Linux Kernel Getting Better Support For The Apple Magic Keyboards

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Linux Kernel Getting Better Support For The Apple Magic Keyboards

The Magic Keyboard that was introduced by Apple in 2015 is seeing improved Linux support with a new kernel patch that's pending...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Apple-Magic-Keyboard-Linux

[uid313]

Seems like a pretty shitty keyboard. Looks very uncomfortable to write on.

I use a Fnatic Gear mechanical keyboard (with Cherry MX switches). Much better.

[sverris]

These crippled arrow-up and arrow-down keys really are MAGIC.

[LaeMing]

Are these keyboards anything like the Apple premium 'Magic Mouse' which, in our labs, we habitually replace with dollar-store mice which will actually work on a beige melamine desk surface!

(Someone(s) actually stole two of the lab Apple mice before the $3 upgrades arrived. SERIOUSLY!!! WHY??????)

[molecule-eye]

The only good thing about this is that it helps out the poor saps who are forced to use Mac hardware at work but are smart enough to replace macOS with a respectable OS. I was in this situation where tax-payer money (education) was wasted on the purchase of well over 15,000 euros on just a handful of gigantic iMacs that were used for writing LaTeX and Word documents! I mean seriously! (Don't even get me started on the ergonomic nightmare that iMacs are for the workplace.)

[L_A_G]

Seems like a pretty shitty keyboard. Looks very uncomfortable to write on.

I use a Fnatic Gear mechanical keyboard (with Cherry MX switches). Much better.

Having used Macbook Pros as my main personal machine from 2007 to 2015 I've become quite fond of Apple's keyboards to the point where both my Linux box at home and Windows box at work use Apple keyboards, albeit the now out of production predecessor to the current ones. I've bought two of the damn things this year, an old stock one to replace one that I'd had for a decade before suffering a spill too many (literally just cleaned it under the tap every time) and one second hand one for the work machine. Had the new keyboards been reasonably priced, which they aren't, I'd have gone for one despite the minimal key travel and downright gag-inducing name.

As for the retro keyboards that have become so popular among people who think too much of themselves, I consider them overpriced junk. There's really no reason for keys that almost have a whole inch of travel apart from when you just want to make loads of noise. Had to put up with sharing an office with someone who uses a set and man was it great when we moved to separate offices and I didn't need to put up with the racket it made anymore.

[aorth]

For what it's worth, the patch's author also recently helped improve the quality of the magicmouse driver for the Magic Trackpad 2 on Linux. It's currently working with Linux 4.18, but is still an out-of-tree DKMS module:

https://github.com/robotrovsky/Linux-Magic-Trackpad-2-Driver

[uid313]

As for the retro keyboards that have become so popular among people who think too much of themselves, I consider them overpriced junk. There's really no reason for keys that almost have a whole inch of travel apart from when you just want to make loads of noise. Had to put up with sharing an office with someone who uses a set and man was it great when we moved to separate offices and I didn't need to put up with the racket it made anymore.

Xiaomi just launched the Xiaomi Gaming Keyboard which is an affordable mechanical keyboard for around 43 USD.
Mechanical keyboards are different loud. The Cherry MX Blue switches are loud, while the Cherry MX Red and Brown switches are less so.

[Sonadow]

I spent more than $1000 trying out all manner of keyboards (mechanical, buckling spring, rubber dome, scissors, etc) just to find the types that I am the most comfortable with and in the end it comes to the following:

- Logitech Craft (which was a tremendous waste since the Crown does not function under Linux)
- Logitech K800 backlit wireless keyboard
- Logitech K750r solar powered keyboard
- Logitech K810 bluetooth backlit keyboard

Coincidentally, all four of these keyboards feature scissor switches, which I find to be superior to the mess of other switches out there today. It also helps a lot that three of the four keyboards (Craft, K800 and K810) have multi-device switching which allows me to use the keyboard with three different devices (my laptop, tablet and phone) with the flick of a button. The Logitech unifying receiver will be used to connect my keyboard to the laptop, and the tablet and phone connect to the keyboard via bluetooth. No need to pair / unpair across devices.

The downside is that Logitech's keyboards are crazy expensive; they cost more than a high-end mechanical keyboard. the Craft cost almost $300 (more than a frigging Topre!) whiel the K800, K810 and K750r all cost between $110 - $150.

As this point of time I have yet to find any other keyboard with scissor switches as comfortable as Logitech's. And I find mechanical switches to be complete crap. Cherry blues, greens, reds, blacks, Gaterons, Kalih...they all just feel terrible to type on. And Logitech's Romer G switches take the crown for the worst mechanical switch ever.

[rbmorse]

I like my Topre. Feels great, slightly noisy and appears that it will last forever. It was expensive, but I view that more of an investment than an expense. OTOH, the spousal unit is still pissed that I would spend that much for a keyboard.