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Testing Apple's New Standalone Touch ID Keyboard With an M1 Mac
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Apple's Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad with Touch ID has the intermediate columns containing the F13-F15 along with the cursor keys. The one he is talking about has the numeric keypad but the cursor keys are compressed into the qwerty section side of the keyboard.
No, it isn't. Look closer
. I'd like a keyboard WITHOUT the middle section that usually contains the separate cursor keys/page up/page down area. A full size keyboard is broken into 3 sections, I don't use the middle section but still would like a numeric keypad.
That's all well and good if you use the Macbook standalone often. But if you're hooking it up to an external monitor and keep the MacBook in "clamshell mode", the whole Face ID thing becomes redundant. I doubt Apple are willing to work with third-party manufacturers to produce Face ID compatible external webcams or monitors with Face ID webcams built-in.
I don't get why a non-portable keyboard needs backlighting. Do you use it in an unlit office or something. I mostly touch type but even when I have to look for things like the function keys, my office is lit and I can see just fine. On a portable there are situations where you might not have control of the lighting and in that case backlit keys is handy but in my office, I'll just turn on a light.
The top of the line version is nice and all, but unless it jumpstarts my Keurig at 3:00AM when I get up to get ready for work, $179 is more than I'd pay for one.
Got it.No, it isn't. Look closer
Keyboards aren't just used in well lit offices.
MOST of the time it works though. Enough to not need a touch-id keyboard.
Do you bring an external keyboard on the road with you with a portable computer? Seems like most people are going to use these in an office type setting.
That really depends on how the keyboard feels. The keyboard built into my M1 MacBook Air is my favourite keyboard by far in feel, way ahead of the previous external magic keyboard. I'm currently using that older external with both by swapping which MacBook is plugged into the Thunderbolt display.
I suppose the article is right that it doesn't really matter as either way I'm probably getting the new keyboard in a few months. If it isn't great on the Intel MacBook, I'll just swap keyboards as well and actually use BlueTooth for them.
It depends on how “most” it is for each individual.
I used to work with developers who would actually hiss if anyone turned the lights on and throw a major tantrum a few minutes later. Dim offices are real.
Not correct. You can use Apple Watch unlock and TouchID on the same machine at the same time. I've got it set up on my M1 MBA. Either works.
Personally don’t need it that often but would welcome the option when I’m using it at night. But obviously it’d need an option to at least turn it on/off at the very least. There are plenty of keyboards that have these options though.
Nope. I can speak from experience that other than logging onto the Mac I am still required to type my password every time I want to access locked documents or use auto-fill password on safari. The Apple Watch is NOT authorised to authenticate this. In any given session I am inputting my password 3-4 times despite wearing my unlocked Apple Watch. There’s no way around it. The Apple Watch does not substitute a Touch ID button
For me the Apple Watch solution is fine, but it's not nearly as seamless as Window's Hello.
But, for a mobile solution, the watch is probably better.
If you plug it into your Mac with it’s lightning charging cable, then it behaves like a wired keyboard
I use it at home, sometimes in the dark as to not wake anyone when I have to work on an on-call problem.
Not everyone has the same situation.
Small home? No office or other separate work area from a sleeping area? Again, if you are using a portable then the backlight is useful in just such a situation but these aren't portable keyboards.
So far we have cranky developers and people with very small homes. Not sure that constitutes more than a small niche. On the other hand the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad (rolls off the tongue) cost me almost $200 so I'll go with: for that price, it probably should have keys backlit.
How dark are you really thinking of though? It's night time here, I just turned off my office lights and can still clearly see the lettering on my Apple keyboard just from the ambient light from my monitor... even in dark mode, before anyone asks.I used to work with developers who would actually hiss if anyone turned the lights on and throw a major tantrum a few minutes later. Dim offices are real.
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It's not just for unlocking your Mac, it's also for all those other times where the OS wants you to authenticate.
It's also pretty cool if you have multiple users with individual profiles on the same Mac - you can switch profiles automatically just by the new user touching the sensor.