Return of the Mac (mechanical): Vissles keyboard for fans of keeping a low profile

The mechanical keyboard space is teeming with competition. If you're a gamer, a coder, or simply type a lot, there's something for you. But asterisk, dear reader: that's only true if you're wedded to the PC. LP85 full qwerty kb The full LP85 Mac mechanical keyboards are fewer and farther between. And so, when one crosses …

[Sorry that handle is already taken.]

Okay but why the ridiculous name?

[PhoenixKebab]

Low Profile 85 keys?

[elsergiovolador]

Maybe because it's Chinese

[Sorry that handle is already taken.]

Ahh, I misunderstood the statements "Mac mechanical keyboards are..." and "In true Jony Ive style..." to mean this was an Apple product. Whoops.

[Dan 55]

No point in buying a mechanical keyboard if it's low profile

Low profile keys make your wrists do more work.

There are keyboards with full height keys with switchable PC/Mac Ctrl/Win/Alt layout and keycaps, e.g. Keychron, Azio.

[Skiron]

Re: No point in buying a mechanical keyboard if it's low profile

Ummm. I just looked at the keychron things - where's the £ key?

[Fazal Majid]

Re: No point in buying a mechanical keyboard if it's low profile

Option-3 on a Mac. The layout is US-ANSI, but I would assume the crackpot UK layout is available for those who use the ¬ or ¦ symbols on a regular basis.

I can't understand why anyone would take a gamble on this kickstarter during a time of supply-chain uncertainty, specially when the Keychron K7 is cheaper, available with optical switches, a more compact layout ditching the seldom-used function keys in favor of a Fn2 layer, and a track record of delivering.

[druck]

Re: No point in buying a mechanical keyboard if it's low profile

I can understand anyone who does any serious work wanting less keys on a keyboard.

[Liam Proven]

Re: No point in buying a mechanical keyboard if it's low profile

Did you mean "I *can't*?

[druck]

Re: No point in buying a mechanical keyboard if it's low profile

Doh! Yes - I can't understand wanting less keys.

[J.G.Harston]

Re: No point in buying a mechanical keyboard if it's low profile

Fewer keys. But in this case "less keys" is also correct. Waaaayyyy too thin, they need to be at least half an inch tall to be a proper keyboard for proper typing.

[ICL1900-G3]

Re: No point in buying a mechanical keyboard if it's low profile

Fewer!

[Dan 55]

Re: No point in buying a mechanical keyboard if it's low profile

Choose All Products > ISO/JIS Keyboards > UK/International English on their website.

[Skiron]

Re: No point in buying a mechanical keyboard if it's low profile

At a quick glance, #, | and \ are in the wrong place. Best to get a proper UK keyboard.

[Dan 55]

Re: No point in buying a mechanical keyboard if it's low profile

Keychron keyboards come with the UK Mac layout and a some keycaps in a bag which you can swap to get the UK PC layout. I've swapped the keycaps to get a PC layout and set up Mac OS to use the PC layout as well, that way it's easy to switch between the two computers with Bluetooth or a KVM.

You can change between Ctrl/Win/Alt and Ctrl/Alt/Cmd with a switch on the side.

Also, the keycap colour and shape reminds me a bit of a Spectrum +2, which is nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

[{}]

For some reason, probably irrational, I find the [{ ]} labels side-by-side rather than above and below very irritating.

[Dan 55]

Re: [{}]

A side effect of LED backlight keyboards, most switches only let through light on the top (north) side or the bottom (south) side, and so the text on passthrough keycaps has to be all on the north side or all on the south side too.

[Totally not a Cylon]

Optical doesn't always work...

World of Warships players are currently reporting issues with optical keyboards not reporting keys being held down properly....

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Optical doesn't always work...

Probably not an issue with the optical keyswitches per se, but a compatibility issue with the keyboard controller. Ghosting and N-key rolllover have been issues for years, and for keyboards that require a vendor driver, there can be other issues as well. I've been burned enough times gaming that I have scrapped together a set of "driverless" hardware for the machines I game on.

The fiddly ones got shipped off to work, where I don't have to worry about the keyboard driver grabbing the same hotkey combo as the game I'm playing and pulling me out of a full screen game to stare at some pop-up menu while I'm getting fragged in the background.

[arthoss]

"return"

only if you consider the Matias Tactile Pro not to be the real return of the original Mac keyboard, around 10+ years ago, still being sold.

[Liam Proven]

Re: "return"

Can't speak for the author, but I don't.

It's a good keyboard, but it's no AEK, nor even an AEK2.

[arthoss]

Re: "return"

Alright thanks

[Anonymous Coward]

Why after 3 versions of a Mac layout keyboard is there still no fullsize option.

While shorty boards have their merits, at least offering ONE model with a full keyboard layout would cater to the desk jockeys out there.

Apple's are quite expensive, and have their quirks(though the touchID sensor is a potential plus). It seems like at their price point they could match the Apple price or slightly undercut it and still have an attractive margin. Anyone who types enough to have a 10 key/104 layout can appreciate the merits of a "real" keyboard. Seems like the alignment of the markets would be obvious.

[Peter X]

Re: Why after 3 versions of a Mac layout keyboard is there still no fullsize option.

Agreed. There are so many lovely looking keyboards available, but does no one want/need a numeric keypad these days?

[J.G.Harston]

Surely they can't be mechanic keyboards, they're all flat. A mechnical keyboard needs proper keycaps at least half of your proper inches tall and at least a quarter of an inch of travel.

[ps2os2]

Well at least Apple did not try ..

To get rid of the QWERTY keyboard like it did on the IPAD. I tried one and gave up after fighting it too much. QWERTY forever!

I like Apple but this has to be the stupidest Apple attempt in this lifetime.