Apple Apple Desktop Bus Keyboard (A9M0330) vs Apple Apple Keyboard (M0116)

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Apple Desktop Bus Keyboard (A9M0330) compared with Apple Keyboard (M0116)

	AppleApple Desktop Bus Keyboard (A9M0330)	AppleApple Keyboard (M0116)
Overview
Released
Released	1986	1987
Typing
Layout
Layout	Full size	Full size
Switches
Switches	Mechanical	Mechanical
Backlight
Backlight	None	None
Keys labelled for
Keys labelled for	Mac	Mac
Switches
Switches	Apple's IIgs Technical Procedures documents Alps and SMK switch assemblies as variants of the original Apple Desktop Bus Keyboard. Alps has an orange square-cornered stem in the service illustration; SMK has a white stem with rounded upper corners. Deskthority also documents surviving Alps Salmon variants and a mechanically locking Caps Lock switch.	Mechanical Alps switches; Deskthority's exact-model inspection documents tactile SKCM Orange and Salmon production variants and a mechanically locking SKCL Caps Lock switch. Switch variants and language layouts are not separate hardware generations.
Key travel
Key travel	Exact-model travel and actuation force were not recovered from the maker documents and remain unpublished here.	Exact-model key travel and actuation force are not published in the recovered maker documents and remain omitted.
Keycaps
Keycaps	Apple's service manual lists replaceable keycap and switch sets. Specialist inspections distinguish Alps and SMK legends and manufacturing variants; an exact universal keycap material specification is not established.	Deskthority documents dye-sublimated PBT keycaps with an ABS space bar; these material identifications come from specialist inspection, not Apple's product sheet. The legends use Apple's bottom-left italic layout.
Layouts
Layouts	Detached keyboard with a numeric keypad and four arrow keys. Apple's IIgs Owner's Guide lists standard, Dvorak and eight international keyboard configurations. The photographed US layout has Control beside A, Caps Lock at the lower left and arrows in one row; international legends differ.	Apple's March 1987 product sheet lists 81 keys, including the numeric pad and four cursor-control keys. The pictured US M0116 has a large Return key, Control to the left of A and Caps Lock at the lower-left corner. The related international M0118 layout moves these keys; it is a language-layout option, not a different generation.
Special keys
Special keys	Escape, Control, Shift, Caps Lock, Option and the open-Apple Command key, with a separate triangular Reset key. The IIgs Owner's Guide shows Reset used with other keys to restart; it is not the IIgs mains on/off switch. No function-key row.	Escape, Control, Command, Option, locking Caps Lock and a separate power key. The four arrow keys sit in one row below the right Shift key; there is no F-key row. Apple's hardware reference explicitly distinguishes this keyboard from the larger Apple Extended Keyboard.
Connections and battery
Connects by
Connects by	Cable	Cable
Power
Power	Cable	Cable
Receiver
Receiver	Detachable four-pin mini-DIN Apple Desktop Bus cable and two ADB sockets. One connects to the host and the other can connect a compatible ADB mouse. ADB is not USB or the earlier Macintosh keyboard connection.	Detachable Apple Desktop Bus cable and two bidirectional ADB ports; either port connects upstream, with the other able to connect a mouse or another compatible input device. ADB is different from both USB and the earlier Macintosh Plus keyboard's synchronous serial port.
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	Powered by the wired ADB connection; no battery is required. A keyboard-only electrical consumption figure was not recovered.	Powered over the ADB connection; no battery is required. A keyboard-only current requirement was not recovered and remains unpublished.
Works with
Works with	Originally supplied for the Apple IIgs; compatible ADB Macintosh computers can also use it. Apple modifier legends are represented by the catalogue's Mac layout label, but the original host was an Apple II, not a Macintosh. Modern hosts need a suitable separate ADB converter.	Apple's product sheet specifies any Apple personal computer with an ADB interface and names the Macintosh SE and Macintosh II. Modern computers require a suitable separate ADB converter; none is included here.
Software
Software	The IIgs Control Panel adjusts the delay before a held key repeats and the repeat interval. Application software determines the numeric keypad and special-key functions.	Apple's product sheet advertises a separately packaged remapping desk accessory for assigning menu commands or text strings to a key or combination; it is not listed among the keyboard's supplied items.
Design
Weight
Weight	–	1000 g
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	–	418 × 142 × 44.5 mm
Size
Size	No exact keyboard-only maker dimensions or mass were recovered. Third-party shipping-box dimensions and keyboard-plus-cable weights are not substituted for the bare product.	Apple's exact M0116 product sheet gives width 418 mm, depth 142 mm, height 44.5 mm and weight 1 kg. Third-party measurements of surviving examples are not substituted for the maker's figures.
Materials
Materials	Moulded enclosure, separate keycaps and mechanical switch assembly; the service manual's exploded view distinguishes the upper and lower cases.	Separate moulded enclosure, mechanical switch board and individual keycaps, visible in the original product photograph and specialist exact-model inspection.
Colours
Colours	Original light-coloured enclosure and contrasting keycaps, shown in Apple's IIgs owner-guide photographs. Surviving manufacturer and language variants can differ in keycap appearance.	The recovered original maker product photograph is monochrome; an exact factory colour description was not recovered.
In the box
In the box	Apple's IIgs system packing list names the Apple Desktop Bus Keyboard as part 658-4081 and a separate keyboard cable. The later A9M0330 label denotes this original keyboard generation. Computer, monitor and mouse shown in system photographs are not included with a keyboard-only purchase. October 1986 Washington Apple Pi describes the current IIgs seller's market and buying process; year precision is retained because the keyboard's exact first-sale month or day has not been established.	Apple Keyboard and cable, referral card and limited warranty statement in Apple's M0116 order list; the computer and mouse are separate. Apple's March 1987 price list introduces the keyboard without a future availability note, while April 1987 University of Minnesota ordering information names the M0116 in available Macintosh SE configurations. An exact first-sale month or day is not established, so year precision is retained.