Staff members at The Verge rely on a wide mix of keyboards for their daily work, ranging from budget mechanical builds to ergonomic split boards to Apple’s Magic Keyboard, according to a survey of the publication’s own employees. The roundup, published by Verge Staff and Nathan Edwards, asked coworkers what they actually type on and found preferences split among utility, ergonomics and aesthetics.
Edwards, the article’s lead writer, uses a Kinesis Freestyle Pro with optional tenting add-ons and palm rest accessories, a setup adopted after wrist pain in the late 2010s led to experimentation with ergonomic keyboards. One staffer keeps a Keychron K2 for work and a Logitech G713 wired mechanical keyboard with a cloud wrist rest for gaming, favoring its tenkeyless layout and GX red linear switches over a previous board with a number pad and two rows of programmable keys.
Another staffer has used some version of Apple’s keyboard for over 20 years, beginning with the Apple A1048 that came with a first Mac in college, and now uses the Magic Keyboard with a numeric keypad. Complaints include key legends wearing off and unreliable Bluetooth, but two decades of muscle memory have kept the setup in place. A different staffer moved from Logitech’s MX Keys S to a black-key Apple Magic Keyboard with a number pad, citing the Touch ID button and a $200 price.
One employee described a Boop Redux case with GMK Dots keycaps and Silent Bluish White (V2) switches as the dumbest purchase they have made, while calling it a joy to look at and a practical downgrade from an Apple Magic Keyboard. Another keeps a TM680, also known as the Gamakay LK67, a cheap 65-percent kit bought from AliExpress in 2021 after a video by YouTuber Scott “Keybored” Kim, later upgraded with an MT3 3277 keycap set and hand-lubricated Gateron Milky Yellow linear switches.
A staffer who once spent nearly $200 on a full-size Razer mechanical keyboard with a numpad recalled destroying three relatively expensive keyboards with spilled water and now uses a Keychron K2 with a 75-percent layout. Another types on an M2 MacBook Air issued by the employer, and one uses a Corsair K55 RGB Pro bought at half price at a thrift store that now fails to light up on startup and sometimes does not sync with Corsair iCUE software.
More technology news from TechManNews.
