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I'm also spoiled by (what I consider) a great keyboard, the Kinesis FreeStyle 2. I don't think I'm going back to this Apple keyboard, but boy would Touch ID be

by bartvk 5y ago

I'm also spoiled by (what I consider) a great keyboard, the Kinesis FreeStyle 2. I don't think I'm going back to this Apple keyboard, but boy would Touch ID be useful.

jmondi 5y ago
Moonlander user who also would definitely pay money to not have to reach over to my laptop several times a day.
sylens 5y ago
I continue to hope they bring FaceID to the Mac in a manner similar to Windows Hello, where you can buy a webcam certified for it
- adwww 5y ago
  That would mean updating the "isight" webcam for the first time in a decade or so.
  - philistine 5y ago
    As if. If Apple ever brings FaceID to macs, it will be with the webcam of their own monitor and nothing else.
- adolph 5y ago
  Face ID works with something more like an XBOX Kinect with an infrared light projecting a pattern to understand depth. https://www.macrumors.com/2017/09/13/how-iphone-x-face-id-works/ https://www.macrumors.com/2017/09/13/how-iphone-x-face-id-wo...
outworlder 5y ago
I have a Freestyle 2 and the Freestyle Edge (the blue version). I completely understand what you are talking about. Freestyle 2 (blue) is good. Feels good, bluetooth just works, battery life is great. Non mechanical, but if you like Apple Keyboards that shouldn't matter. Also no backlight if it matters. The Edge has survived multiple coffee spills (although the backlight on the "2" key doesn't work anymore, after the last one). Left it to dry and sunlight warped one of the spacebar caps. Those keys are custom and so impossible to find. Tried 3d Printing one but it wasn't really usable. Contacted Kinesis support fully expecting them to say that it's no longer supported... not only it is supported, but they mailed me a new spacebar keycap, for free. So yeah. The Edge is pricey, non-removable switches unfortunately. Doesn't come with palm rests but it really, really should. Great onboard software(again, only the Edge). And great support, to the point that I'm here advertising for them for free. Also split keyboards in general are great since you can have all sorts of stuff in between them :) The Touch ID issue was solved with the Apple Watch. I'm not going back to Apple Keyboards. Really trying to avoid the custom keyboard rabbit hole too :)
- bartvk 5y ago
  That's quite the review, I'll definitely consider it for the future. The thing with the Freestyle 2 is, it's actually very cheap for a split keyboard. But to hit that price point, it's really quite a conventional keyboard in other aspects. I once built a custom keyboard but made a couple of mistakes, and I realized the Freestyle is not bad at all :)

by bartvk 5y ago

I'm also spoiled by (what I consider) a great keyboard, the Kinesis FreeStyle 2. I don't think I'm going back to this Apple keyboard, but boy would Touch ID be useful.

jmondi 5y ago

Moonlander user who also would definitely pay money to not have to reach over to my laptop several times a day.

sylens 5y ago

I continue to hope they bring FaceID to the Mac in a manner similar to Windows Hello, where you can buy a webcam certified for it

adwww 5y ago
That would mean updating the "isight" webcam for the first time in a decade or so.
- philistine 5y ago
  As if. If Apple ever brings FaceID to macs, it will be with the webcam of their own monitor and nothing else.
adolph 5y ago
Face ID works with something more like an XBOX Kinect with an infrared light projecting a pattern to understand depth. https://www.macrumors.com/2017/09/13/how-iphone-x-face-id-works/ https://www.macrumors.com/2017/09/13/how-iphone-x-face-id-wo...

outworlder 5y ago

I have a Freestyle 2 and the Freestyle Edge (the blue version). I completely understand what you are talking about. Freestyle 2 (blue) is good. Feels good, bluetooth just works, battery life is great. Non mechanical, but if you like Apple Keyboards that shouldn't matter. Also no backlight if it matters. The Edge has survived multiple coffee spills (although the backlight on the "2" key doesn't work anymore, after the last one). Left it to dry and sunlight warped one of the spacebar caps. Those keys are custom and so impossible to find. Tried 3d Printing one but it wasn't really usable. Contacted Kinesis support fully expecting them to say that it's no longer supported... not only it is supported, but they mailed me a new spacebar keycap, for free. So yeah. The Edge is pricey, non-removable switches unfortunately. Doesn't come with palm rests but it really, really should. Great onboard software(again, only the Edge). And great support, to the point that I'm here advertising for them for free. Also split keyboards in general are great since you can have all sorts of stuff in between them :) The Touch ID issue was solved with the Apple Watch. I'm not going back to Apple Keyboards. Really trying to avoid the custom keyboard rabbit hole too :)

bartvk 5y ago
That's quite the review, I'll definitely consider it for the future. The thing with the Freestyle 2 is, it's actually very cheap for a split keyboard. But to hit that price point, it's really quite a conventional keyboard in other aspects. I once built a custom keyboard but made a couple of mistakes, and I realized the Freestyle is not bad at all :)