Keyboards are a very personal thing. What kind of feel do you want/require? Once you know that, people can suggest models. Or if you’re so inclined, key-switch models, after which you can look for mechanical keyboards that use those switches.
If you like the feel of the Matias keyboards, by all means get another.
If you like the feel of Apple’s keyboards, they’re good quality (but a bit pricey) options. All the models Apple sells today are Bluetooth, but you can use them as wired if you connect them to your Mac via the USB charging cable.
And don’t forget that you don’t need a “Mac” keyboard. Any USB keyboard should work just fine. If it’s not recognized by macOS, you’ll be asked a few questions about the positions of certain keys (ctrl, caps-lock, CMD, etc.) and then it will just work. The only downside to a “PC” keyboard is that any specialized media keys (e.g. volume control or media play/pause) may not work without special configuration and/or software on the Mac.
There have been many good keyboard articles/reviews here. You may want to read some of them. Here’s a search for “keyboard”: Search results for 'keyboard' - TidBITS Talk. A few articles that you may find of interest include:
I’m using an original Matias Tactile Pro (from ~2000). I did have a year long affair with a a Das Keyboard Model S, tho, which was almost as nice to type with. Ultimately I stopped stopped using it because of problems with its USB hub.
Am using a Macally slimkey C keyboard that someone on here recommended as a cheap but decent wired keyboard for my iMac. So far so good (a few months in). I miss easy access to mission control is the only downside so far. It’s there but requires pressing fn+f3.
As it turned out, I again bought a Matias Tactile Pro keyboard. Pleased to say I’ve already received it, having just ordered it on Wednesday or Thursday night.
For what it’s worth, my experience has proven to me at least, that the Tactile Pro is far more durable than the Quiet Pro model. I’ve found that while my Quiet Pro isn’t as old by about at a year or two as my Tactile Pro, the Quiet Pro has developed a few dead keys, or switches. Don’t know how easy it is to repair either keyboard, as they both presumably use different switches?
So if anyone else needs a good typing keyboard, and until something better comes along, I’d recommend the Tactile Pro.
Right around the time that Bill Taylor posted about keyboards, my wife’s wired Apple keyboard died and she took mine which lead me down the keyboard rabbit hole. What to get – darn – I wanted it all. I followed David C. Shamino’s links (thank you) and learned about buckling switch keyboards (thanks Josh), more about the Matias Tactile Pro and Adam’s Das Keyboard and then I heard about hot swappable keyswitches from thewirecutter.com. The ability to change out a switch if it stopped working or to change the feel seemed like a great idea. I watched the youtube videos that countermoon posted and of course I wanted to try the different keyboards here in Los Angeles. No such luck near me. I was thinking about buying several and giving my wife one of them. But after several weeks of using a rechargeable Apple miniature keyboard, today I found a new youtube video from David Lee who countermoon referenced for his “best keyboard ever” video two years ago. His new find is the Keychron Q1 (Keychron Q1 QMK Custom Mechanical Keyboard) which has a switch to change between Mac and PC layouts (with dual key cap sets), a disconnectible power cord, hot swappable switches… and I went for it with the Gateron Phantom Brown switches knowing that I can change them down the road if I want or if one breaks. I didn’t even wait to customize my choice of keycaps which will be available for those with more patience. With shipping, I am paying $200 - ouch!. But I figure that I put at least $400 of my time into trying to decide what to get. David Lee’s August 24, 2021 Youtube video is “The Best $150 Custom Keyboard”: The Best $150 Custom Keyboard - YouTube
I will report back as I go.
I got to like the Microsoft Ergonomic 4000 keyboard because of the split between keys for right and left hands, but it seemed to have gone out of production, I settled for a similar-looking keyboard from Kensington. It had a different feel, which threw my typing off a bit, but I soon found a fatal flaw. The space keys kept sticking, filling the line with blank spaces. Repeated efforts at cleaning it failed, and I decided it had to go. This time I was able to find a new version of the wired Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard with the same feel as the earlier one and I’m happily typing away. Kensington agreed their keyboard was faulty and I think they’re replacing it, but I’ll probably put it on the shelf as a spare. The new Microsoft keyboard cost $60, not bad for a surprsingly decent keyboard.
Very few keyboards use the same setup that Apple does in the bottom row, with the edges of the spacebar lining up under the outer edges of the C and M keys, and on laptops or compact keyboards, there is an Fn key at the left edge and those left modifiers are narrower to accommodate it). If the layout discrepancy messes up your muscle memory, then you’ll need to look closely at all your candidates, because it’s much more common to have the spacebar edges line up in the middle of X and comma keys. And the function key (if there is one) could be in all sorts of places.
I have a TKL mechanical keyboard already that I like, but the minor layout differences do throw me sometimes. Are there any mechanical keyboards with the exact same layout as a MacBook Pro 2021 16"?
The Wirecutter is good for feeding into your decision but I wouldn’t take it as definitive. The mechanical keyboard review has information that isn’t entirely accurate, and some of it is about preferences rather than measurable ‘fact’. (I have found this with other reviews of theirs, too.) There is also the question (with any review) as to which metrics are even being considered. With keyboards in particular, the features/performance metrics that are important to each person will vary.
There are more extreme keyboard designs, but they may not be what you are looking for, however. If you will excuse the quick detour…
For those trying to work from “neutral position” (hands/wrists in the same position as they would be when hanging relaxed at your side) there have been a lot of interesting split keyboards that help prevent “exaggerated pronation” and other stress on your hands, wrists and forearms.
Below is the Kinesis Ascent accessory with their Freestyle2 keyboard with either the 9" or 20" separation cable.
In this example, the keyboard is reasonably priced at around $100, but the adjustable Ascent frame is $200, which is reminiscent of “medical equipment” pricing.
Years back my manager had a severe wrist condition and had a nasty carpal tunnel surgery. She had a much more advanced version of this keyboard style that not only split the left, right and numeric pad, but each set of keys were in a bowl shape so the longer middle fingers grazed their home keys with out needing to be held up any more than the side fingers. Each side could also be tilted and pivoted to any angle or height.
Customization was possible to a much greater degree than the Kinesis example above.
Vertical mice are much easier and have more options. One I found works well is the Adesso iMouseE1. This is virtually identical to the more well known Anker model, however Anker’s uses the horrid “fake rubber* coating” that is nothing except bad. I avoid any product with this coating as if it were the most deadly version of the plague.
(* This is a plastic coating used on numerous products like sunglasses, tools, electronics, etc. It is intended to resemble rubber, but is difficult to grip, shows all oil/grease stains and at some random time will de-nature and turn into a sticky, gooey mess that is VERY hard to remove with chemicals. Smooth plastic is always better unless your item is coated with actual rubber.)
