Funny. The first Apple Keyboard I ever owned was on a Mac SE, back in 1987, and several of the keys on the right side of the keyboard didn't work when I got it home. I checked the Key Caps Control Panel, and sure enough, the keys were shown as pressed.

Since the store I got it from was closed, being the semi-technical geek I am, I rolled out the Philips screwdriver and popped that bad boy apart.

Sure enough, the RF shielding was installed backwards (with the metal facing the keyboard and the paper facing the plastic), so I flipped it around, and BINGO.

Just a thought...

- Sean

We just got a shipment of 32 new Apple keyboards in. Haven't tested them yet.

Well, you need to read the directions that came with the keyboard. Needs and update to system software for mouse and keyboard and then the dashboard etc. keys will work.

um, there was a software update for the keyboard. When you plug in the keyboard, the mac recognizes you got a fancy new one with a different layout.. and you have to run the update.

Check before you write a column, making it sem as if there is a problem and it is just the fact you don't know what you're doing.

None of the keys on this keyboard work, it's horrible. What? Oh I thought we were just making stuff up at this point.

don't dare waste versaceboi's precious time.

@versaceboi:

Um, here's a sentence for you to re-read:

"Is there going to be another keyboard software update soon?"

Note the word "another"? In English, this word is used when, for example, someone has tried a fix for something and it doesn't work...so they wonder if there's "another".

Check before you write a comment, making it "sem" as if you are clever and it is just the fact you don't know what you're talking about.

Before you start telling this dude he is an idiot you might want to purchase the keyboard for yourself, i did and sure enough even after the first update the two keys still do not work.

But wait, I thought Mac stuff never has bugs. Some one must be lying

Haha, some dude name "Versace Boi" is dishing out the pain, hahaha. Makes my belly jibble with laughter.

I'm considering picking one of these up since I never really liked the original mac keyboard.

Not to mention it looks really nice.

Dude - You need to go to the Apple support site and download Keyboard Software Update 1.1 Once you install this it will et you sorted. I know b/c I was just like you when I first got mine and they, of course, don't include it in the box so you are kind of SOL until you get that update!

drew

hold the fn button with either the F3 or F4 and boom, it just works.

If you use the fn-key with the special keys for dashboard etc, they do work, and it seems that if you check the "user F keys" check box, the expose, dashboard buttons work , but then the play, pause etc buttons need the fn key.

It seems that we might need another sw update for the keyboard to get this "bug" fixed.

Press the fn button along with either the F3 or F4 button, and boom, it just works.

I'm not a Mac user, but it was a good idea to alert readers of the discussion over at the forums.
@versaceboy: whether you deem the post stupid or not, that doesn't mean that everyone knows the solution. this probably helped a few people out there.

Hey, I've never tried. Does Windows (or Linux for that matter) recongize this keyboard as a driverless USB keyboard?

Nice design, if so.

@ VERSACEBOI:

Chill out or go suck on a BSOD.

Jason is right. I've experienced the same problem on all my Macs.
Running OSX 10.4.10 and using the keyboard software update,
both F3 + F4 don't work properly, regardless of System Prefs.

If you press the "fn" key (below F13) and simultaneously press
F3 or F4, the "functions" for Exposé and Dashboard work fine.
But thats not supposed to be the situation. They should work
without having to press "fn".

All other function keys work as suggested by their icons,
including being able to program keys F13 thru F19.

Apple we need a patch please! ~ Dax

I've got 2 of these keyboards and they both work without issue. However, I did have to uncheck "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" in the Keyboard and Mouse preference pane.

Word.

mac fails, i lul.

First: VERSACEBOI is a douche
Second: Shouldn't we take this time to bash Sony?
Third: Has anybody put the keyboard down their pants yet?

And I can't get it to work with the iPhone. I guess I need an new iPhone!

What kind of Mac are you using this keyboard with? Have you tried unchecking the "Use all F1, F2, etc." preference as mentioned above? Using this on a MBP C2D and it works great. Although I did run Software Update where it picked up the updated keyboard software.

@ VERSACEBOI

Props to you, I rushed into this post to make the same comment. Typical gadget geek behavior, he didn't read the manual. When I plugged mine in and it didn't work, I opened that up to find "quick set-up" instructions on the first page.

Plug it in, then download the update, then restart. It's pretty clear to me that Jason didn't do the update.

Both of mine work great, btw.

@nuclearlove: Nope, I did the update. Both the manual and the automatic update. Still doesn't work.

Which is why I said "another update".

Jason is 100% right. I got the new keyboard also, installed the latest software update, and those two specific keys also don't function for me either.

It doesn't happen for everybody, obviously. I've been trying to figure out how to reproduce it -- a co-worker two seats down has a similar setup, and no problems at all -- but so far, I'm stumped.

Waiting for Keyboard Update 1.2, I guess?

1.It seems as though this is a problem with only a few keyboards. Mine was fine though my bosses had the same problem.

2. Why does it seem that those who hate Apple must read every apple story?

So I just got off the phone with Apple and they told me that the USB "2.0" ports should work on all newer Macs (meaning G_'s to the newest iMacs) but he also told me that some of the function keys don't work because I have an older Mac. Hell, I have a Dual 2.0GHz PPC G5, 4GBs of Ram, X800XT GPU and I have no support for new peripherals.

Anyways the guy said that the engineering people are going to look into it and they'll call me back within a few days and if they have no solution they'll send me a new keyboard.

I really love this keyboard but I wish the USB "2.0" ports and the Dashboard and Expose buttons worked without the need to reassign them to different keys.

I'm having the same problem with my keyboard. This only seems to be happening with older macs, ie: not the new iMacs. And yes, the keyboard software update does not fix the problem. A ton of people are experiencing the same thing, there's already a TUAW post about and a bunch of discussions in the apple support forums.

The keys worked in the Apple Store I checked, so only a fraction of keyboards have the problem.

Mine works. Yay for me.

@VersaceFool,

Do you even have this keyboard? Well I do. And I installed the update, restarted and the F3/F4 keys still don't work. Any other brilliant comments? Didn't think so. STFU.

Mne orkfin. No robem here.

Nobody mentioned the fact that the Option key doesn't let you select your startup disk when these keyboards are attached to a Mini.

So you have no way to switch back to Mac OS from Windows if you're running Boot Camp.

So you have no way to switch back to Mac OS from Windows if you're running Boot Camp.

when you plugged in the keyboard it deleted the Apple-installed Windows control panel for setting the start-up disk? man... that sucks... and a bit beyond the purview of what a keyboard should be allowed to automatically do in all honesty.

Yup, they're not working for me as well.

For everyone who still has the same problem with the function keys not working, i put together an installer package, which updates your Dock.app file, which seems to be root of all evil in this case.

I followed the steps on Joe Mullins site, and it worked for me.

The package can be downloaded under: [twsibtth.chrisandtheothergirls.com]

hope this helps

@1stage: Yea, linux does recognize this keyboard at a regular USB keyboard. I've been using it under Fedora 6 now for 30 days and except for an occasional key sticking issue, it's working fine.