Replacing a keyboard for older mac

It depends how you feel about your Powermac. Cleaning the keyboard might work. Getting an apple keyboard frome ebay can present other problems. Third party keyboards might work and unless you intend to emigrate to the latest Intels, there is a decision to make. PC keyboards have also been known to work. Hope this helps.

I remember having and using the aluminum keyboard when I was still using OS 10.4.11.

I have had this keyboard since it came out in 2007.

If you want all of function keys to work with the various Apple screen functions like dashboard, exposé, volume controls and audio/video playback controls, there is an Apple keyboard updater you can run to take advantage of your new aluminum keyboard's functionality.

http://support.apple.com/downloads/Keyboard_Software_Update_1_2

I wonder what FrodoFan35 wound up doing? For PPC Mac users, the keyboard now seems to be another, quite sharp nail in the coffin. I spilled a large quantity of water on my old aluminum keyboard recently and it couldn't recover. I put my respectable, but slightly rusty cast-off M7803 (Pro) back to work (photo isn't mine—I wish mine were this white!)…

…and implemented some credit card reward points to order a new aluminum keyboard. I was in a hurry and as Mom used to say, haste makes waste. I did notice some fine print to the effect of "requires OS 10.7 for full use of features" but had the "meh" reaction that I think any PPC Mac user can probably relate to. The product *looked* exactly the same, of course, and I didn't notice the model number change from /A to /B. You can imagine my disappointment on the third or fourth day of having this keyboard in action when I discovered the volume keys didn't work. The Spark program was mentioned here in Discussions as a workaround, but I don't like to be tricky with my precious Power Mac G5 at this point.

I decided to see if I could swap the MB110LL/B, which is engineered for Lion, for a MB110LL/A. What a depressing experience, not to mention the wasted time. I was not too happy with the treatment I got from Apple personnel on the phone related to this; in-store, where I took the /B to be sent back and credited to my card, was a bit better but still not up to past standards. More than one factor at work there, I think.

Best Buy and some Amazon partners supposedly have the /A boards, but I think I'm going to go the used-from-eBay route. I'm a true relic now… might as well act like one. 😉

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Full-Size-Apple-Keyboard-Great-Condition-/221000418790?p t=PCA_Mice_Trackballs&hash=item3374a6c5e6#ht_500wt_1413

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-A1048-iMac-Mac-eMac-White-Clear-USB-Pro-Keyboard-M 5769-Apple-Mouse-/200746826599?pt=PCA_Mice_Trackballs&hash=item2ebd717b67#ht_225 3wt_1141

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Pro-M8732LLA-Wired-Keyboard-iMac-Mac-USB-Black-And -Clear-Macintosh-WORKS-/170823604120?pt=PCA_Mice_Trackballs&hash=item27c5e15798# ht_7367wt_1141

Thanks @BDAqua and @FrodoFan35 for your replies. (Sorry for the lag, I've been mostly offline for a couple of days.) BDAqua, I actually ended up buying a used keyboard of the type in your third link—the black version of the old Pro keyboard in the photo I posted—from another eBay seller, for about $17 including shipping. Should arrive Monday, hopefully cleaner and in better working condition than the one I'm typing on now, which was a cast-off from the office where I used to work. Down the road, maybe the black Pro will play backup to another MB110LL/A if I hit a good auction.

FrodoFan, I apologize for not reading the previous message closely enough in which you explained that you'd gone ahead and bought a new aluminum keyboard. If the disabled function keys don't bother you, then of course it's cool. I was accustomed to them working on my old slash-A model, so when they didn't work on the /B it felt like a regression and was just too annoying. (Especially the volume keys—I love being able to hit that mute key when I land on something that forces me to suffer through a noxious commercial before I get the content I'm seeking. Faster than finding and using the volume control on the ad.)

But, it's a shame if you don't like the feel of the aluminum keyboard. Hope you get your previous one fired up again. If not, the old-school keyboards, i.e. the white and black variants of the Pro (M7803) and the subsequent simpler white one(A1048), seem to be pretty widely available from a variety of sources—just not Apple. 😟 For example, I visited my local independent Apple sales/service shop yesterday and was mildly surprised to see a big stack of spanking-fresh-looking A1048s in cellophane wrap, priced at $29 and prominently displayed near the MB110LL/Bs.

Great to hear Nina, thanks for the report! 🙂