Editing Apple Extended Keyboard II (section)

==Construction==
The construction of the keyboard is quite unconventional by today's standards.

The keyboard is an evolution of the [[Apple Extended Keyboard]], designed in the "Snow White Design Language" formulated by Frog Design and used in Apple products from 1984 onwards.

=== Case ===
The case has smaller borders than the [[Apple Extended Keyboard|AEK]] and the Apple logo has moved from the left side to above the Escape key. It is held together with only one screw.
It also has a new retractable foot near the back to tilt the keyboard. The single large foot is unusual in its construction in that it is manipulated by moving a slider on the rear which moves the foot by action of an inclined plane.

Like the AEK, there are two knobs on the sides of the function row for holding an overlay.
There are also [[light-emitting diode|LED]]s for [[caps lock]], [[scroll lock]] and [[num lock]] above the [[numeric keypad]].

=== Internals ===
The Caps Lock key has a latching key switch.
Switches for the modifier keys and Caps Lock are on dedicated lines so as not to impair other keys, which are in a [[keyboard matrix]] without diodes. The two Command keys are joined on the same line — and read as the same key.

The switches are mounted in a steel plate and printed circuit board.
The plate has tabs on the front which interlocks into the single rubber foot on the underside; the plate and foot are holding each other in place without glue.

There is one [[Apple Desktop Bus|ADB]] port on the left and one on the right side. Either one can be connected to the host computer, while the other is usually used for a mouse.
Each port is mounted on a separate PCB connected to the main PCB with a ribbon cable.

=== Keycaps ===
The [[keycap]]s, with the exception of the space bar, are made of [[PBT]] with [[dye sublimation|dye-sublimated]] [[legend]]s in the [[keyboard fonts|font]] ''Univers 57 Oblique''. The space bar is probably made of ABS, and yellows as fast as the case.

The profile of the keycaps is special to Apple. It is as if the rows were shifted one step down compared to the "standard" profile used by most other keyboards with [[Keycap mount#Z_mount|Alps mount]] on key switches.
The top of the case has a slight curve, and each keycap's skirt reaches down only to match that curve.

The keys on the [[function keys|function key]] row are special in that the mount is vertical and not horizontal as on other rows. The reason for this is probably to avoid vertical wobble, as these keys are the highest on the keyboard (two rows above number row).