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Teardown of the Apple's A1243 Keyboard

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Re: Teardown of the Apple's A1243 Keyboard

#51

Post by suchire »

Hamuko wrote: post #50
citrusybread wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can highly recommend ... not buying the DAS keyboard with mac layout. I have one I got gently used from a coworker, who special ordered it... it's got a sticky spacebar that will random lock up and need to be lubricated; the keys are just printed on ABS so they're already wearing out and they look ugly as sin (plus they get so grimy so quickly). the only pro on this thing is the volume wheel / media keys, and the f…

There actually isn't a Das keyboard with a Mac layout for there are no mechanical keyboards with a Mac layout on sale, period. Trust me, I've looked. So no worries, I'll just buy a Magic Keyboard if mine breaks. Or maybe I'll buy the Matias clone of the A1243.

This isn’t a Mac layout? https://www.daskeyboard.com/daskeyboard-4-professional-for-m...

Re: Teardown of the Apple's A1243 Keyboard

#52

Post by Hamuko »

suchire wrote: post #51
Hamuko wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There actually isn't a Das keyboard with a Mac layout for there are no mechanical keyboards with a Mac layout on sale, period. Trust me, I've looked. So no worries, I'll just buy a Magic Keyboard if mine breaks. Or maybe I'll buy the Matias clone of the A1243.

This isn’t a Mac layout? https://www.daskeyboard.com/daskeyboard-4-professional-for-m...

It's not. The Function key is in the wrong place, the Eject button is in the wrong place and it's removed the F14 and F15 in favour of brightness keys(?).

Re: Teardown of the Apple's A1243 Keyboard

#53

Post by robertoandred »

suchire wrote: post #51
Hamuko wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There actually isn't a Das keyboard with a Mac layout for there are no mechanical keyboards with a Mac layout on sale, period. Trust me, I've looked. So no worries, I'll just buy a Magic Keyboard if mine breaks. Or maybe I'll buy the Matias clone of the A1243.

This isn’t a Mac layout? https://www.daskeyboard.com/daskeyboard-4-professional-for-m...

It says "Backspace" instead of Delete. Heresy.

Re: Teardown of the Apple's A1243 Keyboard

#54

Post by throw-away_42 »

Hamuko wrote: post #27
echohack5 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't widely known, but the Magic2 keyboard can be turned into a wired keyboard by simply plugging in a thunderbolt wire. It will function entirely without bluetooth.

I doubt many people don't like the Magic Keyboard because it's wireless, but rather because it has a different key feel. Although I have an A1243 at home and had a Magic Keyboard at the office and didn't feel like there was much of a difference between the two. If my A1243 failed for some reason, I'd probably just get one of those (since buying a mechanical keyboard with a Mac layout is impossible).

I've had a Matias Laptop Pro for Mac for years and I've been super-happy with it. Mechanical but very quiet. So it wasn't impossible for me, but you might have other criteria that would make it so.

Re: Teardown of the Apple's A1243 Keyboard

#55

Post by Hamuko »

throw-away_42 wrote: post #54
Hamuko wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt many people don't like the Magic Keyboard because it's wireless, but rather because it has a different key feel. Although I have an A1243 at home and had a Magic Keyboard at the office and didn't feel like there was much of a difference between the two. If my A1243 failed for some reason, I'd probably just get one of those (since buying a mechanical keyboard with a Mac layout is impossible).

I've had a Matias Laptop Pro for Mac for years and I've been super-happy with it. Mechanical but very quiet. So it wasn't impossible for me, but you might have other criteria that would make it so.

I don't consider 60%ers real keyboards. Also, Matias' tendency to shorten the Option key on their mechanical keyboards annoys me.

I think the Laptop Pro might also only be available with an US layout.

Re: Teardown of the Apple's A1243 Keyboard

#56

Post by aidenn0 »

nuccy wrote: post #22
nuccy wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, a cup of sweet tea killed my A1243. Water got inside and shortened some pads or tracks, since pressing one key instead generated 3 or 4 others. I tried to dry it with rise and silica gel for weeks - didn't help. Then I tried to open it and that was an excellent example of an Apple product which feels great while it works and has 0 repairability, so is an e-waste when broken. Disassembly of any other keyb…

During disassembly what surprised me the most was that the back plate is really rigid, since that plastic is reinforced with a metal plate. Instead of fixing that plastic-metal assembly with excessive use of glue, some 6-10 screws on the perimeter could produce the same solidity feel. Unfortunately much less repair-friendly and probably more expensive solution was used instead.

As a rule, screws are more expensive than glue for manufacturing.

Re: Teardown of the Apple's A1243 Keyboard

#57

Post by GekkePrutser »

gurkendoktor wrote: post #15

That model, but without the numpad, is still my favorite keyboard (the A1242). I've tried mechanical keyboards for fun, but I keep coming back to this one for the low profile. It was only sold for a year or so before the wireless model replaced it, and it's hard to find them now. What I did was to look for used iMacs from 2010, see which ones have the A1242, then ask the seller to only sell me the keyboard. Based on…

Me too.. I absolutely hate the feel of the newer 'magic' keyboards. Still use the old ones everywhere. The 'butterfly' laptop ones I just can't use at all.

Not surprised these are totally unrepairable by the way. Luckily they rarely need to be repaired.

Re: Teardown of the Apple's A1243 Keyboard

#58

Post by aidenn0 »

marcodiego wrote: post #12

I think keyboards could be more powerful. I remember apple had a keyboard with usb ports[1] and sun had keyboards with speakers[2]. I don't why keyboards can't have some inexpensive useful features. [1] https://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/imac-aluminum-faq/im... [2] https://archive.org/stream/bitsavers_sunsparcSPationVer11999...

Matias still makes apple-style keyboards with USB ports.

Re: Teardown of the Apple's A1243 Keyboard

#59

Post by AltruisticGapHN »

Used them for past ten years, on Windows. So quiet. I used Apple’s drivers to have the nice osd for media keys.

I love how the AAK feels sturdy. It’s one large slab, it doesnt slide easily on the table thanks to the rubber pads. It gives a nice low vibration thud when you type on it, it doesn’t feel cheap.

However i got myself a mechanical keyboard lately. The only issue i have with the AAK is that the function keys have no separation, always need to double check if I’m pressing the right key. For gaming this can be annoying. On many other pc kkeyboards you get f1-f4 grouped, then some space, then f5-f8 etc. so it’s much easier to find them if you eg. need to pres f5 quickly.

Now I’m on a Ducky One 2 TKL with "cherry mx silent red" and what a joke. It?s WAY more noisy than the AAK. The transition was rough... but i start to like it... i guess you can get used to either, the AAK now feels a bit weird.

Anyways, long story to say only after switching away i realized just how nice these "scissor" switches feel. I genuinely never even paid attention to the small resistance of the keys, before they activate.

Re: Teardown of the Apple's A1243 Keyboard

#60

Post by simonbarker87 »

Hamuko wrote: post #18
machello13 wrote: post #11

I've been using this model keyboard for probably around 10 years now. I even have a couple spares sitting in a drawer since they don't make them anymore. * they're very durable (talking normal usage + spilling drinks a few times a year — no stuck or broken keys) * the key labels never fade * there's 2 low-power USB ports (I think USB 2.0?) which aren't good for much, but good enough to plug a mouse into * it's not th…

> talking normal usage + spilling drinks a few times a year I've definitely dumped at least one cup of tea into mine, possibly even more, and it's still working perfect. It's quite bizarre actually.

I dumped an entire cup of tea into a 2016 MPB, it did not survive as well as your keyboard
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