Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

What do you think about the "new" Magic Keyboard?

F

ferencav

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 31, 2019
40
20
I got the new Magic Keyboard (with numerical pad) with my iMac 2019 and I can't seem to get used to it because of the new key spacing and sizing.

The F-keys are the same size as the other keys and the spacing between the enter and delete key is almost identical to the other keys so I don't know where I am holding my fingers blindly. I constantly have to watch where my fingers are.

It sure looks nice, but after 4 days I connected my old one again. What are your experiences with this "new" keyboard?
 
It's not bad in any way but definitely not better than any mechanical keyboard. I just don't understand why the hell there is an eject button after F12. What are people ejecting in 2019?
 
  • Like
Reactions: g-7, tassyk and BigMcGuire
zhu- said:
It's not bad in any way but definitely not better than any mechanical keyboard. I just don't understand why the hell there is an eject button after F12. What are people ejecting in 2019?
Click to expand...

Not sure, but Ctrl + Shift + Eject/Power will turn off all screens.
 
  • Like
Reactions: alien3dx
ferencav said:
I got the new Magic Keyboard (with numerical pad) with my iMac 2019 and I can't seem to get used to it because of the new key spacing and sizing.

The F-keys are the same size as the other keys and the spacing between the enter and delete key is almost identical to the other keys so I don't know where I am holding my fingers blindly. I constantly have to watch where my fingers are.

It sure looks nice, but after 4 days I connected my old one again. What are your experiences with this "new" keyboard?
Click to expand...

I've had mine for just over a year (April 3, 2018), and love it... I don't see any functional difference between this and the short (non-keypad) Magic Keyboard. The keys have decent travel and it 's a breeze to type on.
 
It took me a while to get used to them - I have two of them, one at home and one at the office - and now I doubt I will go back to anything else.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rxs0
I haven't used one myself, but if they are like the butterfly keyboards I want no part in it. I've heard that they are fairly similar in travel.

I do love the old Apple wired keyboard with numeric pad, and the old wireless ones. They feel great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kazmac and Bohemien
zhu- said:
It's not bad in any way but definitely not better than any mechanical keyboard. I just don't understand why the hell there is an eject button after F12. What are people ejecting in 2019?
Click to expand...

Won't that work to eject a disk from an external DVD device?
 
zhu- said:
It's not bad in any way but definitely not better than any mechanical keyboard. I just don't understand why the hell there is an eject button after F12. What are people ejecting in 2019?
Click to expand...



How about using the eject key to remove usb-storages / partitions not only dvd/cd/...?

Doesnt the eject key also work in ios as toggling the keyboard?
 
I like the lower profile for keeping my wrists more level while typing. I also like not having to change batteries. What I’m having a hard time getting used to is the width after having used shorter keyboards for years. I wish the numpad was on the left so the part I use most would be more centered next to my mouse on the right.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigMcGuire and HappyIntro
retta283 said:
I do love the old Apple wired keyboard with numeric pad, and the old wireless ones. They feel great.
Click to expand...

I'm a fan of keyboards with some key travel and a distinct tactile response. I actually loved typing on these old "typewriter style" keyboards with Cherry keys. But then, once I got used to the aluminum wired keyboard, I didn't want to go back to the old ones, and nearly cried when I accidentally emptied a coffee mug over it and couldn't get it to work anymore. Right now I'm typing on a Satechi wired keyboard and like the feeling very much, not so the relative size of the cmd/alt/ctrl keys, that was better on the Apple one, which I would've bought again right away if it was still available new. I also would've liked two more USB ports on the keyboard as with the older Apple one, to plug in my mouse.

So far, trying it out at the shop, I didn't like the new "magic" keyboard, too little travel for my taste, but since I'll get one with my new iMac anyway, I'll give it a try (I kinda like the wireless thing, too). And as others have stated, it's possible that in a few weeks I won't want to go back to the previous keyboards. We'll see! :)
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
  • Like
Reactions: kazmac
Takes a little getting use to. Windows users are a little more familiar with this type of keyboard
 
I’ve returned to one of my old wired extended keyboards, as I found the angle of new magic keyboard with numberpad was at an uncomfortable angle - obviously because I’ve used the wired type for so many years and am used to it.

Glad a bought a batch of end of line wired extended keyboards before Apple stopped selling them!
 
Thanks for all your replies. I guess I have to give it another go to have a final verdict.
 
fisherking said:
always good to reject something without actually checking it out... o_O
Click to expand...
Well I'm not spending $100 dollars on a keyboard anyway... Even if it was the best feeling keyboard ever I won't spend that much. No point in spending a bunch of money on a keyboard if the only difference is feel.

If I hear that the key feel is not similar to butterfly I might pick up a used one in the future.
 
retta283 said:
Well I'm not spending $100 dollars on a keyboard anyway... Even if it was the best feeling keyboard ever I won't spend that much. No point in spending a bunch of money on a keyboard if the only difference is feel.

If I hear that the key feel is not similar to butterfly I might pick up a used one in the future.
Click to expand...

good thing you told us...
 
I'm not sure what you mean by "new" Magic Keyboard as I believe the current Magic Keyboards have been around for a few years now. I have both the full size model and the smaller tenkeyless model. Both are OK, nothing special in any way but looks - they do look very nice. Another very good thing: they are super quiet, which is nice in a quiet office like mine. Like most sub-optimal designs, if you keep at it, you can eventually get used to it. However its overall typing quality is pretty poor IMO, due to too-little key travel and bad key feel overall compared to any quality third party mechanical keyboard.
 
@retta283 It is nothing like the Butterfly keyboard. Completely different.

It took me quite a while to get used to the "new" Magic Keyboard, which has been around for more than 4 years as @HappyIntro pointed out. Given that I hadn't owned a desktop since 2011 and had only used laptops for around 7 years (ThinkPads, MacBook Pro with the old keyboard, MacBook Pro with the new Butterfly keyboard) when I purchased my iMac in April of 2018 I fully expected expected a long familiarization period but in the end it was much faster than I expected. My typing speed was pretty much back up to standard after just a few days again even though I was simultaneously using a 12" MacBook when out and about. Spacing wasn't an issue, it was the keyboard's flatness and the fact that you couldn't raise it at the rear that drove me nuts in the beginning. I ended up stacking up and sticking a bunch of thin rubber feet underneat the keyboard to raise it, then over the months kept removing them one after another, layer after layer.
 
retta283 said:
lol sure bud.
Click to expand...

if you 'haven't used it', how can you discuss it? just seems... funny to me, that people insist on sharing opinions about things they don't know (a movie they haven't seen, a keyboard they haven't tried).

but that's what makes this forum so much fun...
 
the new magic keyboard are not so durable.. got broken key :(... I need to find old keyboard usb..o_O
 
Love the new magic keyboards. Can type really fast on them. Mine has been really durable. It definitely takes some getting used to. I think it helps that I got it after I got my MBP 2017 so I was already adapting to a low travel keyboard.

What sucks is when I go to work and use a keyboard that has a lot more travel, my fingers un-learn how to type on these basically 0 travel keyboards.

I like the new keyboards because I can type on them a lot longer and use a lot less energy than on a normal keyboard. I'll be honest, I miss my 2015 MBA's keyboard.

I initially got the new magic keyboard with a num-pad but I like my mouse a lot closer to my hand so I exchanged it for the smaller edition. I much prefer it.

Like with anything, the more you use it, the more you'll adapt to it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jazz1 and fisherking
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back