As a dev who traditionally has used a Mac (and prefers mnemonic key shortcuts even on other platforms), the F-Keys get very little traffic. For those a layer is

As a dev who traditionally has used a Mac (and prefers mnemonic key shortcuts even on other platforms), the F-Keys get very little traffic. For those a layer is good enough, because most of the time they’re collecting dust. Numpads can be nice in certain situations, but the vast majority of the time they also get little usage from me. For the times when I do need one, I have a discrete numpad (KBDPad MKII) which I can place freely on my desk (so it’s not robbing me of mouse space) and tuck away in a drawer when it’s not needed. Best of both worlds.