On: Interviews with makers of high-end mechanical keyboards

[modernerd]

The actuation force on scissor switches like the Apple Magic keyboard is very low (36.3 gf [1]).

That's less than tactile switches like Cherry MX Browns (45.4gf [2]) and Gateron Browns (38.7gf [3]).

So it seems to depend more on your typing habits than your switches. You can shock your fingers on any keyboard if you press harder than you need to.

Total travel (bottoming out) on the Magic keyboard is also only 1.15mm, which is almost half the actuation travel (“pre-travel”) on the Cherry/Gateron Browns (2.09mm/2.41mm). And the actuation distance is only 0.86 mm on the Apple, so once you get used to it you can use a fairly light touch; you don't have to press the key through the laptop/keyboard.

[1] https://www.rtings.com/keyboard/reviews/apple/magic-keyboard

[2] https://www.rtings.com/keyboard/reviews/kinesis/freestyle-ed...

[3] https://www.rtings.com/keyboard/reviews/obinslab/anne-pro-2

[vladvasiliu → modernerd]

I think the problem with the "shocking" is not so much the actuation force, but the travel distance. I find it's pretty difficult for me to precisely (<1 mm) control finger movement. On a key with longer travel you have more of a margin of error if you will.

Going by your numbers, on the apple, you have 0.19 mm to "stop" your finger going down. Also, there's nothing to let you know actuation has happened. You just have to "know" by how long the finger has traveled that the key must have actuated.

Contrast that with the cherry where there's a quite some distance between the actuation point and the bottom. There's also a bump (except in linear keys) right around the actuation point, so you can actually feel the key is supposed to have registered.

So all in all, even though the actuation force of the keys is low, it's very easy to bottom out. Or rather, it's not easy not to bottom out. In my experience that's why those keyboards are less comfortable than MX browns and clones (I have no experience with other kinds of mechanical switches).

[modernerd → vladvasiliu]

Wasn't there a study that suggested users of mechanical keyboards still bottom out for a reasonable percentage of keypresses even though their perception was that they stop on actuation? [Tried to dig it up but came up blank so far.]

I know this is true for gamers, who have to hold keys, but I suspect it's true when typing too. I found that longer travel distance alone doesn't prevent me from pushing through the tactile bump, so it's easy to develop a tendency to over-press should lighter keypresses fail to register.

[vladvasiliu → modernerd]

I don't know about any such study, but I wouldn't be surprised, especially since many people who use regular keyboards have a tendency to hit the keys with a vengeance, as opposed to press them.

I agree with you that longer travel distance is not sufficient to prevent bottoming out. But for me it's necessary. I've been typing for almost 7 years on my current MBP and find I still tend to bottom out. I'm not sure I can not bottom out without paying a lot of attention. On a new mechanical keyboard with brown switches, I found I was able to stop bottoming out most of the time in about a week. It's just easier to do with the longer travel.

One last point to check would be how hard people are bottoming out, especially on switches that don't require a stronger force towards the end. I would think that even if the key might hit the bottom, it might do so with less force than on a shorter travel key.

As I'm thinking of it, at the office I have a MS Sculpt, which is rubber dome but with a reasonable travel distance and the keys don't require much force to push. I probably bottom out most if not all the time on it, but it doesn't seem as tiring. So I guess one main issue is the way people actually use the keyboards. It's possible many apply much more force that is necessary for their keyboard (whichever type it is).