Apple Desktop Bus Keyboard (A9M0330)

Released 1986

Apple's original IIgs mechanical keyboard has a numeric keypad, arrow keys and two ADB ports in a shallow case, with a detachable cable.

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Layout: Full size
Switches: Mechanical
Backlight: None
Keys labelled for: Mac
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.
Key travel: Exact-model travel and actuation force were not recovered from the maker documents and remain unpublished here.
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.
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.
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.

Connects by: Cable
Power: Cable
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.
Battery life detail: Powered by the wired ADB connection; no battery is required. A keyboard-only electrical consumption figure was not recovered.
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.
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.

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.
Materials: Moulded enclosure, separate keycaps and mechanical switch assembly; the service manual's exploded view distinguishes the upper and lower cases.
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.
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.

Model	Layout	Switches	Backlight	Battery	Connects by	Weight	Released
AppleMacintosh Plus Keyboard (M0110A)	Full size	Mechanical	None	–	Cable	1200 g	Jan 1986
AppleApple Extended Keyboard	Full size	Mechanical	None	–	Cable	1600 g	1987
AppleApple Keyboard (M0116)	Full size	Mechanical	None	–	Cable	1000 g	1987