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Best Keyboard

What Keyboard should i get for my MacBook Pro (using MX Master 3 and Magic Trackpad)

  • Logitech MX Mechanical Keyboard (with numpad)

    Votes: 20 48.8%

  • Apple Magic Keyboard (with Numpad and TouchID)

    Votes: 21 51.2%
  • Total voters
    41
tstafford said:
No. Doesn't feel anything like a laptop keyboard. So much more travel, resistance and report. MX Keys is like a laptop but better.
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Gotcha. Thanks for all your help! Maybe I’ll give er a whirl soon. Those keyboards are reasonably priced, relatively speaking.
 
Sully said:
If you want to look at mechanical keyboards, I saw one that I would try if didn’t have a mechanical already. It’s called the Wombat Pine Professional. The manufacturer has been in the business for decades and it looked like it had a lot very cool features.

Wombat Pine Pro
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I've surprisingly never heard of this brand. They have some really great looking boards. Thank you!
 
Most will recommend a wireless Keychron if you want mechanical. Otherwise your options are something from Logitech or Apple
 
I have a range of external keyboard for use with my Lenovo ThinkBook (work), iMac and iPad Pro.

- Apple Magic Keyboard 2
- Logitech MX Keys (full size)
- Logitech MX Keys Mini
- Arteck

My preference is the MX Keys Mini - I have 3 of them now (FB Marketplace!), accompanied by an MX Master 3
 
I started with the Magic Keyboard with numpad, gone to the full MX keys wich was amazing, like a better magic keyboard besides some bugs on the light which the apple one til today still don't have, and after it broke picked a Keychron K3, wich is fantastic, I only miss the flow function to go between my windows and mac machines and sometimes the numpad, but price point (79USD ) and typing feel makes it a way better deal than the logitech at 99USD, the new mechanical MX keys seems nice, but too pricey.
 
I have no problem typing on the Apple Magic Keyboard, and unfortunately I can't even consider any other brand because:
  1. Apple is the only one who can provide a TouchID key. I can't believe how many times per day I use to unlock something, etc.
  2. Apple is one of the few who does NOT put the stupid freaking FN key in the bottom left corner of the keyboard, thereby disrupting 40+ years of muscle memory. This alone eliminates 90% of the KB market for me.
  3. Apple is one of the few who offer a full 19 FKeys across the top and I use every single one of them for shortcuts. I hate when manufacturers use four to seven of those keys for stupid things like Bluetooth switching or an LED to tell me it running low on charge, or whatever else.
  4. I really like the full sized Inverted T Arrow Key configuration with the extra space around them. I use the arrow keys a lot, and I rarely look at the keyboard so it makes it easy to feel where they are.
The only thing that irks me about the Apple keyboard is the lack of backlighting and the darn lightning connector that forces me to keep yet another cable plugged in for quick/easy charging when I already have a USB-C cable plugged in at the ready for everything else.

If Apple would license the TouchID technology to Logitech, I would be using the MX Keyboard to type this right now.
 
I thought I liked Apple's Magic Keyboard until I tried Logitech's MX Mechanical Mini. I thought I liked Logitech's MX Mechanical Mini until I tried Keychron's K8 Pro and K3 Pro. End of story.
 
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Gregg2 said:
No, not until you've tried Das. ;)
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klky said:
I thought I liked Apple's Magic Keyboard until I tried Logitech's MX Mechanical Mini. I thought I liked Logitech's MX Mechanical Mini until I tried Keychron's K8 Pro and K3 Pro. End of story.
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I researched the forum for keyboard options and didn't see Das mentioned and never thought about them. I assumed they didn't make a Mac version. I ended up buying a Keychron K4 Aluminum frame, Brown keys V2. I use a Das Model S Pro keyboard on a windows machine. I like them both but wish I had known to look at Das. I would prefer full size, 96% on the K4 looks a little cramped but it is not that noticeable in use. The Model S Pro for Mac looks great, the Das Keyboard MacTigr looks amazing. I work in low light at times where lighted keys are helpful and I'm sure I will be OK with the Keychron. It is a very nice keyboard.

​

 
I just got the MX mechanical Mini in both the tactile and the clicky version. I agree with some of the other commenters here that the brown/tactile switches are little to subtle. After having tried the clicky/blue switches as well, the clicky ones are so much better to type on, even though it's the same keyboard in every other way.

I still think the Magic Keyboard is really good for what it is but typing on the mechanical keyboard is just a lot more fun, especially with the blue switches it. It makes me look forward to typing away that much more. also, since I have an Apple Watch, I don't really need the touch ID since I can use my watch for authentication anyway.
 
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ssgraphite said:
I just got the MX mechanical Mini in both the tactile and the clicky version. I agree with some of the other commenters here that the brown/tactile switches are little to subtle. After having tried the clicky/blue switches as well, the clicky ones are so much better to type on, even though it's the same keyboard in every other way.

I still think the Magic Keyboard is really good for what it is but typing on the mechanical keyboard is just a lot more fun, especially with the blue switches it. It makes me look forward to typing away that much more. also, since I have an Apple Watch, I don't really need the touch ID since I can use my watch for authentication anyway.
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This is where I'm at too. Blue switches. My membrane days are over.
 
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Keychron K5 all the way! The Magic Keyboard is great and having Touch ID is so damn handy, but I’ll sacrifice the convenience for the mechanical any day. Cheaper and (I think) better built than the Logi plus has that sweet RGB.
 
Toutou said:
I’m a little confused now, that’s exactly where the Fn key is.
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I meant, OTHER keyboard manufacturers seem to always want to put the fn key in the bottom left corner (which disrupts muscle memory). Apple is one of the few that doesn't do it on their full-size keyboards.

Sorry, I thought it would be clear that I'm talking about FULL-SIZE, EXTERNAL keyboards. Their small external, and built-in MacBook keyboards all have them in the lower left (which is why I don't use the small keyboards, or the built-in keyboard on my MBPro unless I have to).
 
Apple Magic Keyboard (no numpad/touch id) for me. I've tested the full-size MX mechanical someone uses at the office and owned various mechanicals like the Realforce Topre Hi-Pro. The Magic Keyboard is, for me, the most comfortable to use. The MX felt great but I didn't love the layout and I'd probably need a wrist rest to use it without straining my wrists. I don't know its configuration, I'd say it felt/sounded like an equivalent to cherry browns.
 
My favorite keyboard is the apple keyboard.

My second, is the Logitech G915 keyboard I think clicky. What an amazing keyboard.
 
MacGizmo said:
Sorry, I thought it would be clear that I'm talking about FULL-SIZE, EXTERNAL keyboards.
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Not to split hairs but you basically made a blanket statement that apple never puts the fn key on the lower left corner on their keyboards

MacGizmo said:
Apple is one of the few who does NOT put the stupid freaking FN key in the bottom left corner of the keyboard, thereby disrupting 40+ years of muscle memory. This alone eliminates 90% of the KB market for me.
Click to expand...
 
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As a long time Mac laptop user (my primary machine has been a Mac laptop since '03), I opted for the compact Magic Keyboard without TouchId with my new Mini. I use both machines equally, and enjoy the consistency in feel going from one machine to the other.

I knew from using the full sized wired 'chiclet' keyboard with my iMac that a full size keyboard was a no go for this machine. Putting the trackpad to the right of the full sized keyboard didn't agree with me ergonomically, so I would use it below the keyboard in a laptop style configuration. This worked well with the old battery powered trackpad. The new trackpads are too wide to use in this manner, but placing it to the right of a compact keyboard gets along with me.

Kudos to all those that enjoy mechanical keyboards, but I have no desire to go back to the days of long key travel. I type slow enough as it is, I don't need to spend more time pressing keys. I know I'm in the minority for it, but my favorite typing experience was the butterfly keyboard (when it would actually work).
 
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