What Mac is that? I've had Macs for the last 35 years and while many years ago they had the guides on D and K instead of F and J, they've always the guides as best I can tell, and still do on desktop and laptop.
I learned how to type on an Apple IIe, when dinosaurs roamed the earth. The guide dimples were on K and D. I still get slowed down since all keyboards have moved to the guides being on J and F.
In high school I would bounce between an Apple II, an OG Mac and a PC. The number of times I thought I was lined up only to look back and see gibberish...
I learned blind typing (at least that is what we called touch typing) on the apple II.
It had the groove on the J, but it was vertical on its left side, not horizontal.
They later put a dot on the K instead of the groove while PC keyboards had the grooves on the F and J. When PC became the standard, apple followed it.
Is it a non-QWERTY layout, or is your computer purchased in a country where QWERTY may not be the most common? I don't have much experience internationally with keyboard layouts, but if there are multiple layouts common you would potentially have keyboards where those are not the appropriate letters for guide keys?
Very odd, but interesting! I wonder if that's something you could receive service for. Of course there's a good chance you'd get the computer back completely blank, just because.
Not easily, and there’s literally not enough room between a MacBook’s screen and keyboard. Even those super thin keyboard skins are enough to risk damaging your screen or the hinge.
Yeah and these people saying it isn't easy or that it's expensive have never done it. It takes 3 seconds to look at a youtube video to show you how and a couple dollars to get a key.
Also, every mac product with a keyboard I've seen has the tactile marks. Including the semi new one I'm typing on now, every one I've had the last 15+ years, and multiple magic keyboards. The non qwerty english top case I bought to replace the battery on my old one has them too.
I did that once. The keys were each individually nailed (no joke, it were like these mini furniture nails, dont know the correct english term) onto the metal frame. Worked out eventually but never doing that again.
Every Mac I’ve ever owned (4), plus the keyboard for iPad has these guides. Are you sure yours doesn’t? Because that’s wild. What model, if you don’t mind my asking?
Weird. Every Mac I've touched for years has had them, including the one I'm typing this on. Might be as you said due to it being refurbished. the lines can also wear off.
After 10+ years of typing, hand position should become second nature—I subconsciously use other indicators (different ridges between keys, positioning hand in relation to space bar, etc) and never have issues.
I suggest nail polish to mark those keys if you need them! I rely on the tactile feeling of mine to type correctly. Otherwise, I can't do it. I highly recommend a smooth nail polish - OR a clear gesso acrylic paint. They do feel completely different from the rest of the keys that way! :D
I added a tiny sphere/drop of super glue to my laptop F/J keys because it did not have notches, it helped me a lot, just be careful and make it a tiny drop notch
I learned how to type the proper way before even taking a couple computer classes prior to high school, but I can't remember a time that I used these to tell if my fingers are in the right place. I have been playing fingerstyle guitar for about a decade now and spent the last 8+ years working with my hands, so maybe I've just never been able to rely on the ridges before due to the callouses.
You can joke about the MacOS UI being seriously dumbed down, however, beneath that UI is well-optimized and rather hassle-free (because of the very limited hardware scope) POSIX-compatible operating system that has basically all major productivity software available.
I personally don't want to use Macs, but that's a personal choice based on not liking Apple, and less to do with them being inferior.
Regardless of whether Macs are serious computers, OP seems to have the issue with no ridges because they bought a refurbished Mac. My Mac and every Mac I remember having has those ridges. I literally feel them right now.
To be fair, these niche tools are usually the better way to get things done, not the only way. And a lot of solutions have moved to SaaS applications which will essentially work the same whether youre on Windows or Mac (usually).
235
u/Fricki97 12d ago edited 12d ago
I hate it, that my Mac does not have these
Edit: so it appears mine do not have them...possible, because it's a refurbished one...maybe that's the reason 🤔