Apple Extended Keyboard II Internal Pictures + .gif

gmjhowe · 05 Mar 2013, 19:50

Recently bought one of these, along with a Griffin iMate ADB to USB adapter.
(http://deskthority.net/photos-videos-f8 ... t5300.html)
Someone recently took some nice external pictures that are on the wiki, so these are to compliment those.

: AEKii-Open.jpg (655.87 KiB) Viewed 4352 times

: AEKii-LowerCase.jpg (692.15 KiB) Viewed 4352 times

: AEKii-Circuit.jpg (841.23 KiB) Viewed 4352 times

The AEKII also has this nice Locking Alps switch for the Caps lock, here is both a picture and a little Gif showing off the mechanism too.

: AEKii-LockingAlps.jpg (569.04 KiB) Viewed 4352 times

I also replaced the dampening pads on the space bar while I had all the keys off cleaning, I used this thin fibre like wool padding that I use to prevent light leaks on film cameras. It works great to dampen all the keys with stabilisers, though I took them out from under the Caps Lock as it wouldn't always disengage easily.

: AEKii-NewPads.jpg (536.23 KiB) Viewed 4352 times

I am happy to license all of these photos for use on the Wiki.

Charlie_Brown_MX · 05 Mar 2013, 23:13

Great photos. Personally, the first thing I took out was the grey locking switch, though; I remap Caps Lock to Control, so having it as a locking switch isn’t ideal.

What did you replace the dampening pads with? Mine could probably do with being replaced.

vivalarevolución · 06 Mar 2013, 02:04

I've got an Apple Extended Keyboard with orange Alps. How do you like the Alps on that board? Can you compare it to any other Alps?

Charlie_Brown_MX · 06 Mar 2013, 09:47

prdlm2009 wrote:I've got an Apple Extended Keyboard with orange Alps. How do you like the Alps on that board? Can you compare it to any other Alps?

I’ve got both an AEKI, and an AEKII. I mostly use the AEK, because I prefer the orange switches — they feel slightly firmer, and less ‘soft’ than the cream ones used in the AEKII. The tactile bump is more pronounced, and they’re perhaps a little noisier, but not hugely so.

gmjhowe · 06 Mar 2013, 10:54

prdlm2009 wrote:I've got an Apple Extended Keyboard with orange Alps. How do you like the Alps on that board? Can you compare it to any other Alps?

I only have a dell with black Alps in to compare. However there is a massive difference.

The AEKii has dampened alps, I would say the key feels very similar up until the actuation point.
However on the Dell there is a lot more travel before you bottom out. All this means is that if/when you do bottom out a key it is a lot quieter and requires less effort to do so.

Overall I think the AEKii is better made, it has nicer keycaps, a more sturdy design and more robust feel. Which I am sure ads to the feel. PBT caps, little pads between the plate and PCB, a thicker shell.

That is to say, if I was to put Matias Alps in both keyboards (the dell and the AEKii) I reckon they would feel different.

Because I have two Linear Alps boards now I have ordered some of the Matias Clicky switches, however I am not sure when they are due to arrive in, I bought them as part of a group buy else where on these forums.

maxrunner · 08 Mar 2013, 11:40

Sure would like to try oranges. Are they more or less clicky than blue Alps?

Charlie_Brown_MX · 08 Mar 2013, 13:14

maxrunner wrote:Sure would like to try oranges. Are they more or less clicky than blue Alps?

If you mean clicky as in the sound they make, they aren’t clicky at all: they’re tactile, ‘silent’ switches. The tactile bump is also less ‘sharp’ than on the blues, but still quite pronounced.

Charlie_Brown_MX · 08 Mar 2013, 13:16

gmjhowe wrote:Overall I think the AEKii is better made, it has nicer keycaps, a more sturdy design and more robust feel. Which I am sure ads to the feel. PBT caps, little pads between the plate and PCB, a thicker shell.

That’s been my experience. I use a Dell AT102W at work, and I vastly prefer either AEK to it; the PBT keycaps alone make a big difference.

vivalarevolución · 08 Mar 2013, 17:19

maxrunner wrote:Sure would like to try oranges. Are they more or less clicky than blue Alps?

I think what makes Orange Alps different is that they are lighter than most Alps, non-clicky, but still offer great tactile feedback. They probably are my favorite switch for typing at the moment, and I type on a few different switches.

Perhaps Matias switches are a nicer feel but i haven't be able to try those yet.

Daniel Beardsmore · 08 Mar 2013, 22:16

[quote="prdlm2009"I think what makes Orange Alps different is that they are lighter than most Alps, non-clicky, but still offer great tactile feedback.[/quote]

Whoa … no wonder Dell AT101Ws feel like crap, look at the force curve for complicated black Alps:

http://www5f.biglobe.ne.jp/~silencium/k ... lpssw.html

That is indeed how they feel: a tactile bump followed by one or two smaller ones after it. They're not properly tactile, they just have a lumpy feel.

Orange is indeed the lightest one shown, followed by blue.

I've started swapping out the blue Alps uppers (top shell, return spring, click leaf and slider) from my Tulip ATK 030244 (old bigass-enter keyboard) into my NIB AT102W. The Dell keyboard lacks the deep, warm sound of the Tulip, but it means that I can have a keyboard with proper ISO 105-key layout that is 97% blue Alps, which feel so much better.

Sadly, Silencium didn't include salmon Alps in his graph, as I only have salmon, not orange. Orange is the same lightweight vintage as blue (logo-free), which were replaced with white and salmon (with embossed logos), and then black replaced salmon. Based on the graphs, orange looks like a great switch, although the tactile point is a bit early, at only 1.5 mm. Salmon is stiff, but smoother and more precise than black.

vivalarevolución · 08 Mar 2013, 22:41

geekhack had a couple discussions about the Apple Extended Keyboards, and the nonscientific opinion seems to be that salmon Alps are a bit heavier than Orange Alps.

Daniel Beardsmore · 08 Mar 2013, 22:52

That much is for sure. From the graph, orange is lighter than blue, and blue is comparatively light. Salmon is definitely not as light as blue.

gmjhowe · 09 Mar 2013, 11:28

Thanks for the extra info Daniel.

Seen as I have had no response in regards to adding pictures to the wiki, I assume that I can just sign up for an account and get editing?

rodtang · 09 Mar 2013, 11:59

Just log in using the same log in info as on the forum.