Apple Adjustable Keyboard (1993)
Apple's ergonomic experiment: two halves folding open on a hinge, contoured wrist rests, and a numeric keypad that travelled separately.
© Stephen Edmonds · CC BY-SA 2.5 ↗ Resized, no crop or retouching.
Specs
| Connectivity | Apple Desktop Bus |
| Switches | Alps SKFS, tactile |
| Key feature | $219 in 1993, per Wikipedia |
Launch
Apple introduced the Adjustable Keyboard in 1993 at $219, per Wikipedia. Its core idea was the top hinge: users could open the angle between the left and right halves until they found a comfortable posture. The split fell between the key pairs 5/6, T/Y, G/H and B/N, and the space bar floated midway between the two parts, as Wikipedia describes.
Marketing
The package included contoured plastic wrist rests and a separate numeric keypad with function and arrow keys: it was the third and last time Apple offered a separate keypad, and unlike its predecessors this one was not sold separately, per Wikipedia. On the right edge it carried volume buttons and a record button, a detail recorded by the same source.
Flaws and fixes
Its Alps SKFS switches gave tactile feedback with a slightly clicky feel, per Wikipedia, which also notes the compatibility limit: the last Mac usable with this keyboard without a USB-to-ADB adapter was the blue and white Power Macintosh G3, the last one with an ADB port.