboard II feels as great as ever though I can’t quite say why. In researching this, my guess was that the keyboard’s now obsolete keyswitches made by the company Alps were the main factor. Fidgeting with the more common Cherry MX keyswitches affirmed this notion in that none of the varieties felt right to me. That said, I have also had the benefit of trying some of the very nice tactile keyboards from Matias and even those didn’t quite meet my expectation despite using Alps-based mechanical keyswitches. Now after typing on the real McCoy for the last week, I think I know why. The tactile experience of any keyboard is more than just the switches. Many describe mechanical keyboards in terms of their clicky-ness, but typing on this Apple Extended Keyboard II isn’t just clicky. It’s some combination of clicky, clocky and even ka-thunky. Keyswitches can only account for so much, and so the materials and acoustics of the keyboard itself are important¹.

This brings me to another aspect of using this keyboard (and probably other mechanical keyboards.) Keys on modern chiclet style keyboards have a very uniform tactile feel, which is to say that all of the keys feel and sound pretty much the same when pressed, short of maybe the spacebar. By contrast, the tactile feedback of this Apple Extended Keyboard II varies. The smallest keys used for letters, numbers, etc… feel and sound and feel different from, say, the delete or return key. Even keys of the same size have developed a different timbre seemingly based on use. While subtle in most typing scenarios, the sound from the QWERTY keys is markedly different than that of the numpad². While I could see this driving some folks nuts, I find the additional feedback both satisfying and helpful for reinforcing hand position³ while typing (though I can’t say if I am accidentally hitting the return key any less.)

While I love typing on this Apple Extended Keyboard II, using a keyboard designed nearly 20 years ago does have one notable downside for me — it’s size. I’ve heard some talk glowingly of how big and tank-like their favorite old keyboard is, but personally I prefer the diminutive stature of recent Apple full-size keyboards⁴. First there’s its footprint. I measured this Apple Extended Keyboard II at 18.5 inches wide and 7.5 inches deep. By comparison, I measured my USB Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad at 17 inches wide and 4.5 inches deep. Those paying attention will notice it ain’t the width that’s the problem. While probably out of necessity at the time, this keyboard feels comically deep by today’s standards. Related to this depth, a design decision (ubiquitous for its time) is the seemingly spiteful extra spacing between the function row and the rest of the keys. You could argue that the spacing is there to guard against accidentally performing a function when intending to type a number or hitting delete, but the function row also includes the escape key, which is itself spaced apart from the rest of the function keys. I can’t help but think that putting an escape key on an island today would draw ire.

The other dimension worth discussing is the Apple Extended Keyboard II’s height. Whereas laptop keys sit comfortably as the same level as the palm rest, the bottom row of this keyboard sit a good inch⁵ off my desk. In my decades of computing, I have never considered a palm rest because they usually feel awful and inevitably become the grossest thing on a desk despite sitting next to an already gross keyboard. That said, the Apple Extended Keyboard II has me wondering if I should get a palm rest. While the height could be explained by manufacturing limitations at the time, the design treats tallness as something desirable. For example the keyboard is inclined, so subsequent rows gradually get higher to the point where the function row sits at nearly 2 inches off the desk. If that weren’t enough and like most (if not all) keyboards of its day, the Apple Extended Keyboard II can be inclined even further (through a clever sliding mechanism) to raise those function keys to just under 2.75 inches. The people of the late 80s wanted tall keyboards for reasons I can’t fathom⁶.

Final Thoughts

Unlike other daring keyboard connoisseurs who seem willing and able to try the latest mechanical keyboards on a whim, I was intent on buying a mechanical keyboard I would actually use rather than just as a mere curiosity. To that end, my concerns with buying a used and nearly 20 year old Apple Extended Keyboard II all stemmed from the fear that I wouldn’t use it, either because of its condition, or because it didn’t live up to my memory, or even because it turned out I hated typing on a mechanical keyboard after years of scissor (and butterfly) switches. Thankfully, this keyboard arrived in great condition, it does live up to my memory, and I truly love typing on it.