Apple Adjustable Keyboard (M1242) review (Alps SKFR white)
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- Опубликовано: 5 мар 2020
- Skip to 7:08 for a typing demonstration.
This week we look at the Apple Adjustable Keyboard, AKA the AAK! This is Apple's split-ergonomic keyboard from way back. Made by Apple, it doesn't have the more common SKCM switches, but instead SKFR, which is a first to the channel.
My keyboard reviews: bit.ly/1TbOtft
My switch teardowns: bit.ly/2C1QGHz
My TOP X videos: bit.ly/2FmpZfd
My XL typing demos: bit.ly/2OoAW3w
My tutorials and featurettes: bit.ly/2OrkLUh
My unboxing videos: bit.ly/2TSrr0m
I'm Thomas and I do videos and reviews on mechanical keyboards ranging from the most sickening modern RGB gaming keyboards to vintage hardware relics, or sometimes keycaps or keyswitches ranging from Cherry MX to Alps SKCM to IBM buckling springs and anything in between.
Follow me on Twitter for updates on my keyboard videos! / chyrosran22
The practice sentence was: "Hello my name is Thomas and I'm typing on an Apple Adjustable Keyboard right now. This is horrible to type on, the switches are much worse than you'd think. Fuck it!" 
Наука
Please talk at my funeral.
My Saturday morning routine:
Wake Up
See Notification for this Video
Make a Cappuccino
Watch Video and be Happy
then go back to life and Be Sad.
Started watching your videos about a month ago and I've been binge watching them ever since. I honestly never thought any other switches existed besides Cherry MX. I've definitely found myself a new hobby. Love your vids. Humorous yet very informative.
Glad you're enjoying the videos :) .
Split ergo and apple. Your viewers definitely know what you like :p
thats crazy, they added like .5u to the left side instead of trimming .5u off the right side. thats a massive left shift
Those Nipple-y F-Keys are... unique. The original Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard was my daily driver long ago (before they messed up the nav cluster and arrow key layout) before I switched from rubber domes to Maltron & Kinesis with Cherry switches.
Microsoft made good keyboards. I used a Microsoft Internet keyboard for years, and it was one of the least bad rubberdomes I've used --- plus some really nice design; you could undo two screws at the bottom and lift the entire top shell off to stuff in the dishwasher, keycaps included, leaving all the electronics and membranes behind. You didn't even have to unplug it. It was ideal for cleaning.
@@hjalfi Microsoft's "Sidewinder x4" seems to be a fan favorite as far as membrane gaming keyboards are concerned. Except Microsoft keeps discontinuing their loved products.
4:35 As a huge fan of the original xbox this comparison absolutely killed me. One of the funniest things I've heard all week
I started on apple computers/keyboards and was used to the homing bumps on d & k. The first apple to have the homing bumps on f & j was the bondi blue iMac 333Mhz, when they revamped their whole consumer line of products.
I think I'll make the sweariest keyboard possible
-Measured exclusively in imperial units (Metric units will be EXTREMELY hard to calculate)
-Ergonomic
-Comes in a few variants: Mitsumi Miniature; Cherry MY; Smith Corona Leaf Springs; Cherry ML; MEI Switch
-GIGANTIC
-Comic Sans
Early Ergo stuff was so interesting. One of my all time favorite keyboards was the Microsoft Ergo boards. Rubber domes, feel like shit today but I loved that layout.
This was my first keyboard. I still have a weird love for it.
BTW. This actually came out a year or two _before_ the first Microsoft Natural Keyboard
Interesting, I didn't know that!
I love SKCM Alps switches.
Great review man.
The tenting is really needed so that the bones in your lower arm don't cross over each other and create a pain point. I've had this happen to me when typing on a Havit low profile TKL keyboard with the blue switches. That quickly made me switch back to my UHK in tent mode (using browns, sorry), and the pain is now gone again.
About time we get Alps SKFR.
I have a keyboard with SKFR black linears and they are somewhere between MX Red and dirty SKBM.
That's not a good place to be in xD .
If you think this keyboard is ugly, just imagine what it was plugged into.
i own this unit, bought it brand new back in '93, was 300USD. Used it alongside my Ext Keyb II for my Mac II. This unit, the keys have a softer action, a very rounded detent feel. The keys are springy.
A red letter day.... an alps switch that Tom doesn't like :-) Many thanks as always Tom :-)
I'd love a review of the cash-register style keyboard from the Commodore PET.
Far from a connoisseur like you but I liked the one I had, it looked cool for the time & was fairly comfortable opened up.
You didn't mention tabs in back to raise it, also I can't recall but is it USB or ADB?
the homing bumps on Apple keyboards are one fo my favorite features so... I guess I'm all alone!
Great to see on a lazy plague day in Italy reviewed one of my flowers. Unfortunately, my switch underneath the spacebar is almost gone, having no return.....Just not to mention the tendency to turn yellowish. Mine underwent a first retro-bright turn. Anyway, happy to write this on my new Focus 5001A not yellowed at all. Thanks to you I am getting developing the FK craze... but the road ahead is so long, I dont' know if i'll keep my pace. How many of them in your belongings?
Focus keyboards? Quite a few. One 727, one 747, two 555s, a 1001, a 2000+, two 2001s, two 2002, two 3001s, two 5001s, a 6000, a 7000P, two 8000s, two 9000s, a 9400, and a FP-21 numpad. So 22 in total. I believe I have one of the biggest collections of different Focus boards in the world - and I barely even bothered to collect any 3rd gen models xD .
Lazy plague days for all!
@@gyozakeynsianism There are already plague days here too xD .
@@Chyrosran22 Aaaaaand here too. Great. We all have plague days now. Do I regret my words? A little ....
I can feel the sadness in your voice having to give genuinely bad impression to Alps.
Nah, Alps made really bad switches too xD . I don't really have huge brand loyalty, just love for specific switches :) .
Do you think these Alps switches are salvageable with lube? This keyboard got stuck in my mind after seeing it in the hackers (1994) movie so I have thought about owning one (as I have thought about owning a lot of the computer stuff in the movie).
Wow, I just bought one new in box just a few months ago.
Maybe you should southpaw this setup? Seems like it was intended that way, with the connectors set up like that.
Hey man what linear switch would you recommend im currently building my first keyboard. I have novelkey creams and red inks on hand rn and im wondering if there are any other better linear switch i should pick up
Not that would be compatible with your build, I think.
I need this
Im ngl the bump on D and K is quite nice to use sometimes
I'm calling these switches "Alps S-Fuckers". I know, it's a bit of a stretch, but if you swap a few letters around it makes sense
"It sucks ass".
Instant like 😂
Gotta say chyros you should totally give split boards a try, I thought I would hate a split board but It took almost no time to get used to and I almost now prefer it over a regular one.
I've reviewed several before xD .
ah yes, return of the king
Review the matias mini quiet pro
are these better or worse than integrated dome
I feel like most ergo boards are just using placebo effect most of the time.
Especially the concept of "tenting". That doesn't look terrible comfortable. If anything, some of this *hyper* ergo boards are just a excuse to charge Topre levels of pricing for their keyboards.
The Lexmark split ergo with tenting at any angle was the best of them all, speaking from experience. I owned one of those, and used most of the rest. Most ergos put the top row 6 key on the wrong side for traditionally trained touch-typists. Lexmark and few others got it right. The Lexmark could be setup with each side at a different angle, matching the resting angle of your wrists - most people have a different resting/neutral angle to their wrists. You only have to relax your forearms while letting them hang straight down, then flex only from the elbow to bring your forearms up to a 90 degree angle, and look at what angle your wrists are at. My right hand has a steeper angle up than the left, and the Lexmark could accommodate that neutral wrist angle. Tough as fuck to get used to typing at that angle though, when I'd been banging away at Selectrics for decades beforehand.
If these sort of keyboards won't do, time to bring out the kinesis advantage 2!
Haha, just wait and see xD .
Apple Engineering at its' finest.
Would you be able to desolder the switches and replace them with SKCM switches?
No, the mount and pinout is completely different, unfortunately!
Those micro switches are AMAZING compared to apple butterfly switches. The micro switches have more travel and are WAY more tactile.
Sounds good at least
"They suck ass." Loved that.
I have a question for you Thomas ; Is there a decent, yet older Apple Keyboard, that can be converted for modern IBM compatible/microsoft PC? I like the idea of the older Apple Logo compared to the bullshit they have today. I am also wondering; Will you review some of the Cold war/espionage type keyboards/consoles - the ones that look like they come from military/government facilities etc (Eastern BLOC & Western BLOC country Keyboards between the 50-80's), if you have anymore? Of this, I like those type of Keyboards and would love to own one that I could use for my PC. Consequently, I also like the look of those computers that look similar to servers used in the above mentioned time frame too. Cheers for the video bud :-)
The M0116, AEK, and AEKII are great classic Apple boards, and run off of ADB which can be converted pretty easily. I've done Eastern Bloc keyboards before, including a Soviet one and a DDR one not long ago :) .
@@Chyrosran22 I was actually hoping you had a few more Soviet/Western BLOC military Keyboards etc. Cheers mate :-)
I'd really want a TDXL of this keyboard so I can decide if I should pick up one of these or not😂
I'll put it on the list! xD
Someone told me that Apple HAD to design this because the state of California was only allowed to do business with manufacturers that also produced ergonomic gear, and at the time there were a couple of big contracts being doled out (education mainly, think Berkeley/Stanford and so on). I haven't been able to find much about that online though. Can anyone confirm or deny?
Jeez. I have one of these and it's terrible. I can't for the love of god understand how they are so mushy. I was planning on donating it to you but I thought mine was really dirty and worn out because the feel of the switches just didn't seem right.
The sound test isn't that bad but imagining what actually pressing the keys must feel like ruins it
2017 Butterfly switches are legit better feeling than MX browns. They're all bump with just the slightest amount of travel both ways. In that regard, they're actually good and nowhere near as bad those crappy plastic-on-dome microswitches.
Unfortunately their average lifespan is like 20k presses or something.
Straight away that cable socket placement is pissing me right off.
Interestingly enough,even tho I hate everything about all generations of apple keyboards,at least I will give them credit that they tried with Extended.
Also fun fact,this keyboard kinda reminds me of that weird-ass steel series rubber dome board from way back in the day.
The AEK is a great board! Easily their best work in the field.
Remember that crazy Mad Catz modular keyboard that had one too many things be reconfigurable? That was peak madness imo. Though tbh I wish there still was a modern keyboard still being produced that did the things the S.T.R.I.K.E 7 could do.
Apple, and proper ergonomics, now that's an oxymoron if I ever heard one, and this board just proves it 10 times over, as anyone into ergonomic keyboards, and mice would NEVER use it.
I actually don't mind these switches too bad
I've got a complete one of these things too. Was hoping it would be worth a million quid by now, but alas, no. LOL!
ty ti tiu tiu tiu tiu tiu tiu tiu 0:05
Oh no, that'll have ruined the market! Now I won't even be able to sell mine for decent $$... :-(
No imperial conversion this time? I was on the edge of my seat to hear how many donkey ass hairs it weighed. Great video, as always.
Wow, I couldn't even make it through that typing demo. That keyboard just sounds terrible.
bue-e-e
It actually doesn't sound that bad. It's a shame that it feels like absolute shite.
You haven't tried butterfly switches yet? Oh man. You need to. They are absolutely fucking horrible. It's exactly like typing on those microswitches, but somehow with even less travel.
hey first view
1/10 not enough swearing
Didn't come with a waning ;) . But don't worry, in a few weeks I'll show you something REALLY bad!
@@Chyrosran22 I'm looking forward to it.
@@Chyrosran22 please!
I'll be sure to measure your anger in imperial units
This keyboard is not ergonomic!
Ngl that close up on your hands was kinda gross.
Apple's overrated industrial design strikes again.