Tag Archives: Keyboard

This mechanical keyboard has a dazzling, distracting display under its keys

If you think RGB LEDs dancing upon your keyboard’s keys is distracting, you might want to look away from Finalmouse’s upcoming mechanical keyboard. The Finalmouse Centerpiece announced Saturday is a mechanical keyboard that has its own display showing animated visuals through the keyboard’s transparent keycaps and switches for a look that seems as dazzling as it is distracting.

Finalmouse is known for making PC mice with detailed designs and, often, limited availability. It typically goes after PC gamers looking for something unique and exclusive-feeling for their setup. Now, Finalmouse is announcing its first keyboard, which takes detailed design to a new level.

Finalmouse hasn’t shared many details on the display running underneath the Centerpiece’s switches. We don’t know its exact size, brightness, resolution, or refresh rate, for example. However, the screen is said to be powered by “interactive skins” using Unreal Engine 5. It’s unclear how many skins the Centerpiece will launch with, but in its video, Finalmouse showed a variety of possibilities, from swimming koi fish that scurry away when you press a key, to a rippling water effect, a lion grazing, and 3D animations.

Mechanical keyboards are some of the most customizable peripherals you can find, but Finalmouse’s Centerpiece is way flashier than most, even Asus’ ROG Strix Flare II Animate, which boasts 312 customizable Mini LEDs.

We’ve seen mechanical keyboards with a display near the keys before, but the Centerpiece’s display is front and center. As such, we can see the animations being exceedingly distracting, especially for non-touch typists and people playing competitive games. Wisely, a brightness knob on the side of the keyboard lets you turn off the display.

Interestingly, Finalmouse says the Centerpiece uses its own CPU and GPU, so powering the display doesn’t use up the connected system’s resources.

Finalmouse claimed artists can submit skins to play on the Centerpiece’s display and have the option to monetize them. More details weren’t provided, however. Finalmouse’s announcement said people would be able to submit different skins for the Centerpiece to use via a Finalmouse Steam app called The Freethinker Portal, allowing Centerpiece users to download designs and toggle across up to three via a dedicated switch on the side of the keyboard.

The Centerpiece is said to rely on what Finalmouse is calling its Laminated DisplayCircuit Glass Stack. As you might imagine, glass isn’t a material often used in mechanical keyboards. Inside an aluminum chassis, it should be decently protected; although there are still plenty of questions around durability and how this all works. Finalmouse, of course, claims the keyboard is tough enough to withstand extreme use.

Further, the company claims that the glass stack is sandwiched by gaskets making for “typing acoustics and feel unlike any other.” Finalmouse’s announcement said the keyboard’s sound profile has been described (it didn’t say by whom) as “soft marble raindrops,” but we’ll just need to hear it for ourselves to know for sure that’s a good thing.

Enlarge / A view of the display from a different angle.

Beyond its wild display, the keyboard also uses mechanical switches based off Gateron’s linear Black Ink switches. Gateron’s switch has 4 mm of travel and actuates with 60 g of force. The switches in the Centerpiece keyboard are supposed to actuate more quickly and have “slightly” different travel specs, Finalmouse said. The company will also sell a version of the keyboard analog switches using Hall-effect sensors, so users can select the switches’ actuation point (somewhere within the switch’s total travel) themselves.

The Centerpiece, with its truncated layout, outlandish design (including keycaps with only side-printed legends), and high price, will be limited to those seeking a bold PC accessory to transform and dominate their setup and keep themselves or, perhaps online viewers, wowed. Finalmouse said the keyboard will be available early next year for $349.

You can view Finalmouse’s video showing the Centerpiece’s effects below:

Finalmouse Centerpiece Keyboard Reveal.

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This Keyboard Has Transparent Keys and a Screen Inside

Keyboards have become as much of a form of self-expression as the outfits in your closet, but instead of just showing off color-changing LEDs, the Centerpiece keyboard puts an entire interactive display beneath a set of transparent keys, which will have touch typists staring at their keyboards again.

Although not yet a household name when it comes to PC peripherals, Finalmouse has made a name for itself amongst some gamers with its collection of mice featuring ultralight designs through the use of perforated housings made from magnesium. However, the company’s first gaming keyboard is going to be impossible to forget, as at least according to a teaser recently shared on YouTube, Finalmouse has spent a few years developing a custom display it calls a “Laminated Displaycircuit Glass Stack.” The end result makes users feel like they’re typing on a touchscreen, but with actual keyboard keys.

Although the keys are completely transparent (with labels applied to the edges), they still feature autolubed linear mechanical switches co-developed with Gateron based on that company’s Ink Black switches, the sound of which has apparently been described as “soft marble raindrops.” Finalmouse says it also plans to introduce an analog hall effect switch option for gamers wanting more customizability.

Finalmouse Centerpiece Keyboard Reveal

Details on the screen’s resolution haven’t been shared yet, but it’s been designed to be durable enough to survive the rigors of gaming, and is housed in an intricately CNC engraved anodized aluminum case, so it sounds like you’re really going to have to try hard to damage or destroy it. Content for the screen, including passive video clips and animations or interactive content that reacts to individual key presses, will be made available through an upcoming app distributed through Steam that will also allow users to upload and sell their own creations.

Up to three video skins can be stored and quickly changed on the Centerpiece keyboard at a time, which is powered by its own CPU and GPU so as not to put any processing strains on the computer it’s connected to (via a USB-C cable).

A specific release date for the Centerpiece keyboard hasn’t been announced yet aside from “early 2023,” but Finalmouse has set the pricing at $349. What’s also unknown is what content the keyboard will have pre-loaded, or if users will have to hop into the company’s Freethinker Portal app to buy a skin before the show beneath their fingers can begin.

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Tactics Ogre On Switch Apparently Supports Mouse And Keyboard Controls

Image: Square Enix

This week saw Square Enix release Tactics Ogre: Reborn on the Nintendo Switch and multiple other platforms.

If you haven’t already got around to playing this one, here’s another reason why you should check it out. As highlighted by user ‘solwhitehorn’ on the Nintendo Switch subreddit, the game actually supports mouse and keyboard inputs.

So if you don’t feel like playing on Joy-Cons or a Switch Pro Controller, you can use this method instead:

“I found it strange that the keyboard shortcuts were displayed in the config menu. While nothing is written on the box, plugging a usb mouse/keyboard works directly and you can play the game this way as it was the PC version. I also tried a usb dongle for a wireless Dell keyboard/mouse combo and it works no problem”

Image: via Reddit / Square Enix

Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time Nintendo Switch has controlled keyboard and mouse inputs. Earlier this year, id Software and Bethesda added support for this control method to Quake as well:



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One UI feature focus: Samsung Keyboard tips & tricks and hidden features

Samsung Keyboard is one of the most feature-rich touch-based input solutions around. It’s available out of the box for Galaxy smartphones and tablets, and it’s chock-full of customization options and useful tools. Today, we’ll explore a few of these Samsung Keyboard features that may help improve your experience.

In addition to Samsung Keyboard offering robust 1st-party features, the app also supports a few third-party tools, including extensions for Bitmoji and mojitok, GIF galleries through Giphy and Tenor, and more. We’ll also touch on a couple of “hidden” features that you may be unaware of, so without further ado, here are some of our favorite Samsung Keyboard tools and tips & tricks.

NOTE: This guide was created using One UI 5.0 on the Galaxy S22+, and some settings/options might differ or not be present in Samsung Keyboard for other One UI versions.

Manage third-party Samsung Keyboard extensions

To access Samsung Keyboard settings, open the Settings app on your phone, access “General management,” tap “Keyboard list and default,” and select “Samsung Keyboard.” To view third-party Keyboard extensions, scroll down and tap “Select third-party content to use.”

Here you can enable or disable extensions individually, including Bitmoji, mojitok, Giphy and Tenor, Spotify, Google (Translation and YouTube), and Grammarly, by tapping the toggles ON or OFF. Now, before you can use these third-party extensions, you need to add them to your Samsung Keyboard toolbar. To do this, summon the keyboard (for example, by creating a new document in Samsung Notes), then tap the three-dot button in the upper-right corner of the keyboard. Finally, drag and drop the desired extensions to the toolbar. The latter can accommodate up to 7 extensions and tools at a time.

Manage custom symbols in Samsung Keyboard

As you probably know, Samsung Keyboard allows you to access more symbols through a small pop-up by tapping and holding the period button. These symbols, however, can be customized to your liking. Here’s how.

Same as before, open the Settings app, access “General Management,” tap “Keyboard list and default,” and tap “Samsung Keyboard.” Next, however, select “Custom symbols.”

Here, you can use the interactive preview window at the top to customize your Samsung Keyboard symbols. You can select the symbol you want to remove in the preview window at the top, then tap the symbol you want to add via the keyboard at the bottom of the screen. Here’s the process visualized in a screen recording:

NOTE: If you want the pop-up custom symbol window to remain open without having to hold your thumb pressed to the screen, you can go to “Swipe, touch, and feedback” via the “Samsung Keyboard” settings screen and tap the “Keep symbol panel open” toggle ON.

Two Samsung Keyboard “hidden” features you may find useful

Finally, here are a couple of tips that may elevate your Samsung Keyboard user experience to a new level. The app has a couple of somewhat hidden gestures that can be extremely useful once you add them to your repertoire.

Firstly, you can use the spacebar to control the cursor. As you may know, swiping left and right on the spacebar changes languages (assuming you have more than one). However, tapping, holding, and swiping left or right (and/or up and down) on the spacebar changes the position of the on-screen cursor. To use this feature, make sure “Cursor control” is selected in the “Touch and hold space bar” menu.

Secondly, here’s a quick tip that may help you speed up your typing. You can tap and hold the “Shift” key on your Samsung Keyboard to convert “Backspace” into “Delete” on the fly. Here’s a quick video exemplifying both the Cursor Control and the Shift+Backspace functions:

What are some of your favorite Samsung Keyboard features? Feel free to leave a comment below.

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iPhone now supports 86-year-old Dvorak keyboard layout natively, delighting Woz

Enlarge / The Dvorak layout is now available for iPhone.

Benj Edwards / Ars Technica

Tired of QWERTY? Starting with iOS 16—which launched last month—the Apple iPhone now supports the 86-year-old Dvorak keyboard layout natively. Previously, Dvorak typing aficionados needed to install a third-party app to use the layout.

Dvorak uses a different arrangement of keys than the standard QWERTY layout with the aim of improving typing speed and ergonomic comfort. August Dvorak and William Dealey invented the layout in 1936 after studying the deficiencies of the QWERTY typewriter keyboard, which was already 60 years old at that point.

Apple and Dvorak have an interesting history. The company first included native Dvorak support for its computers in the US model of the Apple IIc, released in 1984. It included a special “Keyboard” button that would swap the layout between QWERTY and Dvorak logically, but the physical keycaps would need to be re-arranged to match if you needed a label reference.

Enlarge / The QWERTY and Dvorak keyboard layouts side by side on iPhone.

Benj Edwards / Ars Technica

Interestingly, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (“Woz”) learned Dvorak around 1993 and never looked back (he wasn’t involved with Dvorak on the Apple IIc, he says). In an email to Ars Technica, Woz recounted how he first learned Dvorak. “I was on a flight to Tokyo and I ran Mavis Beacon teaches typing in Dvorak mode,” he wrote. “I spent 5 hours learning it and never again looked at a QWERTY keyboard. That’s all it took. My son had already switched over successfully, and learned Dvorak in a short time and quickly got up to the same speed he typed in QWERTY in about a week.”

Enlarge / Selecting the “Dvorak” layout in Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards.

Ars Technica

To use Dvorak on your iPhone, first make sure you’ve upgraded to iOS 16 or later. Next, open the Settings app and navigate to General > Keyboard > Keyboards, then tap your language and select “Dvorak” from the list. The next time you pull up the keyboard, you’ll see the different layout, with a home row that reads “AOEUIDHTNS”—exactly how August Dvorak would have liked it.

It’s worth noting that Dvorak’s purported speed improvements come from using 10 fingers to type, so if you’re just learning Dvorak, you might not see any speed improvements over QWERTY when typing with two fingers, such as your thumbs. However, longtime Dvorak users will likely be pleased.

“What I liked most about Dvorak then was the feeling of using less energy with your fingers,” Woz said. “Since iPhones came, I had to resort to QWERTY but it wasn’t in my brain anymore. I had been a very fast QWERTY typist my whole life, but now it’s gone. I have to look at the letters on my iPhone.”

Ars informed Wozniak of the native Dvorak support in iOS 16, and he replied, “OMG! Thank you very much!”

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Google Japan debuts the Gboard Bar, a keyboard you can actually own

Google Japan is having a bit of fun this weekend with the announcement of the Gboard Bar, a physical keyboard that has all of its keys lined up in one row. Google Japan states that there are a number of benefits to its new keyboard, with the most important being that it allows users to find the key that they are looking for faster than ever before.

Like any good product, it all starts with inspiration. For Google Japan, that inspiration came from the fact that for years, many had focused on just the word “key” in the word “keyboard” and never really went further. In Japanese, the word keyboard translates to キーボード (kii-bou-do), so with キー (kii (key)) getting so much attention, it decided to focus on the ボー (bou) portion, which on its own translates to bow (staff/bar). Using this, it was able to come up with a new design, improving navigation when compared to a traditional keyboard by placing all of the keys in a straight line. According to the firm, this minimizes the need to look in all directions like on a traditional keyboard. You can just start at the beginning and just go through each key until you find what you are looking for.

It also states that there are ergonomic and health benefits associated with the new keyboard, allowing the arms and legs to stretch naturally when typing. The device even has added features, like becoming a physical extension of your limbs, making it easier to press buttons that might just be out of arms reach. You can also use it on hiking excursions as a trekking pole or a ruler to measure objects, and it’s even easy to clean, requiring just one long wipe. For now, Google only has plans for a standard layout but is considering a version with emoji and also a gaming model with LEDs

If by now it wasn’t clear, this is somewhat of a joke, and Google Japan has no plans to mass produce this and make it available for sale. But, it does have a Github page set up where it has uploaded all of the necessary data files so that you can make your own if you choose. While this might sound like a fun project, be warned this thing will be long, measuring in at 1650mm or around 5 feet and 5 inches. If that’s just too much, Google reminds us that there is also a perfectly good Gboard app that can be downloaded to iOS and Android devices, offering an impressive set of features that can improve your typing experience in new ways.




Source: Google Japan Blog, Gboard Bar website

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Logitech finally makes a wireless mechanical keyboard with a true Mac layout

Enlarge / Logitech’s MX Mechanical for Mac has an Apple-friendly layout.

Scharon Harding

Logitech has Mac-ified its MX Mechanical Mini wireless keyboard. That is to say, it has created a version of the truncated keyboard for people who use Mac computers. The Logitech MX Mechanical Mini for Mac joins a small number of mechanical keyboards that are designed for macOS, from its use of Option and Command legends to software support and an Apple-like aesthetic. It’s built for a cable-free setup and has pleasant typing but it’s not a good fit for mechanical keyboard enthusiasts who like various switch options, premium keycaps, or high programmability… or numpads.

True Mac layout

Logitech released the MX Mechanical Mini, a 75 percent keyboard, alongside the full-size Logitech MX Mechanical in May. The portable Bluetooth LE keyboard can wirelessly connect to three devices, allowing users to pick which device they’re controlling by pressing Fn and 1, 2, or 3. Officially, those devices can run Windows, macOS, ChromeOS, Linux, Android, iOS, or iPadOS. Because of that, key legends cater to both Windows and Mac users. The bottom row includes a key that can be Option or Start/Windows and one that serves as Command or Alt.

The MX Mechanical for Mac isn’t so neutral. Its layout only includes Mac legends, making for a cleaner-looking bottom row than the original MX Mechanical Mini.

Enlarge / No Windows key here.

Scharon Harding

The MX Mechanical for Mac still supports Bluetooth LE pairing with up to three devices and worked perfectly fine when I used it with Windows 11 and 10 computers, as a Logitech rep told me it would. However, Logitech only lists macOS, iOS, and iPadOS as officially supported platforms for its series of MX-for-Mac peripherals, so support may not be so helpful if the keyboard starts acting weird with any other OS.

And unlike the original MX Mechanical Mini, the Mac version doesn’t include a USB-A dongle. You could still pair the keyboard with a Logitech USB receiver purchased separately, but Logitech doesn’t make a USB-C dongle for Mac users who prefer the simplicity of a dongle or the potential for less latency and don’t have any USB-A ports.

All Mac users like white and gray, right?

You probably also noticed that the MX Mechanical Mini for Mac looks whiter and brighter than its more platform-agnostic counterpart. In a press briefing, a Logitech representative said the company was aiming to better match Apple’s aesthetic. The keyboard added a bright pop to my desk, and the shimmery silver metal top plate sitting atop the grayer plastic base delivered subtle pizzaz. Still, it feels limiting that Mac users aren’t offered at least the darker color scheme of the original MX Mechanical Mini (and vice versa). Logitech assumes that since you use a Mac, you want a whiter keyboard.

White keycaps, however, aren’t easy to keep clean, especially when they’re ABS plastic, which is known to attract fingerprint smudges more than good PBT ones. The keycaps are less slick and slimy than typical ABS but are still decently smooth and lack grip. The legends are laser-engraved with a protective coating added on top, but they should still fade after heavy, frequent use.

Unlike the original MX Mechanical Mini, which you can buy with low-profile linear, tactile, or clicky switches from Kailh, the MX Mechanical Mini for Mac only has Kailh’s low-profile tactile switches. A Logitech representative told me that this is because Mac users tend to want something quieter and with strong tactile feedback.

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iOS 16: Make Your iPhone Keyboard Vibrate Whenever You Type

This story is part of Focal Point iPhone 2022, CNET’s collection of news, tips and advice around Apple’s most popular product.

You know that little vibration you feel underneath your finger when you delete an app from your home screen or turn on the flashlight from your lock screen? That’s haptic feedback, and you can now use that feature on your keyboard to enhance typing on the iPhone.

In lieu of those annoying clacking sounds you’re probably used to, haptic feedback provides a silent way to get a more immersive experience when using an iPhone. If you’re a fan of the feature, you’ll be happy to learn that, with the release of iOS 16, haptic feedback integration has spread to some other aspects of your iPhone.

Thanks to iOS 16, you can now get haptic feedback when using your iPhone’s built-in keyboard. Whether you’re sending a text message or drafting an email, every time you hit a key you’ll feel a slight but satisfying vibration, giving the virtual keyboard a bit more of a physical feel.

However, you must manually enable the haptic feedback feature for your keyboard on iOS 16 for this to work. Here’s what you need to know.

If you haven’t yet updated to iOS 16, check out how to download and install iOS 16 right now, seven hidden features we weren’t expecting and all the new features you can look forward to using, like unsending text messages and removing people, pets or objects from your photos.

How to enable haptic feedback to your iPhone keyboard

Before you go through these steps, make sure that your iPhone is updated to iOS 16. You should check out a list of compatible iPhone models and how to go through the installation process.

To enable your keyboard’s haptic feedback:

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Go to Sounds & Haptics.

3. Tap on Keyboard Feedback.

4. Toggle on Haptic.

Toggle this on and you’ll feel a slight vibration each time you tap a key.


Screenshots by Nelson Aguilar/CNET

As soon as haptic feedback is enabled, you’ll feel a slight pulse whenever you tap your keyboard, whether you’re hitting space, entering a character or deleting something. Haptic feedback will run regardless of whether your phone is in silent mode or not.

It’s worth noting that Apple added a note to its support page for haptic feedback that says, “Turning on keyboard haptics might affect the battery life of your iPhone.” 

There is no further explanation, like how much battery the feature may actually consume, but it seems to be a significant enough issue that Apple needed to include a statement about it. If you’re worried about battery life, you may want to keep haptic feedback on the keyboard turned off, especially since going into Low Power Mode does not disable it.

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This Mechanical Keyboard Has a 12-Inch Touchscreen Built-In

Image: Ficihp

Like butterfly keyboards and chargers being included with iPhones, the MacBook’s Touch Bar seems doomed to extinction soon. The feature wasn’t completely useless, but its diminutive size prevented it from reaching its true potential. If you’re going to put a screen on a keyboard, you need to fully commit to the idea, like this mechanical keyboard with a 12.6-inch touchscreen does.

Amazon’s listings of consumer electronics continue to be slowly taken over by brand names that are not only completely unknown, but seemingly created by a random character generator. You can talk amongst yourselves about the right way to pronounce, “Ficihp,” but there’s little debate as to the usefulness of this creation.

As spotted by BoingBoing, although it looks like a self-contained mashup of a laptop and a tablet, the keyboard contains no actual computer components. On its own, it’s useless. But when cable connected to a computer, or a mobile device that’s compatible with external displays and hardware accessories, it serves as both a compact 71-key mechanical keyboard and a 12.6-inch color touchscreen with an ultra-wide aspect ratio and a cropped HD resolution of 1920×515.

Unlike the MacBook’s Touch Bar, which had its customizability limited by how applications chose to use it, the screen on this keyboard serves as a secondary display for a laptop or desktop PC, so users can move whatever apps or toolbars onto it they so please. The ability to have touchscreen shortcuts for commonly used tools and functions in complex apps like Photoshop was one tantalizing use case the Touch Bar never fully delivered, but this could.

Some of the other suggested use cases for this accessory in the keyboard’s promotional imagery actually seem quite handy. For instance, you could use the keyboard’s screen to take notes during a video conference call, leaving the larger screen for showing the talking heads of all the participants. Or, you could just use it as a dedicated place to park your Twitter feed so it’s visible at all times. It’s your mental health, who are we to tell you how to take care of it?

Image: Ficihp

The device is seemingly no slouch as a keyboard either, with adjustable brightness, swappable keycaps, and full RGB backlighting that has 15 different built-in lighting patterns. It’s also got n-key rollover, so it’s potentially even suitable for gaming too.

The hardware does have some limitations. It’s only real connection to a device is through a USB-C port, so if you need to go the HDMI route for an older PC or laptop, you’ll need to get a hub or cable adapter to bridge the two. And while the touchscreen supports up to 10-point touch detection, that only works when this thing is connected to a Windows PC. When paired with a Mac, touch detection is limited to just a single point.

The biggest issue, however, might be the keyboard’s $390 price tag. You can easily find a much larger hi-def external display and a passable mechanical keyboard for cheaper than this. Is the added touch functionality right at your fingertips worth the premium pricing? That’s up to you.

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Apple will settle butterfly keyboard lawsuit for $50 million

Apple has agreed to pay out $50 million to settle a class action lawsuit that said the company knew about flaws with the butterfly keyboard switches it built into several MacBook models (via Reuters).

The keyboards, introduced with the 2015 MacBook, were notoriously unreliable; basically any sort of grime, crumb, or dust could make it so that a key stopped responding altogether or got stuck, resulting in embarrassing typos. Apple tried several fixes for the keyboards, but each new generation failed to fix the core issue, with computers impacted as recently as the 2019 MacBook Pros and Air. (A full list of the affected computers is included on the first page of the settlement, but it’s basically all of Apple’s laptops from 2015 to 2019.)

The judge still has to approve the proposed settlement agreement, but the end could finally be in sight for some of those burned by Apple’s unreliable keyboard design, which the company did away with in 2020.

Under the agreement, people who had to get their butterfly keyboard repaired should be eligible for some sort of payout if the settlement is approved — as long as they live in California, New York, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Washington, or Michigan. People in other states aren’t included in the class for this settlement.

The settlement breaks payments down into three tiers: People who got at least two top case replacements (fixing issues with the keyboard basically meant taking the entire laptop apart) will get the most money, with people who got one or more keycap replacements will get the least. If you got a single top case replacement, you’ll be somewhere in the middle.

The estimated payouts range from “up to $50” to $395, though the actual amounts will depend on how many people sign up to be part of the settlement. It’s also worth noting that up to 30 percent of the $50 million will be going toward attorneys’ fees, and more will be siphoned off for other costs and expenses.

Those sums won’t be enough to buy yourself a new computer if yours still has the butterfly keyboard, but depending on how many repairs you went through, it could knock off a relatively large chunk. The settlement also makes sure that Apple’s extended service program, which covers your keyboard for four years after you bought the laptop, will remain in effect, so if you’ve got a computer with some broken keys, it may be worth looking into that.

Apple didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment on the proposed settlement. As the agreement notes, Apple has not admitted to any wrongdoing in the butterfly keyboard affair, and the settlement agreement means it likely never will.

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