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Mac or Windows; Android or iPhone; Team Edward or Team Jacob; and…your keyboard?
All these are things people are either incredibly passionate about or do not care about. Most lawyers in my office use the Dell keyboard that came with their first computer in 1997. My mom uses a Windows computer because that’s what work gives her. And I am not willing to admit a preference in YA fiction throuples.
But I do care about my keyboard. For several expensive years, I became a mechanical keyboard enthusiast. I tried different switches, different keys, different boards, etc. I have converted about half of my staff to be mechanical keyboard enjoyers. They don’t know about switches or how to swap keycaps, but they like a mechanical keyboard’s sensation and RGB effects.
But I Don’t Use a Mechanical Keyboard Anymore
During COVID, when court went virtual, I upgraded my audio and video setup to a nice webcam and a Yeti microphone. It worked terrifically. I was one of the only lawyers who people could consistently hear and see, and it made advocating for clients much easier.
What the heck does this have to do with switching away from mechanical keyboards?
I’m getting there! What are you, my mother?
Anyway, during these court hearings, I take notes. And I take them by typing on my keyboard. That quickly became a problem. Yeti mic + loud mechanical keyboard = judges saying, “Mr. Camson, what is that clicking?”
Alas, I ended up ditching the mechanical keyboards during virtual court and defaulting back to the Apple Magic Keyboard.
OK now we are getting somewhere, but does it save time?
The regular Apple Magic Keyboard is nice to type on, and in the full version has a number pad which I prefer. But it does not save you time.
What kind of clickbait bull!@%! Article is This?!
Three hundred words in, and here is the secret: Apple Magic Keyboard with a fingerprint sensor + a silicon Mac.
See that round circle above the delete key?
This little button is easy to find and is where the magic happens. Silicon Macs allow for the use of a fingerprint sensor. Indeed, my MacBook Pro has one built in. But in its usual spot on my desk it is either too far away to reach or in clamshell mode, rendering the fingerprint sensor useless. Enter the Apple Magic Keyboard with Fingerprint Sensor.
This keyboard is glorious. Easy to type on, has every button I need, and has this beautiful little circle that saves me time throughout the day.
How Does a Fingerprint Sensor Save Time?
If you are fully invested in the Apple ecosystem, you can use your fingerprint sensor a lot.
For me, the convenience of 1Password alone is worth the cost of admission. You can enable the fingerprint sensor as your unlock method. No more typing in a 15-character password. And the sensor is fast. Like, instant fast. I unlock 1Password at least 10 times a day to autofill various website passwords, credit cards, etc. and this keyboard has been an absolute game-changer.
But I also use Safari as my web browser, which allows me to use Apple Pay on supported websites. All I do is click Apple Pay, tap the sensor, and BOOM – unnecessary purchase completed.
The time savings don’t stop there. You can use the fingerprint sensor to unlock the computer itself, authorize system setting changes, and pretty much anything else that would normally require a password. I find myself using the sensor 10-20 times a day and thus not typing my very long password that frequently.
But is it Worth the Cost?
This keyboard is not cheap. It retails for $179 with the number pad and $149 without. For that price, you can get a decent clickity-clackity mechanical keyboard. But if you have a Silicon Mac, and are tired of not being able to take notes while on video calls, I think it is well worth it. I use my keyboard for hours on end every day, and being able to shave those few seconds off every time I need to type a password is well worth the cost of admittance.
But what do you think? Am I crazy? Should I just use my StreamDeck to toggle my mute on/off and keep using a mechanical keyboard like a normal tech writer? Let us know in the comments.
3 Comments
Loved this. Such an interesting article about how different keyboards fit into your work style and circumstances.
Yeah, touch ID is very nice. I’m blown away by how quick it is. Have you heard about the guy that disassembled his one to just the touch ID part and uses that with another keyboard?
I use my Apple Watch to authenticate when using my mechanical keyboard. In terms of noise, have you tried different levels of noise cancellation? I’ve tried krisp.ai before (which is integrated into many video conferencing platforms) and setting it all to high helped. There’s also voice isolation in macOS microphone settings.
If you’re happy with the Apple keyboard, have you tried Klack? I’ve not tried it yet but it emulates the sound of mechanical keyboards. It may be nice to have when you’re not on calls. https://9to5mac.com/2023/04/05/klack-app-mechanical-keyboard-sound-effects-for-mac/
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t choosing the stored password from the pulldown menu of an empty username/PW field accomplish the same thing? Sure, maybe the fingerprint sensor is slightly faster, but it doesn’t mean that you’ll have to manually type each password if you don’t have Touch ID. Think back to before Touch ID keyboards, you just access your stored passwords in MacOS/Safari by using the mouse. It comes down to fast vs faster, not Touch ID vs manually typing passwords. Again, tell me if I’m missing something….trying to talk myself out of spending $200.
Mechanical keyboards are highly overrated. In reality they are just gaming peripherals. But the hype machine has slipped into the mainstream, where it’s not made clear that these are gaming peripherals, so common folks hear about them and assume they must be amazing keyboards for use as keyboards. Sure if you want to spend a bunch of time figuring out which switches work for well for you, you can make it a nice experience. but there is always the noise. Now we have more silent switches as well. At that point, what is the point? A regular keyboard is just fine. An Apple keyboard is fine. A logitech MX keys or even $30 popkeys is just fine. A mechanical keyboard with the wrong switches is a nightmare. The logitech MX mechanical keyboard comes with the lightest pressure and shortest throw switches you can find. Rather than missed clicks, what you get is 1000x more extra clicks and typos. It’s a nightmare.