Reviews for Apple Wireless Keyboard - English

I like the tactile response from the keys. Areas to improve:

* numeric keypad
* home/end/page up/page down keys
* backlit
* a wrist pad for better ergonomics

I'm not planning to use this for all-day use so I'll manage without these things, but Apple should consider!

31 of 37 people found this useful

Overall this is an excellent keyboard. Small enough for easy transport and what not but large enough to use comfortably. My biggest qualm is the lack of a number pad. I am very used to having a number pad and the lack of it drives me crazy sometimes.

25 of 26 people found this useful

It is certainly in the tradition of the ultra thin iPad and works wonderfully, what I would like to have however is a nice miniature brief case to carry and protect the iPad, the keyboard and the charger, something like a computer bag but compact. One has to consider these items as durable yet delicate especially when traveling. My biggest issue, once you put your iPad into the case, the iPad docking station is useless as Apple did not take into account the case would not fit into the dock. Anyone want a used dock? Lastly a design change I'd like, put another power port on the left hand side of the iPad so you can dock it horizontally for a better wide screen while viewing movies, you can't do this with the power port on the bottom.

27 of 30 people found this useful

Bought the original (3 battery) version of this in April this year; very annoyed to find it's now $20 cheaper and uses one less battery - my version is now more expensive (lithium batteries aren't cheap) and more wasteful to run. It's great that Apple keeps improving its products, but frustrating for customers who invest in (overspend on?) peripherals that outdate so quickly. (Apple's "Mighty" Mouse is another example - can't even buy the wireless version anymore.)

That said, I don't regret the purchase - it's made my work this year a lot more pleasant. Love the size and shape, the tiny footprint, the look, the quietness of the keys. Adjusted to the flat keys easily, my hands are relatively large for a woman and I don't feel the keyboard is too cramped (though am very used to, and comfortable with, typing on a laptop). Lack of numeric keypad is actually a bonus for me as it frees up desk space and makes mousing more comfortable. I agree with other people's complaints about having to use multi-key combos for various functions - this can be a pain (remembering them, if nothing else), but not insurmountable. I do miss having instant page up, page down keys, etc. It would be handy if Apple provided a quick shortcuts guide along with their keyboards...

Portability is fantastic. I work as an editor so need my desk space uncluttered and easily clearable to fit large pages on - lack of wires is essential, and the ability to just stick this keyboard anywhere - shelf, windowsill, stack of books, lap (though it's a little small for this to be ideal)- and still type is terrific. Or I can pop it in a drawer if I don't need it. Battery life so far has been great, though I'm careful to manually switch it off if I leave the desk for more than a few mins - allegedly it powers down by itself but there's no way to check this for sure, as it instantly "powers on" the second you type (how do you know it hasn't been running the whole time?). I'm still using the three lithium batteries it came with, and they're low but still working almost 7 months later.

Cons
- did initially have some Bluetooth connectivity issues where the keyboard would drop out, or certain keys (but not others) would randomly stop working, but I suspect this was software related. I've downloaded all updates as they've come along and things seem to have been running smoothly the last couple of months.
- the white keys do get dirty, unless you're totally pristine in your computer habits and wash your hands before using it every time! But they can also be cleaned up fairly easily.
- this tends to be a problem with most keyboards, but long fingernails are definitely a hindrance with this one (keep 'em short or go elsewhere!).

Overall, a great decision for me. It loses a star due to the minor glitches I've had with it but mostly to me feeling somewhat ripped off by the Apple machine. Mac users like to believe the hype, on the whole, and good faith has to go both ways...

41 of 58 people found this useful

The new wireless keyboard is great, but i can surely say that the other part on the right (the numbers) was very useful, i miss it.. if theres any way to buy it, separately, i would! :)

24 of 25 people found this useful

Excellent keyboard, but I wish it were full-sized. It types well especially if you are used to apple laptop keyboard and with the magic track-pad, it's a great match-up.

35 of 47 people found this useful

I recently bought at the Apple Store in NY the new iPad and Apple Wireless Keyboard in Spanish to use with my Apple computers and the iPad. The iPad, great! but was disappointed by the keyboard because it does not have a delete key: you can delete letters, etc. backwards, but no letters or anything else to your right, something people who write do constantly. Can someone offer a solution? Thanks.

42 of 62 people found this useful

I would have been satisfied with this keyboard and consider it a perfect one if backlit feature was added.

Out of curiosity, if Apple sneaked in a green little light on a caps lock key, why can't they do same with the entire keys?

33 of 45 people found this useful

Love the look of this keyboard, however there are a few buttons that are missing from it that, coming from a PC, I miss horribly.

These buttons include: Home, End, Delete, (and less frequently) Page Up/Down

Coming from a person that is used to PC's, these are hugely missed. It's much more convenient to be able to delete text backward AND forward, but unless you want to use a combination of keys, you can't do that (which decreases any ergonomics for the keyboard itself)

It's exceptionally compact, which I do like quite a bit. They did scrimp and save a bit on the paint job, though, as it took a tumble off my couch and hit the trim on my wall and scraped the cheap silver paint clean off. It's an esthetic issue, honestly, but still an issue none-the-less.

The battery on this thing is amazing. I've had it since September and use it nearly on a daily basis (though, admittedly, this Mac is connected to the TV, so it's not used AS much as the mouse). This being said the battery is at 75% and I've never had to change batteries yet. It's just nice not having to have a keyboard that needs charging every month.

Back to a bit of bad - the ergonomics are just not there. There's only one position that the keyboard can be placed as there is not levers or height increase flaps. It's not a huge thing as I type on my lap, but if I were doing things professionally, this could be of concern to me.

Like I said before this is connected to a TV, and so I don't do a bunch of this anyways, however you should be aware that they decided to get rid of the number pad to save space / make more compact. I don't miss it, but if you wanted this option then this would not be the keyboard for you. IIRC you *can* buy a num pad by itself, but that would need different batteries, and unless you're doing accounting, you're not going to need it.

33 of 47 people found this useful