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If you buy a Mac Studio or a Mac Mini, you get nothing.

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No display, no Magic Mouse, and no keyboard.

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As Steve Jobs put it, it's BYODKM.

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On one hand, it's a little annoying that your brand new computer isn't usable out

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of the box. On the other, you, a Mac user, can now venture beyond the Magic Keyboard and choose, or

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make, something much, much better.

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What a dream. This should be easy.

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Meet Nicholas Plouffe. He's a writer from the Orange Channel who loves keyboards.

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He loves keyboards so much, he's the go-to guy for ShortCircuit videos on the subject.

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He loves keyboards so much, he set up a workstation in his home devoted entirely to the making

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and modifying of them. It's one of those things where you see a picture of something on someone's desk and

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you're like, wow, that looks really cool. Once you experience it and you feel the jump in quality that comes with a much nicer, custom

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mechanical keyboard, it's just like a rabbit hole.

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He loves keyboards so much, that's what he streams about.

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God, watching that sounds like something second only to paint drying.

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This is why he's going to be helping me out in this journey to find the perfect keyboard

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because there are a lot.

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Hey, you're the keyboard guy.

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Sure. And there are a couple of new Macs that don't come with keyboards.

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That's crazy. So I'm wondering if you can help show me the world of mechanical keyboards.

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What do you need on your keyboard? I want it to sound exactly like the keyboard from the Sims 1.

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That's like really mechanical and funky. And it sounds like Buckling Spring, like a Model M or something like that.

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I don't know if that's possible. Okay, so where do we start?

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Keyboard from the Sims sounds like an abomination. What do you mean?

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It doesn't sound like an abomination. It does. It sounds amazing.

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No, I hate it. But the game was so good. Yeah, the game was good. That doesn't mean the keyboard sound is good.

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Oh, so like these things? No, don't use those.

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Are there more? Yes. Even Mac users are spoiled for choice.

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Wait, what are you doing? I'm not done yet. There's a lot to consider if you're looking to get into keyboards.

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The feel of a mechanical keyboard is largely driven by the switch you choose.

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These are browns. You don't want these. What kind of switches do you like?

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The Sim switches. We're not going to find those. I don't like that.

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Vulcan. You don't like this? There's also a layout.

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What about this layout where they're all aligned? That's ortho-linear.

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Like teeth? The numpad's on the left side?

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Yeah. Why are there two space bars? Because if you want two space bars, why not?

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It's just not Mac layout, but that's kind of nifty looking. And then there's the endless variety of qualities like case material and color.

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Where's the white keyboards? This should be good, right? No.

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This is full mechanical. Those feel like rubber dome. The type of plate you want to use.

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How it's mounted. Yeah, they put that on the bottom. And even weight.

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That's heavy. These are all things that help contribute to how the keyboard feels under your fingers.

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That's it? One of these drop boards. A drop board?

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Where's the new fee? Well, he's a mountain. A mountain?

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Yeah, a mountain. This is a mountain. There you go.

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Maybe you like the TKL. I picked the blues for you.

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Kale blues. I like the clicky stuff. Is that going to sound like the Sims?

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No. What's in that suitcase? Oh, you want this?

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You want the cyberboard? Okay, don't drop this. It's expensive.

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You good? Yeah. Cool.

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Where are we going? Oh my God. Why is this lit up?

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This is the group of keyboards Ploof has piled on me to take to the lab.

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It's a diverse lot and as interesting as they look, I want to start off by getting his

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thoughts on Apple's option. To give ourselves something to compare to, let's start with the Magic Keyboard.

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Touch ID. I think it's $200. What?

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$200. Did you watch that episode of NCAX? Oh yeah, the double hacking?

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Yeah. It's not mechanical, huh? It's just kind of a chiclet.

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Chiclet style. I hate the fingerprint reader stuff.

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It's great. The clickiness of it for what it is is actually pretty decent.

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I think it's perfectly fine. From the keyboard person, and considering all the keyboard options there are, would

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you suggest to a Mac user to skip this and go elsewhere?

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The only reason I would ever tell them to get this is if they want the ultimate importability.

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Take this out of here. I don't want it out of my sight. I don't want to look at it.

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You're so nice about it. It's fine.

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I'm just being elitist. This is the grand irony is that the PC people, particularly in keyboard circles, are elitist.

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What I think most normal people are going to do is they're going to go straight to their

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Logitech store and they're going to get one of these.

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I don't like Logitech keyboards for the most part, which is crazy because I love Logitech

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mice and I love Logitech headsets as well. This is literally the MX for Mac.

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Wow, crazy. I should note that they just expanded the lineup of Mac specific keyboards and mice.

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It comes in a nice silver to go with your... It's not space gray.

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I like the silver. I like the silver and the off-white.

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I don't like the typing experience though. No?

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No, not at all. It feels gross. It feels great.

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What? What about the... Compared to the Magic Keyboard?

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I'd take the Magic Keyboard over this. Really? Yeah.

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Thanks for those options, Jonathan. But I want to show you what a really nice keyboard looks, sounds, and feels like.

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So how much is that one? This one's about five or six hundred dollars and this one's also about five or six hundred

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dollars. For this, you're really paying a lot for the screen here and this one is kind of just

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pure quality. This is so... I know.

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I love it. That's my favorite right now. It's eight pounds?

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Eight point two. Yeah. This is a similar like seven...

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What are these? Ivory? No.

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Those are ceramic. Those you buy separately. You buy the keycap separately.

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I ruined it with my grimy hands.

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Pretty nice keyboard still. It doesn't sound like the Sims though. No.

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No, no, no. This is a linear keyboard. Like this is also linear.

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But these are all linear. So these are probably all linear. Yeah.

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So what is linear? Linear is a type of key switch. There are three types.

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Linear, tactile, and clicky. If you're looking at cherry switches, the linears are going to be red, the browns are

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going to be tactile, and the blues are going to be clicky.

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And this is kind of works for other brands as well. The linear ones, you can press down on the key and it moves smoothly to the end.

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They're also good for typing. I like typing on linear sometimes. It's good for people who don't want anything getting in the way of their kills, I guess.

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What could be getting in the way of their kills? Feel.

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There's no bump to worry about. With a tactile switch, there's a detent that you can feel as you type.

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So what does this mean for my Sims keyboard? The closest thing we're going to get is either a clicky or a very heavy tactile, is my guess.

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The other ones are probably going to play better with your Mac because they're specifically

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made to work with Apple products.

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So do you think I should just make my own keyboard? Wow.

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Let me tell you. These days, it's only intimidating because a lot of people fear taking apart or putting

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together small electronics. But since you're putting it together yourself, you'll know all the ins and outs of how it

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works and what's inside of it. It's just a few extra screws and maybe a ribbon cable or two.

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Unless you want to go to the trouble of lubing switches, it should only take an hour or two

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to put together your own mechanical keyboard. Easy peasy.

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This one has blue switches, so you might actually like it because it's got clickies.

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Oh, this is a Mac layout. That's great. And they probably have a little switch on the side somewhere that lets you turn it from

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Windows to Mac. Yeah. There you go.

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So I mean, you have options. Whoa. What's with all the colors?

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You get that sweet, sweet RGB. Oh my goodness.

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Can I change the color? If it's not a function, then you can find software that'll let you change the color.

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Is this linear? This is tactile, but it's brown.

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They're annoying because the bump is incredibly minor. It feels like it's broken.

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It's almost linear. No, no, no. It's not broken.

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It's just a cherry brown. I think I can safely say that I do not like brown switches.

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This is probably closest to your Magic Keyboard.

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Yeah, but it like has a clicky switch. It's not the Sims 1, the new fee, one of my favorites.

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The backlight on this just lights around the keys. It doesn't actually tell me where the keys are.

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Yeah. So these are not double shot. So you can't see through them.

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But it is nice to see this Mac layer and the colors are fun. A bit Google though.

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Here's the thing. Okay. Apple users have a bit of history of good keyboards.

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There's one keyboard I want to show you. There's actually two keyboards. There's one keyboard I want to start off with.

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Excuse me. You're going to be so amazed.

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You're going to be like, this is the best keyboard I've ever tried.

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Wow.

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This is Apple's equivalent of the IBM Auto Land.

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How is it extended? The Apple Extended Keyboard 2. This keyboard uses the famed Alps switches.

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Feels gross. I genuinely hate this.

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I would never type on this in my life. You like this?

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Maybe you should just buy a memory keyboard. Also, why are the home row keys on my middle fingers?

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These Alps keys are legendary in the Apple circles.

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That's cool. I don't like them. Yeah, the bump is so mushy and I don't like the recessed caps lock.

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Why is this? Oh, it just sticks. That's old.

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That's fine. That's what they used to be like. Don't you remember using these as a kid?

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I do remember using these because I grew up using the Apple 2s and stuff because my school

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was broke. So you can't get this keyboard anymore, but there is a Canadian keyboard manufacturer

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that manufactures Alps keyswitches. Maybe I like Alps switches that aren't 30 years old.

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Maybe they're just old. Let me go again. Maybe if they're fresh, they're not this mushy.

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Matias is a small outfit based in Canada. They have worked to keep the spirit of the Apple Extended Keyboard alive.

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For instance, when the Alps switch was at risk of going out of production, they bought

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a million switches to keep their keyboards alive.

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And when production eventually did end, they loved the feel of the Alps switch so much

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that they designed and manufactured their own. This is the Matias Tactile Pro and then the Laptop Pro, which has the quiet click key

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switch. What makes it a laptop pro? It's smaller.

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It's wireless. Oh, it's wireless. And does it use lightning?

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No. It uses Micro-B. What?

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Oh my God. They told me it's based off the simple Alps. I like these a lot more than I like these because these are snappier and don't feel as

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mushy on the very bottom out. This is pretty close to the sims.

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Oh my God.

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It is.

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It's like exactly the same. It's all a lot in the space bar. You get that ker-chunk in the space bar.

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I am so amazed. I found it.

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I can't believe it. But do you want to type on this all day? Yes.

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Your choice. That's the beauty of it. I always wanted to be a sim.

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It's really good. It's fresh. It'll whoop at us now.

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Yeah, that's pretty good. It's like a how-to-han and that. For the Mac user, what do you think is the best keyboard for them?

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So there's no perfect answer. Everyone's going to have different needs. So really, this is the sky's the limit.

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It's sky's the limit. It's a giant rabbit hole that you can just dive right into and get lost completely.

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The mechanical keyboard world is full of a dizzying array of choice.

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It can be quite overwhelming, but also very personal.

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It's nice to be able to choose for yourself. And if you know what you want, you can find the perfect one.

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Like this. I can't believe it sounds like the Sims.

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Thanks for typing out this Mac Address. If you like the sound of this keyboard, give this video a like.

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And if you would rebel against the Magic Keyboard and get any of the alternatives, you might

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as well subscribe. Now in the comments, I'm curious what keyboard would you choose or is there one you really

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like that we didn't try out? Pop it down below.