Logitech's 'Designed for Mac' collection includes a mechanical keyboard

AppleInsider

Logitech released a line of mice and keyboards designed for Mac, including a mechanical option that may appeal to enthusiasts.

Logitech Mechanical Mini keyboard

Logitech says plastic parts in MX for Mac and Lift for Mac products include certified post-consumer recycled plastic to give a second life to end-of-life plastic from old consumer electronics.

New Logitech Keyboards

• MX Mechanical Mini for Mac: The Mechanical Mini is Logitech's first mechanical keyboard optimized for Mac. MX Mechanical Mini for Mac features Tactile Quiet low-profile switches and Smart Backlighting.


• K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard: This modern keyboard features round, scooped keys for smooth, quiet typing in a minimalist layout. It's available in new Blueberry color.

Logitech Lift Mouse

Although the collection is called Designed for Mac, Logitech says the keyboards have an Easy-Switch button to use on iPads and iPhones.

New Logitech Mice

• MX Master 3S for Mac: The MagSpeed Electromagnetic wheel handles 1,000 lines per second, and can set the DPI between 1,000 and 8,000 for work on either one or multiple high resolution monitors.


• Lift for Mac: The vertical ergonomic mouse is ideal for people with small to medium-sized hands. At a 57-degree angle, it puts less pressure on the wrist throughout the day and places the arms and upper bodies in a more natural posture.

Pricing & Availability

• MX Mechanical Mini for Mac: $149.99


• MX Master 3S for Mac: $99.99


• Lift for Mac: $69.99


• K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard: $39.99

All products are available to purchase at Logitech.com.

Read on AppleInsider

tht

It's amazing how keyboards can have so many keys, yet have these weird imperfections. There isn't one perfect keyboard, or mouse for that matter.

Some of the keys on the Mx Mechanical mini for Mac keyboard don't look to be standard width and are less wide. If it is for Mac, why are the functions in the function key row different from a Mac laptop keyboard? There's always something.

dewme

Keyboards and mice are kind of like shoes. They are nominally quite similar, but since everyone's feet/hands are different there is never going to be a one-size-fits all implementation, and that's even before the maker tries to impart their own sense of style and human factors related sensibilities on to their product. You absolutely must try them on ahead of time to ensure they fit, or at least have the option of returning them if you can't try them on before buying.

I'm actually quite pleased that Logitech has tried to tailor more of their products to appeal to Mac users. Their products are generally quite good, highly functional, and reliable. They aren't afraid to offer Apple users products that diverge quite widely from Apple's designs and aesthetics. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but having alternatives to Apple is a good thing for any highly personalized product. To be fair, there are also instances where Logitech (or other 3rd party) products provide evidence and  amplify the superiority of Apple's design and implementation, which imho is the case with Apple's Magic Trackpad.

I cannot imagine using my Mac (or any non Apple computer) without my Logitech MX Ergo Wireless trackball even though I despise its micro-USB charging port. I also have an MX Master 3 mouse that I use occasionally with my Mac. I believe this Logitech mouse is better in many ways than anything Apple mouse has offered to-date. However, I do have to admit that Apple's Magic Mouse has steadily grown on me since I've been training myself to making better use of more of its its gesture capabilities. It's quite wonderful to use but the charging implementation is just flat-ass weird. No amount of sugar can coat that weirdness, but at least the need for charging comes up fairly infrequently.

bandits1

dewme said:

..I also have an MX Master 3 mouse that I use occasionally with my Mac. I believe this Logitech mouse is better in many ways than anything Apple mouse has offered to-date.

It's that super-fast MagSpeed scroll wheel that I can't do without.  For the rest of time, if a mouse doesn't have it, I won't buy it.

ITGUYINSD

$150 for a mini keyboard?  It doesn't even have an Apple logo on it!

mpantone

tht said:

It's amazing how keyboards can have so many keys, yet have these weird imperfections. There isn't one perfect keyboard, or mouse for that matter.

Some of the keys on the Mx Mechanical mini for Mac keyboard don't look to be standard width and are less wide. If it is for Mac, why are the functions in the function key row different from a Mac laptop keyboard? There's always something.

This is a 65% keyboard. The normal keys are all regular sized keycaps. The lens on the camera might be making things look different but all the central keys are the same dimension.

The other keys (tab, caps lock, shift, control, command, option) have to be adjusted for the constraints of the 65% layout which is one key wider than the main layout.

It should be pointed out that Apple themselves have futzed around with the keyboard layout on their smaller keyboards:



See how the four arrow keys are half sized? Here the function key is on the lower left. That key is elsewhere on the full sized wired keyboard.

There's a standard width between the center of each of the main keys. In the case of the Logitech keyboard and this Apple wireless keyboard, the keycaps are narrower than the base of Cherry MX keycaps.

Note that the ASD and ZXC rows are offset by half the width of a standard key. That's normal. Same with the 123 and QWE rows. However the offset between the QWE and ASD rows is much smaller. Again, this is normal and it's not specific to Apple/Mac keyboards. It's the same if you look at a PC keyboard. This layout has been like this for decades.

There's generally no standard for the function key row apart from putting the Esc key in the upper left and having twelve function keys due to software conventions. The alternate functions (screen brightness, keyboard brightness, media control, volume control) are all at the discretion of the keyboard manufacturer. As you can see, this keyboard uses F4 for the now-discontinued Dashboard.

mattinoz

Just needs a seperate numeric keypad so you can take or leave it when heading out and about. 

Bonus points if mini-keyboard had display keys so it could be used as function board for apps or numeric modes.

bklynguy999

Those keys are really raised up from the backboard, so using a potential 3rd party keyboard protector (as I always do with Apple's keyboards) seems impossible. So, there's too much exposed area under those keys to collect dirt & grime, imo.

kimberly

bandits1 said:

dewme said:

..I also have an MX Master 3 mouse that I use occasionally with my Mac. I believe this Logitech mouse is better in many ways than anything Apple mouse has offered to-date.

It's that super-fast MagSpeed scroll wheel that I can't do without.  For the rest of time, if a mouse doesn't have it, I won't buy it.

Mouse appeal is subjective. For me, Apple mouse = spoon in a bowl of soup.

takeo

dewme said:

I believe this Logitech mouse is better in many ways than anything Apple mouse has offered to-date.

Apple hasn’t made a good mouse since the ADB II

takeo

I’m curious to try a mechanical keyboard but mostly I wonder if the key labels last longer. The letters of the Magic Keyboards completely disappear for me on frequently used keys. It’s annoying. I’ve replaced some key caps a few times and within less than a year the letter is completely gone again.

charlesatlas

takeo said:

I’m curious to try a mechanical keyboard but mostly I wonder if the key labels last longer. The letters of the Magic Keyboards completely disappear for me on frequently used keys. It’s annoying. I’ve replaced some key caps a few times and within less than a year the letter is completely gone again.

Depends on the keycaps. If you want good durability, you need to look for keycaps that are made of PBT, with double-shot or dye-sublimated legends.

tht

mpantone said:

tht said:

It's amazing how keyboards can have so many keys, yet have these weird imperfections. There isn't one perfect keyboard, or mouse for that matter.

Some of the keys on the Mx Mechanical mini for Mac keyboard don't look to be standard width and are less wide. If it is for Mac, why are the functions in the function key row different from a Mac laptop keyboard? There's always something.

This is a 65% keyboard. The normal keys are all regular sized keycaps. The lens on the camera might be making things look different but all the central keys are the same dimension.

The other keys (tab, caps lock, shift, control, command, option) have to be adjusted for the constraints of the 65% layout which is one key wider than the main layout.

It's a standard 75% keyboard layout. It's probably an optical illusion that the right side cmd, fn and opt keys, the esc and tilde keys appear less wide than they should be. Then, Logitech did not put the sound volume controls in F10-F12. What the F1-F3 keys are, I don't know. They all have the same icon.

It's a mechanical keyboard with replaceable keycaps. So, if the keys don't look the right size, they did something wrong as buyers typical want the option to have replaceable key caps on this sort of keyboard. But it looks like an optical illusion, so that's good that it really is "standard".

Here are a couple if other low-profile 75% keyboards that are "made for Mac":



Basically the same layout, with different treatments for the top row of keys.

mpantone

bklynguy999 said:

Those keys are really raised up from the backboard, so using a potential 3rd party keyboard protector (as I always do with Apple's keyboards) seems impossible. So, there's too much exposed area under those keys to collect dirt & grime, imo.

They’re standard Cherry MX style keycaps. Just use a keycap puller to remove them, clean the base gently and press the keycaps back on.The keycaps have big enough gaps to shake/blow out a lot of the debris to start with.

I guess some people need to be reminded that this keycap style dates back to the IBM Selectric days.

Apple’s chiclet style keyboard is more problematic since you can’t easily access the base for cleaning.

mpantone

tht said:

mpantone said:

tht said:

It's amazing how keyboards can have so many keys, yet have these weird imperfections. There isn't one perfect keyboard, or mouse for that matter.

Some of the keys on the Mx Mechanical mini for Mac keyboard don't look to be standard width and are less wide. If it is for Mac, why are the functions in the function key row different from a Mac laptop keyboard? There's always something.

This is a 65% keyboard. The normal keys are all regular sized keycaps. The lens on the camera might be making things look different but all the central keys are the same dimension.

The other keys (tab, caps lock, shift, control, command, option) have to be adjusted for the constraints of the 65% layout which is one key wider than the main layout.

It's a standard 75% keyboard layout. It's probably an optical illusion that the right side cmd, fn and opt keys, the esc and tilde keys appear less wide than they should be. Then, Logitech did not put the sound volume controls in F10-F12. What the F1-F3 keys are, I don't know. They all have the same icon.

It's a mechanical keyboard with replaceable keycaps. So, if the keys don't look the right size, they did something wrong as buyers typical want the option to have replaceable key caps on this sort of keyboard. But it looks like an optical illusion, so that's good that it really is "standard".

Here are a couple if other low-profile 75% keyboards that are "made for Mac":



Basically the same layout, with different treatments for the top row of keys.

Yeah, the Keychrons are pretty good. I own several including one K2, a low profile TKL model.

The versions with the Cherry MX style keycaps remind me more of the better keyboards of yesteryear, not today’s chiclet designs which are nonsensical for desktop keyboards.

nicholfd

tht said:

mpantone said:

tht said:

It's amazing how keyboards can have so many keys, yet have these weird imperfections. There isn't one perfect keyboard, or mouse for that matter.

Some of the keys on the Mx Mechanical mini for Mac keyboard don't look to be standard width and are less wide. If it is for Mac, why are the functions in the function key row different from a Mac laptop keyboard? There's always something.

This is a 65% keyboard. The normal keys are all regular sized keycaps. The lens on the camera might be making things look different but all the central keys are the same dimension.

The other keys (tab, caps lock, shift, control, command, option) have to be adjusted for the constraints of the 65% layout which is one key wider than the main layout.

It's a standard 75% keyboard layout. It's probably an optical illusion that the right side cmd, fn and opt keys, the esc and tilde keys appear less wide than they should be. Then, Logitech did not put the sound volume controls in F10-F12. What the F1-F3 keys are, I don't know. They all have the same icon.

It's a mechanical keyboard with replaceable keycaps. So, if the keys don't look the right size, they did something wrong as buyers typical want the option to have replaceable key caps on this sort of keyboard. But it looks like an optical illusion, so that's good that it really is "standard".


Basically the same layout, with different treatments for the top row of keys.

For years, most Logitech bluetooth keyboards will pair with up to three devices.  The F1-F3 are for switching between which device you want to use the keyboard with.  Also, you can usually change the function keys to be function keys by default vs. the "media" keys by default.

mattinoz

takeo said:

dewme said:

I believe this Logitech mouse is better in many ways than anything Apple mouse has offered to-date.

Apple hasn’t made a good mouse since the ADB II

Apple mice needs to treated as a puck you don't grab them you hand your hand over and push them around. 
They work great as pucks, but yes they are horrible if you want a mouse you mug to use.