Having a great keyboard matters more to me than debates about operating systems or computer brands. I can use Windows, Linux, or macOS and get my work done. I can use Word, WordPerfect, LibreOffice, Scrivener, MarsEdit, or whatever else will save documents in the format wanted. Yes, I have preferences when it comes to operating systems and software, but it is the keyboard that concerns me most.
If you want to skip the long explanation of why I am passionate and what I want in a keyboard, here’s the summary:
The best keyboards for typists are made by Matias and Keychron. Sure, that’s my not-so-humble opinion, but I type enough each day that I know what does and doesn’t last. I know what does and doesn’t handle high-speed typing, too. If you want complete control of the keyboard feel and customization, buy any Keychron hot-swappable model. If you’re a professional writer using an Apple computer, buy the Matias Tactile Pro.
I use a Matias Tactile Pro. It’s the best Apple-specific keyboard I’ve ever owned.
People who don’t write 36,000 words per week dismiss my claim that a keyboard is the most important computing hardware I buy as hyperbole. How can I possibly care more about a keyboard than one of the important tech religious wars?
Some of the reasons I care about keyboards likely arise from my age and experiences. I like typewriters, especially the electric typewriters I used in high school and college. I learned to type on a Brother typewriter, a gift from my aunt, and IBM Selectric models located in school classrooms.
Even electric typewriters required significant force on the key caps to actuate the keybars. There was a wonderful “snap” or “clack” when the keybars would strike the platen. Today, who remembers the names of the typewriter parts? The IBM Selectric with swappable “type balls” or “elements” (sometimes called “golf balls”) were mechanical marvels.
The famous IBM XT/AT Model M keyboards defined typing for me. I retained a Lexmark Model M and kept using it until 2002, moving that keyboard from computer to computer. The long cord coiled, which kittens found fascinating. That Lexmark keyboard was heavy and notoriously loud. I’ve been searching for a twin ever since.
My fingers are accustomed to locating “home row” by the raised bumps on the “F” and “J” keys. I don’t know when keyboards added those bumps, but I certainly appreciate them. I also rely on other features: the concave shape of key caps; the double-wide Return key; and the wider Control, Alt/Option, and Command keys, on both the left and right-hand sides of the spacebar. I want a ten-key for data entry, an inverted “T” cursor pad, and full-sized function keys across the top. I don’t want a cramped keyboard.
Writing, or more accurately typing, for hours on end requires a good workspace with attention to ergonomics. Typing strains the back, shoulders, neck, arms, and hands. Poorly positioned screens lead to all sorts of neck pain. A keyboard that’s too high or too low might contribute to carpal tunnel syndrome.
Why a ‘Mechanical’ Keyboard?
I have tremors and a palsy. They are minor, but they can interfere with typing. Using a mouse can become difficult, too. Instead of using the mediocre keyboard of my MacBook Pro, I’d rather dictate my words. The MacBook Pro has the worst keyboard I’ve used since the Atari 400 membrane keyboard. (More on the nightmare that was butterfly keys later.) If I am experiencing any uncontrollable movements in my arms or hands, I end up with two and three copies of some letters.
With a good mechanical keyboard, my minor tremors and shakes don’t matter. You have to strike the keys firmly. That need for force prevents unwanted double-taps and other typing problems.
As a touch-typist, I rely on the tactile feel and audible clicks of a mechanical keyboard.
A good keyboard has a click you can feel, a tactile “bump” you notice when the key passes the point at which strokes are sent to the computer. Why does this tactile feedback matter?
As a student and scholar, I often type quotes from papers, articles, and texts. I will have the text off to my left on the desk. I type as I read the words. I might type 500 words without checking my word processor window. I also transcribe, though software transcription is steadily improving. As with copying a text passage as I read along, I want to focus on the words I hear and type automatically. I don’t look at the keyboard or the input window.
I use Descript for some podcast transcription, which works well. However, even with 95 to 98 percent accuracy, you have to fix some of the resulting transcript. Let me focus on editing, not locating keys or wondering if I struck them.
Use the Force
Mechanical keys feature an Activation Point, also known as the Operating Position. This refers to the point at which the key press becomes a signal recognized by the keyboard and then the computer. The mechanism’s Actuation Force is the numeric measure of the force required at the moment of activation. There are “soft” and “hard” keyboards.
Some mechanisms require little force, causing a typer like me all sorts of headaches. But, minimal force is often preferred by gamers looking for fast responses. The Actuation Force is measured in centinewtons (cN) or grams-force (gf). For keyboard buyers, just think of these as roughly equal because 1 cN is nearly equivalent to 1 gf (1 cN = 1.02 gf).
The Mechanisms
Most physical keyboards are mechanical, even the horrible “bubble dome” and “membrane” keyboards that I came to despise on early home and school computers. So, what do gamers and writers mean when they mention “mechanical” keyboards and Cherry switches? And how do Cherry and Alps switches differ from standard keyboards?
That 36,000 words I type weekly adds up to 1,872,000 words annually. If the average word is five letters, then I’m typing more than 10 million keystrokes each year, including spaces and punctuation.
Cheap keyboards are rated for… 10 million keystrokes, at best. A good keyboard might be rated for 50 to 100 million keystrokes per switch. Yes, “e” and “space” might die first, but only after a ridiculous amount of abuse. I’ll gladly pay $75 to $150 for a keyboard that lasts five years or more. It’s not uncommon for a quality mechanical keyboard to last ten years. Even if cheap keyboards are “only” $30 each, I’d spend $300 on keyboards in ten years.
Welcome to the (Dis)Pleasure Dome
Plastic, membrane, and rubber dome keyboards dominate today’s cheap keyboard designs. If you are old enough to remember Atari VCS controllers, you’re familiar with dome switches. The domes, no matter what they are made of, eventually collapse and fail to bounce or pop back into position for another click.
Dome switches range from horrible to okay, but never great. Deskthority has an overview complete with close-up photos. The best domes are ingenious designs, collapsable towers that feel like springs. Apple’s scissor and butterfly keyboards are both based on dome switches.
Die, Butterflies! Die!
MacRumors featured a great comparison of Apple’s scissor and butterfly keyboard mechanisms. The scissor mechanism is shaped liked an asymmetrical “X” with a dome in the middle. You press and the X folds down, almost flat. The butterfly is shaped like a very wide, flat “V” with a hinge in the middle. Again, there’s a dome in the middle.
No matter what, the scissor and the butterfly are really just ways to protect and stabilize dome switches. The actuation force of a dome might be as little as 20 gf. Most dome switches are closer to 30 gf. The domes still get mushier and mushier over time.
If you are accustomed to striking keys with some force, the dome keys don’t travel far and don’t require much force. As a result, a fast and firm typist kills the domes even faster than a casual typist might. Sadly, I know programmers who have killed MacBook Pro and Dell XPS laptop keyboards within a year of purchase. Laptop keyboards are mediocre, especially because Apple and other companies keep trying to make the entire systems thinner and thinner.
Dome keyboards with less than 2 mm of travel aren’t going to survive heavy use. Buy a dock and attach a better keyboard to extend the life of the computer.
In the Alps: Domes and Springs
Alps Electric Company, and later Forward Electronics, made a lot of different switch types over the years. One of their lasting designs is known as the “integrated dome” switch. A small plastic case holds a dome that is supported by a metal spring. This design looks a lot like the great mechanical designs, but it’s still a dome switch.
The Alps keys leaped ahead with the Alps Simplified White Switch (SKBM), a wonderful mechanical switch that didn’t use dome switches. The Matias keyboards I love use the company’s own Alps-inspired switch design, crafted by Edgar Matias. I count seven parts in the switch. There’s no dome, but there is a rubber-like sleeve over a spring. Metal leaves do the real work. It’s an elegant design, especially when compared to the original Alps designs.
| Trait | Alps | Matias |
|---|---|---|
| Lifespan | 10 million cycles | 50 million cycles |
| Force | 70 gf | 60 gf |
| Tactile Bump | 1.9 mm | 1.9 mm |
| Actuation | 2.2 mm | 2.2 mm |
| Bottom | 3.5 mm | 3.5 mm |
Cherry Red… and Blue, Brown, Green, and More
German manufacturer Cherry GmbH makes what are arguably the best keyboard switches available. They are the gold standard by which all other keyboard switches are measured. The original Cherry MX switch was released in 1983. The switches just keep getting better. (And, if you’re curious, there really was a Mr. Cherry, the company founder.)
The MX Blue switches are ideal for touch typists, as long as you don’t share space with ten other users of Cherry MX Blue-based keyboards. These are loud keyboards. The “click” is caused by a bump on a plastic sleeve that surrounds the blue or green core. It’s much louder than the Matias designs. MX Green works like MX Blue, but it requires more force to activate the switch. Likewise, MX Grey works like a stiffer MX Brown switch, requiring extra force. If you really, really miss the sound of electric typewriters, buy a keyboard with MX Green switches.
| Trait | MX Blue | MX Brown | MX Red | MX Green | MX Grey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lifespan | 50 million cycles | 100 million cycles | 100 million cycles | 50 million cycles | 50 million cycles |
| Force | 60 cN | 55 cN | 45 cN | 80 cN | 80 cN |
| Tactile Bump | 1.8 mm | 1.3 mm | NA | 1.6 mm | 1.3 mm |
| Actuation | 2.2 mm | 2.0 mm | 2.0 mm | 2.2 mm | 2.0 mm |
| Bottom | 4.0 mm | 4.0 mm | 4.0 mm | 4.0 mm | 4.0 mm |
The Keychron keyboards I love are based on the MX Blue switches from Cherry or you can order substitute Gateron Blue clones, which aren’t quite the same. The Gateron clones offer a compromise between Cherry quality and price. The Gateron travels a bit further before it clicks than the Cherry switch does, and the Gateron requires less force even though it’s also rated for a 60 gf actuation.
Matias
If you type a thousand or more words per day, and you are an Apple computer user, buy a Matias Tactile Pro. If you want a good keyboard for any computer, visit the Matias website and buy whatever design appeals to you. I paid $159 for my first Tactile Pro in 2015. After six years and millions of keystrokes, it was starting to have problems. I considered switching to Keychron for my primary keyboard. In the end, I preferred the layout and key sizes of the Matias.
If you want the best modifier keys, those special keys we use constantly instead of a mouse or trackpad, the Matias wins. There simply isn’t a more Mac-like keyboard made by any company, though the Macally BMKEY comes close to the original iMac keyboard design.
I really do use the “Alt” key for the “Alternative layout” of the keyboard. I press Alt-bracket and Shift-Alt-bracket for double quotes out of habit from using the earliest versions of Aldus PageMaker. I still instinctively press Alt-G for the copyright symbol, too. Em-dash and en-dash? Alt-key is my friend. The Matias keyboard has the symbols on the keycaps. Not everyone likes that or considers it a feature, but I love it. (If you want to see cluttered keycaps, look at the keys on an old Commodore 64.)
I never understood the mixing of navigation keys with the number pad when I used DOS or Windows systems. The Matias keyboard has the navigation keys where they belong. I don’t want to toggle “Num Lock” or try to remember various Control or Command key combinations. Home and End keys should do what they suggest: the top of a document and the end of a document. I like having two delete keys, with different functions, too.
It’s rare that I reach for the trackball or trackpad while typing. I am a keyboard user and I don’t want to take my hands away from the keyboard. Give me all the keys, right where they belong, and I’m more productive. Thank you, Matias, for delivering the ideal Mac layout.
The tactile bump and click of the Matias switches, the Alps-inspired design, feels more natural than the bump and click of a Cherry-style switch. I don’t know if the design is better or not. Only the old Lexmark Model M keyboard lasted longer than a Matias keyboard under heavy use. The Matias switches are rated for 50 million cycles, so we’ll see if the newest Tactile Pro outlasts expectations.
My suggestions for the Matias team are minor. I’d switch to a true USB-C cable, for example, but I understand the flexibility of including a USB-A/C adapter instead. I’d also add backlighting for the keys. I don’t need to look at the keyboard often, even when I type at night, so that’s a minor and probably pointless quibble for other writers. When I work at night, I prefer to have minimal lighting and the backlight can help locate some of the special navigation keys.
When I ordered the new Tactile Pro, I included a note telling the company how upset I had been when the first keyboard started to fail. I had to swap it for an old, yellowing, Apple aluminum slim keyboard. After doing the calculations, I realized the Matias Tactile Pro keyboard exceeded its rated mean time to failure (MTTF). I considered trying to replace the switches that were failing. I wrote to Matias Customer Service:
I did what I could, from removing the keycaps and cleaning to carefully trying the alcohol idea. I watched a few YouTube videos before trying that with the ALPS style switches (I know it works with Cherry Blue keys).
Though I was able to get some keys working better (2, 8, and u), I couldn’t get others working properly (3, -, and ;).
The Tactile Pro has been my favorite keyboard. In fact, I’ve written about it on my blogs and in my monthly newspaper column. It’s a Mac user’s best choice, especially for those of us
still using Alt-key combinations for typography. Temporarily using an Apple “chiclet” keyboard and I dislike it intensely.Matias and Keychron are the only great Mac keyboards. And your service is the best.
I received a nice note from Steve McGowan, the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Matias Corporation. I was impressed that an executive would take time to write a personalized email to me. He even responded to my suggestions for future models. (Full disclosure: I received a customer loyalty discount on the new Tactile Pro.)
Matias keyboards aren’t cheap and I realize they aren’t for everyone. Still, if you type for a living buy a Tactile Pro or its sibling, the Quiet Pro.
Keychron
For any non-Apple computer, and even for most Apple users, I recommend Keychron’s wireless and wired keyboards. I don’t want or need a Bluetooth keyboard, so my recommendation is the Keychron C2 with hot-swappable key switches and white backlighting. It isn’t a pretty keyboard, but that’s not how to choose a keyboard anyway.
The appeal of the Keychron C2 is that is can be customized. Change the key caps. Change the switches. With “hot-swappable” switches, you can change switches to any Cherry-style switch, from any manufacturer using Cherry-compatible pin-out patterns. If a switch dies, replace it. If you need some switches faster than others, install some MX Red linear switches for those keys. Some gammers like to install MX Red arrow keys with MX Brown letters. Whatever you want, you can do it with the Keychron C2.
The keyboard that made Keychron famous must be the K1. I’ve used a K1 and I liked it a lot. The Keychron K1 is an amazing wireless keyboard. It isn’t hot-swappable, so if a switch dies or you want to change switches you would have to bravely tear apart the keyboard. There are Keychron wireless hot-swappable models if you want to customize a Bluetooth keyboard.
The K1 is interesting because it’s great wired or wireless. It has a long battery life and works with everything. I’m not one to put a keyboard in my lap and I’m not using a keyboard to play games on our television. My daughters might appreciate one of the wireless Keychron models, but a cheap Logitech keyboard is good enough for kids.
Other Good Keyboards
If, and only if, I had to buy something other than a Matias Tactile Pro or a Keychron C2, I would consider keyboards from Satechi or Macally. I own gear from both companies and am pleased with the quality. The Satechi Slim W3 Wired Backlit Keyboard is beautiful and an improvement over the Apple keyboards currently included with the iMac.
The Macally BMKEY is a backlit full-size mechanical keyboard, also with backlighting. The Kailh mechanical switches (Cherry Brown clones) feel a bit soft to me, but they work well in shared office spaces. I dislike the Macally keyboard layouts. Something is wrong with the key widths. There’s also a silly “save” key that I don’t understand, located where I strike Control.
For me, it’s Matias or Keychron. Ask my wife. When I hate a keyboard, I complain about it.