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Apple Apple Desktop Bus Keyboard (A9M0330) vs Apple Macintosh Keyboard (M0110)

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AppleApple Desktop Bus Keyboard (A9M0330)AppleMacintosh Keyboard (M0110)
Overview
Released1986January 1984
Typing
LayoutFull sizeCompact
SwitchesMechanicalMechanical
Key travel–3.5 mm
BacklightNoneNone
Keys labelled forMacMac
SwitchesApple'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.Apple's original M0110 engineering specification describes individual momentary-contact switches and a self-locking mechanical Caps Lock switch. Its two-key lockout ignores additional simultaneous key depressions to prevent ghost keystrokes. The maker does not identify a switch supplier in this document.
Key travelExact-model travel and actuation force were not recovered from the maker documents and remain unpublished here.Apple's engineering specification gives total travel 3.5 ±0.5 mm and pretravel to the contact point 1.8 ±0.25 mm; these are design requirements, not a measurement of a surviving sample. Ordinary keys and the space bar have 90 ±25 g force at the contact point; self-locking Caps Lock is separately specified at 200 ±100 g.
KeycapsApple'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.Printed character keys; Apple's engineering specification distinguishes printed keycaps from moulded parts and specifies keycap pull-force tests. Keycap plastic formulation is not established in the recovered maker sources.
LayoutsDetached 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.The original US layout has 58 keys, with two Shift keys, two Option keys and separate Return and Enter keys. This record does not cover the later M0110A Macintosh Plus keyboard with a built-in number pad.
Special keysEscape, 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.Command sits immediately left of the space bar; Option produces accented and special characters. The original keyboard has no arrow, function or Control keys. Key repeat rate is set using the Macintosh Control Panel.
Connections and battery
Connects byCableCable
PowerCableCable
ReceiverDetachable 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 four-conductor coiled cable, with four-contact modular plugs and a non-reversing end-to-end pinout. Apple's engineering document calls them RJ-11-type Modjack connectors; they carry the original Macintosh synchronous serial keyboard protocol, not ADB, USB or telephone signals.
Battery life detailPowered by the wired ADB connection; no battery is required. A keyboard-only electrical consumption figure was not recovered.Powered through the keyboard cable; Apple's engineering specification lists +5 V ±10% at 50 mA maximum for the keyboard power connection. No keyboard battery is required.
Works withOriginally 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.Supplied with the original Macintosh system; its dedicated synchronous serial keyboard interface is described in Apple's original owner guide. Modern computers require an appropriate separate protocol converter; none is included or specified here.
SoftwareThe 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 original owner guide documents Key Caps for viewing normal and Option-modified characters, and the Control Panel's key repeat settings.
Design
SizeNo 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.–
MaterialsMoulded enclosure, separate keycaps and mechanical switch assembly; the service manual's exploded view distinguishes the upper and lower cases.Separate plastic keyboard housing and keycaps, described in Apple's engineering specification. Published weight and overall enclosure dimensions were not recovered and remain omitted.
ColoursOriginal light-coloured enclosure and contrasting keycaps, shown in Apple's IIgs owner-guide photographs. Surviving manufacturer and language variants can differ in keycap appearance.Beige housing with darker keys in original maker and January 1984 photographs; this record does not treat later cosmetic or language variants as separate hardware models.
In the boxApple'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.Keyboard and detachable coiled connection cable as part of the original Macintosh system. January 1984 retail availability is supported by the contemporary 29 January Los Angeles Times review of the system with its separate keyboard; Apple's introduction on 24 January is not used as an exact first-sale day. The optional separate numeric keypad is not included.

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