Around this time the PowerBook and iBook also had translucent keys in bronze, then black for the PowerBook, and white for the iBook. The Pro Keyboard featured slightly translucent black keys with a clear case. While the iMac keyboard was compact, it was replaced by the full-sized Pro Keyboard in July 2000.

The iMac also began the use of USB connections instead of ADB.

This iMac came with a translucent, plastic keyboard modeled after laptop technology. October 1998 marked another pivotal moment in the history of Mac keyboards with the release of the first iMac. Cream Damped Alps switches were also known to be present in Apple Extended Keyboard II. Cream Damped Alps switches were brought back to life in the form of the Matias Quiet switch, which is similar. These switches are sometimes mistakenly thought to have rubber dome switches because they are so quiet and have a high tactile point. Small rubber inserts on either side of the slider dampened the sound by lessening the impact at the end of both the downstroke and the upstroke. Its slider had a cream color, and it was tactile and rather quiet. The Cream Damped Alps was the most common switch in the Apple Extended Keyboard. Switches in Apple and Mac Keyboards Cream Damped Alps There were various styles of keyboards during this period, such as the extended keyboards, which were a competitive response to the features of the IBM PC Advanced Technology.Īpple II, especially the Extended Keyboard, featured many different types of switches. Throughout most of the 1990s, Apple increasingly diversified its keyboard offerings. The PowerBook was notable for a slight aesthetic departure by having a dark gray “smoke” color rather than the standard platinum color. Equally notable is that during this period these keyboards connected through the Apple Desktop Bus (ADB).ĭuring this same time, Apple IIe, IIc, and PowerBook maintained integrated keyboards. The platinum gray color lasted until the middle of 1998. The end of 1986 harkened a new aesthetic era from a color perspective as all Apple keyboards became platinum gray. Macintosh Plus also completed the brown/beige color era of the keyboards. Then, in 1986, the Macintosh Plus brought the numerical keypad back into the alphanumeric assembly and this design became the standard for all subsequent Mac keyboards.

The Macintosh, first released in 1984, separated the numerical keypad from the alphanumeric assembly-both connected to the PC via modular cables. The mid-1980s saw some back and forth in Apple’s keyboard design.

Older model apple keyboards