Apple Extended Keyboard II Teardown
Tools
These are some common tools used to work on this device. You might not need every tool for every procedure.
Apple Extended Keyboard II
Overview
The Apple Extended Keyboard II (or AEKII) was released in 1990 as a successor to the Apple Extended Keyboard. It's smaller footprint and slight improvements make it a favorite for keyboard collectors and mechanical keyboard enthusiasts. The keyboard has two Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) connectors, and was meant to be used to "daisy chain" a mouse or additional keypad to the keyboard. While ADB is no longer supported, a ADB to USB adaptor, such as the Griffin iMate can be used. In addition, there are a number of modifications that can be made to allow the keyboard to support USB protocols.
Switches
Cream damped Alps
The most common switch in the Apple Extended Keyboard. Contains dampeners to quiet the strike.
Salmon Alps
A tactile switch with salmon-coloured slider.
Mitsumi Standard Mechanical
All-white Mitsumi standard mechanical, with Alps mount sliders. Japanese only.
White damped Alps
A rare variation of the Cream damped Alps switch, with the biggest difference that the sliders are pure white. Non clicky, and feel similar to its cream dampened cousin.