Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#101

Post by rxyz » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 5:14 PM UTC

charrondev wrote: post #4

I’m assuming it’s not possible for it to include a fingerprint sensor? As much as I’d like a mechanical keyboard for my Mac that’s always the part that gets me. I end up using the one my Magic Keyboard 20+ times per workday. Otherwise it looks beautiful.

20 times a day? You know you can disable touch id for simple password autofill

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#102

Post by red_hare » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 5:16 PM UTC

deepsun wrote: post #99

Well, for programming it's not convenient -- no Insert/Pageup/Screenshot buttons.

15 years of mouse-free professional programming and never in my life have I touched these.

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#103

Post by naikrovek » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 5:16 PM UTC

Andrew6rant wrote: post #68

ary wrote: post #49

To everyone who is about to pile on regarding the lack of a fingerprint sensor: you know it's not possible, we all know it's not possible, the creator of this project knows it's not possible. What are you adding to the conversation when you complain about it? So it's a dealbreaker for you, don't buy it. To @aemerson_: Congratulations on taking a risk. On first look this is great work. The attention to detail on both…

Fingerprint sensor is technically possible: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=120964.0 CC @gtsteve

fingerprint sensor is easily done. Touch ID-compatible fingerprint sensor from someone other than Apple is not possible as I understand it.

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#104

Post by aselimov3 » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 5:17 PM UTC

This is so sick. I'm almost convincing myself to get it but I feel like I would really miss my 36% keyboard with multiple layers too much. Still tho...

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#105

Post by gaigalas » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 5:17 PM UTC

I was really excited about Altar I, but no shipping to Brazil, so I gave up on it. Nice to see the idea continues (consider worldwide shipping would be my only feedback on the idea, I guess).

I now own a Logitech MX Keys S and I'm quite happy with it.

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#106

Post by naikrovek » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 5:17 PM UTC

red_hare wrote: post #102

deepsun wrote: post #99

Well, for programming it's not convenient -- no Insert/Pageup/Screenshot buttons.

15 years of mouse-free professional programming and never in my life have I touched these.

30 years of professional programming and I touch "Home", "End", "PgUp", "PgDn", "Ins", and "Del" every single day.

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#107

Post by f311a » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 5:19 PM UTC

deepsun wrote: post #99

Well, for programming it's not convenient -- no Insert/Pageup/Screenshot buttons.

Why do you need screenshot button for programming? How many times do you press it? You can just use fn button for that.

People are programming on a 36-key keyboards just fine and they don't miss any keys. It's easier to press fn + something than reaching out for screenshot button, which is usually far away. That way, you don't have to move your hands.

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#108

Post by ndiddy » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 5:19 PM UTC

The thing I find most attractive about mechanical keyboards is that they send a keypress when a key is only partially pressed down. When combined with the tactile bump and audible click created by actuating the key, this means that typing on a mechanical keyboard is much less fatiguing than using a rubber dome or laptop keyboard because you're only pushing the key down partially until you feel the bump and hear the click rather than slamming your finger into the bottom of the keyboard. Does your keyboard still have this feature even with the slim profile?

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#109

Post by glitchc » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 5:20 PM UTC

xingped wrote: post #56

Love the design and have also wanted a super low profile mechanical keyboard like this! I have one question though - what is the travel or activation distance of the keys? The one thing I actually like about the magic keyboard or Microsoft's designer keyboard is that the "click" is immediate and the entirety travel distance of the key is the activation bump. I dislike any amount of the "extra" travel distance (I'm no…

What you are referring to is called the pre-travel distance. There are mechanical key options with very short pre-travel, such as the Cherry MX and Kailh Silver switches. They're mainly used for gaming.

https://keychron.ca/blogs/news/kailh-mechanical-switch-guide

Re: Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard

#110

Post by charlesrice » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 5:21 PM UTC

rckclmbr wrote: post #32

Love the keyboard, looks solid. Out of curiosity, why did you make the numbers so big? It looks like an intentional design choice and I don’t know if I like it, but I’m wondering if there’s reasoning behind it that could change my mind

Yeah it seems like if they wanted to make it appeal to Apple people they would make it more consistent and subtle. It's all so clean and then the numbers look like they came off a special calculator for people with failing eyesight.