Macintosh Keyboard (M0110)

Released January 1984

The original Macintosh's compact wired keyboard has a 58-key US layout, mechanical switches and a separate Command key.

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Layout: Compact
Switches: Mechanical
Key travel: 3.5 mm
Backlight: None
Keys labelled for: Mac
Switches: 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 travel: 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.
Keycaps: 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.
Layouts: 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 keys: 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.

Connects by: Cable
Power: Cable
Receiver: 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 detail: 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 with: 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.
Software: Apple's original owner guide documents Key Caps for viewing normal and Option-modified characters, and the Control Panel's key repeat settings.

Materials: Separate plastic keyboard housing and keycaps, described in Apple's engineering specification. Published weight and overall enclosure dimensions were not recovered and remain omitted.
Colours: 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 box: 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.

Model	Layout	Switches	Backlight	Battery	Connects by	Weight	Released
AppleApple Desktop Bus Keyboard (A9M0330)	Full size	Mechanical	None	–	Cable	–	1986
AppleMacintosh Plus Keyboard (M0110A)	Full size	Mechanical	None	–	Cable	1200 g	Jan 1986
AppleApple Extended Keyboard	Full size	Mechanical	None	–	Cable	1600 g	1987