{"id":97070,"date":"2025-02-07T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/?p=97070"},"modified":"2025-02-12T16:04:02","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T22:04:02","slug":"when-old-meets-new-using-a-35-year-old-adb-apple-extended-keyboard-ii-with-an-apple-silicon-m4-mac-mini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eshop.macsales.com\/blog\/97070-when-old-meets-new-using-a-35-year-old-adb-apple-extended-keyboard-ii-with-an-apple-silicon-m4-mac-mini\/","title":{"rendered":"When Old Meets New: Using a 35-year-old ADB Apple Extended Keyboard II with an Apple Silicon M4 Mac mini"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“They don’t make ’em like they used to,”<\/em> is a phrase that often comes to mind when I am forced to use a modern Apple keyboard. Personally, I disdain Apple’s “chicklet” keyboard. While it’s often praised for its quiet key strokes and precise touch typing, its shallow key travel and complete lack of tactility makes for a very unpleasant typing experience, in my opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The venerable, but still quite functional, Apple Extended Keyboard II<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to many keyboard aficionados, there was a time when Apple made truly excellent keyboards. Presumably, among the best that Apple offered was the Apple Extended Keyboard II<\/strong> (model M3501), released with the introduction of the Mac IIsi <\/a>in 1990.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AEK2 (which is how I will be referring to this keyboard from hereon) embraces Apple’s “snow white” design language, first introduced with the Apple \/\/c. Make no mistake, this is a massive-sized keyboard. It features a layout similar to IBM’s PC\/AT keyboard. From both a weight and durability perspective, the AEK2 is a tank<\/em>. If you come across an AEK2 now, it’s quite normal to see some yellowing on the keyboard’s case. I was able to reverse this process using the Retrobright<\/a> process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The AEK 2 features clear, attractive keycaps and ALPS key switches. These switches are discontinued, but Mattias makes clones of the original ALPS key switches.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Beauty is subjective. That being said, I think that the AEK2 is every bit as majestic now, as it was when it first shipped. But looks aren’t everything. What makes this keyboard special, in my opinion, is the typing experience. Thanks to its Alps cream switches, each key press on the AEK2 offers crisp, tactile feedback, which makes for a very pleasant typing experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest drawback to the AEK2 isn’t really its fault. Back in the day, ADB (Apple Desktop Bus) was ubiquitous: every Mac had them, and it was the proprietary standard for all input peripherals. ADB gave way to USB when Apple introduced the G3 iMac.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, why am I telling you about a keyboard that Apple stopped making more 30 years ago?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Wombat is a device that lets you use a vintage ADB device with your modern computer (Mac, Windows, Linux). It can also allow a modern keyboard to be used with a classic Mac \/ NeXT machine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The answer is simple: Thanks to bespoke devices like the Wombat, users can now use these perfectly functional, vintage ADB devices on modern Macs (and PCs). The Wombat<\/a> is a small hardware device that allows users to connect legacy ADB input hardware to modern machines running macOS, Windows or Linux. And, if that wasn’t amazing enough, the Wombat also allows a modern USB keyboard to connect to an ancient ADB-based Mac, IIGS, or NeXT computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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LEDs on the Wombat, indicate it’s working and active. Each keystroke you type lights up the top most LED (not shown in this photo). With the Wombat, no power cables or special drivers are needed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Wombat is the brainchild of Steve Chamberlin, who’s name resonates among many retrocomputing enthusiasts. Via his website, Big Mess o’ Wires<\/a>, Steve blogs about his retro-computing adventures, while also offering several of his bespoke hardware creations for sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wombat board<\/a> can be purchased from Chamberlin’s site for $39US. For $10US more, you can also purchase a black acrylic case, to keep it from being exposed to the elements. (I recommend springing for both.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting up the Wombat is simple. The Wombat does not require any external power source. To get things going, you’ll need:<\/p>\n\n\n\n