Simon McGuire

Editors Keys Illuminated Mac Keyboard

19 February 2020

As a Film Editor and Lecturer, I have the need for a comfortable and yet practical keyboard that is suitable for a wealth of requirements for both worlds. Film editing relies on keyboards being an extension of the editors hands, allowing the ideas instructions and responses of editing craftsmanship to flow without distraction of poor design or the causes of fatigue. Lecturers require the keyboard to also perform over long periods with the key action aiding the writer to execute academic papers or journal articles with ease, giving an almost traditional feel to typing that has been lost with other current keyboards. The Editors Keys Illuminated Mac Keyboard fits this double profile very well.

As you open the box (which has the familiar colours of the Editors Keys and has been inspired by BlackMagic Design maybe) the keyboard has a nice weight and a good long USB cable built in, vital when editing as sometimes the edit suite can be reconfigured to suit a project and the keyboard may need to be positioned away from the desk. The rubber feet underneath the keyboard provide very little movement which in my case is vital as the desk is glass and I have had issues before of keyboards slipping under my fingers as I type commands or write. As I work mainly in a dull or dark room (close curtains and blinds for editing especially with colour correction) the three position key illumination is a huge advantage. As i have an Apple 27” 5K machine, i have tried using the small wireless keyboard that comes with it (along with an Editors Keys Overlay for editing) but this doesn’t feel right a lot of the time due to the very small size and the key action under the touch. Editors Keys have address these issues clearly. The size heralds back to the earlier versions of keyboards that Apple used to ship with their machines, including a much desired numeric pad section which is very handy with logging camera timecode for a post ingest. This along with the spring action from the keys themselves is what makes using this keyboard a dream for editors.

The unit is ‘Plug & Play’ and my Mac had no issues with recognising the keyboard and all the functions a regular Apple keyboard has including keys for screen brightness, volume control and control centre. The black finish of the keyboard works well with my black glass desk however it is a good thing that its illuminated as its difficult to see the keys if the illumination is turned off. But that’s just my desk.As a lecturer I also do a lot of typing in the form of journal articles, reports and academic papers. The keyboard doesn’t come into it self till you use it over long periods. The ease of writing is improved and I didn’t feel as fatigued as I would have been using the small Apple keyboard as mentioned earlier. The spring action gives a good response for writers and it feels like a quality product under your fingertips. With its traditional HOME/END/PAGE UP/PAGE DOWN and independent DELETE keys, I have noticed there is less time spend navigating around the documents when compared to the Apple Keyboard (as those small units don’t have the page navigation or numerical pad sections) In conclusion, I would highly recommend this Illuminated Keyboard. The size might feel large to some users, due to being use to the Apple keyboard size but if you don’t mind some extra desk real-estate being used then you won’t regret it. There is very little to not like and with the price set, it is very competitive. If you are an editor who has bought a new Mac recently and wants a larger keyboard that has a good responsive touch and action then this is the one for you.