Aluminum Apple Keyboard
Apple Aluminium Keyboard

Apple keyboards, to me, have always been pretty much perfect - the weight of the keyboard, the travel and response of the keys - they all just suited my typing style right down to the ground. So much so, that I tend to have one hooked up to whatever Windows / Linux machine I might be running.

Having experienced the previous 2 generations of keyboards (the black key, the new designed white key), I was eager to see if the latest offering was as finger friendly as it's predecessors.

Firstly, overall asthetics - It's brushed aluminium case and white keys give it a truly modern look, yet the keys themselves - individually raised as they are - remind me of the old Spectrum 48k with it's rubber keyboard (the MacBook keyboard is very much the same).

Despite the keyboard being almost impossibly thin, it feels solid and weighty, and doesn't move around the desk as you're using it.

It takes a short while to get used to typing on it if you're coming from the last-gen keyboards. The keys themselves feel like they're further away from each other than on previous keyboards, but in actual fact they're not - its just an illusion caused by the keys being much more flush to the base. I did find that this perception caused me to compensate for the positioning when I really didn't need to, thus giving me the odd mis-type. I got over this pretty quickly, however.

The travel on each key is less than on previous models, however there's still a definite response to each key, and a faint typing noise to let you know that you've struck home with each press.

As in all modern apple wired keyboards, it acts as a mini USB hub, allowing you to plug your mouse and any other bits into it. You'll also find, as previously, that by default it doesn't provide enough power to run Pen Drives etc.

The positioning of the USB ports caused my first issue with this keyboard, however it was only a shortlived one - They've moved back onto the sides of the keyboard, as opposed to the back where they were on the last-gen. This meant that when I plugged my mouse in, I realised I'd gotten used to having the wire routed around my desk in a different way, and it caused some clashes between the mouse and the cabling.

This, of course, is a very small issue - a bit of wire adjustment and I was back on track...still, it was a problem, so I'm mentioning it.

As per usual, you're provided with a USB extension cable with the keyboard. And as per usual, it will only work to extend a Mac keyboard, thanks to its non-standard USB port.

One thing about this keyboard that I'm not sure I'm going to like is that Apple have opted to move some default keys. The volume controls, which for years have resided above the numpad, are now on F10, F11 and F12. However, these keys are already mapped (by default) to the Expose window controls, so until I load the drivers for the new keyboard, I'm without Volume control.

The annoyance here isn't so much that I have to load new software to get these keys back, it's more that they've moved, and it's a new position I'll have to get used to.

The same applies to the Eject button, which is now located above the BackSpace key.

The plus side of this arrangement is that there are now default media keys - Play/Pause, Skip Back and Forward, and Expose (now on F3) and the dashboard (F4) now have their own icon'd buttons. There are also an additional 4 function keys.

As per the last-gen keyboard, there is no option to adjust the tilt of the keyboard, however I found the positioning perfectly find to work on without discomfort. It's probably fair to say that the new, lower profile of the keyboard can only help comfort on long typing sessions.

There is one final annoyance about this keyboard; barely a few hours old, it has an ever so slight wobble because it's not sat quite flush on the desk.

I do mean slight - it's not something i can even feel, but there's a definite rocking noise when I am working on the left side of the keyboard.

I've only had this keyboard a short while, indeed this review is the first bit of real typing I've done on it other than reply to emails, and generally I'm impressed. It looks and feels great, and the keyboard is actually very nice to use for sustained typing. Within a couple of hundred more words, I fully believe I'll be back up to my normal typing speed.

Times gone by, I justified my Apple purchases because the equipment was top notch, extremely well built, and utterly reliable with emmense attention to detail. This keyboard feels just short of that mark, however you could probably say that about most of Apple's gear since they set their sights on the mainstream.

Was it worth the £29 I paid for it? Purely as an un-needed upgrade, probably not. My other keyboard worked fine, so the only advantage I have here is a nice, shiny modern one. With small bugbears.

However, if my old keyboard broke and I needed a replacement, I'd be just as happy with this one as I would be with the last-gen - it's just a nice to use with no major flaws.