A1016 Keyboard Deprecated in Monterey?

[Optic_Delusion]

I never liked the chiclet-keyed keyboards and have stockpiled old A1016 plastic keyboards. Replaced my 2014 iMac with an M1-2020 Mac mini and there were no problems. Upgrading to Monterey 12.1 did not immediately cause problems. I'm not sure of the exact date, but around New Years day 2022 I started having connection issues. Eventually my KB would not connect at all. Bluetooth control panel would show the KB, and the button for "connect", but then it sends no numeric code to complete the connection.
OK, try some of the others? No Go. Now the bluetooth control panel won't even recognize that a keyboard is attempting to connect, on any of my A1016 KB's. I even have a new-old-stock A1016, and I unwrapped it and put in batteries. Still No-Go.
Disappointed, to say the least. Can anyone confirm that I'm living in a deprecated world?

 

[Bobbesteijn]

I never liked the chiclet-keyed keyboards and have stockpiled old A1016 plastic keyboards. Replaced my 2014 iMac with an M1-2020 Mac mini and there were no problems. Upgrading to Monterey 12.1 did not immediately cause problems. I'm not sure of the exact date, but around New Years day 2022 I started having connection issues. Eventually my KB would not connect at all. Bluetooth control panel would show the KB, and the button for "connect", but then it sends no numeric code to complete the connection.
OK, try some of the others? No Go. Now the bluetooth control panel won't even recognize that a keyboard is attempting to connect, on any of my A1016 KB's. I even have a new-old-stock A1016, and I unwrapped it and put in batteries. Still No-Go.
Disappointed, to say the least. Can anyone confirm that I'm living in a deprecated world?

After upgrading my Mac mini m1 to Monterey 12,2, worked for some day's without any problem then my magic KB en touchpad aren't recognized any more, can't connect both of them and Bluetooth control panel won't see them. Have to use a wired keyboard and mouse to get working with the Mac mini M1!!!.

 

[Optic_Delusion]

Hmm, I had checked for OS upgrade before posting, and didn't see one, but after you mention it, there it is. So now I'm on Monterey 12.2.
Re-tested, and none of my five A1016's will connect including the new-old-stock one. The control panel will show the hex code, so it sees the KB is attempting to connect, it just won't make the proper handshake to pair.
I'm having no problems on any of my many other bluetooth devices, including apple mice of the same vintage. My one apple aluminum KB does connect. I guess at the HQ they had no A1016 KB's with which to test.

What's weird is it didn't happen directly after the 12.1 upgrade, it started just at the new year. Which leads me to believe that Apple did this on purpose.
Looks like the first Apple aluminum KB (A1255) arrived on August 7, 2007. Is anybody interested in a new-old-stock A1016?

 

[SalisburySam]

…Apple did this on purpose.

Of course they did. Apple does everything on purpose. Things that go “ooops” in the wild get fixed in the next release…software development today.

 

[owlface]

I hope not. I have just downgraded my mac mini to Big Sur again so I can use my beloved A1016 again. Any way of finding out wether Apple takes notice of our misgivings?

 

[headlessmike]

I cannot imagine that this was an intentional move to disable old keyboards (isn't it just a "standard" Bluetooth keyboard after all?). I use the wired A1048 as my daily driver and it works fine in Monterey. My old Cinema Display from 2004 still works as expected in Monterey, it even has a nice icon in the "About This Mac" window. Have you tried reporting the problem to Apple (https://www.apple.com/feedback/)?

 

[owlface]

Yes, I have. "Don't expect a reply" is the default message.

 

[Jhonjhon236]

Old thread I know but it is pretty high in Google search results so I feel that I should answer it. I sent an email to Craig Federighi and Tim Cook as I could not find any information online and I got a call from an associate the next dday confiming that it was depreciated in Monterey. There are workarounds that you can search up but it is offically depreciated. I dont understand why you would depreciate a standard bluetooth keyboard but it is Apple so you never know with them. ☹️

 

[Heindijs]

I have the same keyboard and the fix is to first install blueutil via Homebrew, then pair it by inputting the mac adress of your keyboard (if you don't know it, you can first connect it to another device such as an older Mac to see it in the bluetooth menu) and after pairing it with blueutil, you'll be able to pair it in system preferences.

It may be a bit fiddly at first but it'll stay paired even after reinstalls or OS upgrades.