Can I replace a U.K. laptop keyboard with an American laptop keyboard on Macbook Pro?

Animatrix wrote:

I haven't been able to find a place to actually buy a replacement keyboard for the computer.

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to just buy an American style Apple keyboard and install it? Will the computer reject it or will it be alright?

Thanks for your time!

Have you called an Apple Store or an AASP? Surely one of those places would know.

perhaps purchasing a mac wireless keyboard would be a very inexpensive alternative : http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/MC184LLANB/

You might want to let them do the work, but it's certainly possible. We've had a couple of people on the forums order new MBs with replacement keyboards (Russian and Spanish), so fitting a US one in place of the UK one should be no problem at all.

The actual keyboard mapping is set in System Preferences > Language and Text > Input sources, so a US keyboard with US selected in Input Sources will give you what you expect to see.

Animatrix wrote:

The keyboard has keys that won't work. It has to be replaced.... BUT.... It turns out the computer was originally purchased in the United Kingdom and has a UK keyboard.

The issue is that the keyboard is broken (are you sure of that?), not that it's a UK keyboard.

You can put a US, or German, or Arabic keyboard for that matter, if you wish. The problem is that, (1) Apple does not sell such parts to consumers, and, (2) replacing the keyboard is a seriously non-trivial task. You can buy a spare keyboard off eBay, but -- given that you're not experienced and you haven't been trained to do this -- you're more likely than not to damage the laptop. Your only other alterantive is to take it to an AASP, and that's not going to be cheap -- Apple parts come at a premium, and the labour involved is significant.

Scylla and Charybdis come to mind…

On the unibodies, the keyboard is the first component that screws into the aluminum case. Which means EVERYTHING has to come out to remove it. Meaning zillions of minute screws, fragile and ornery connectors, weird shaped components, the works. Difficult and time consuming for a pro, daunting or impossible for a newbie.

And then there's the question of whether the keyboard you want fits into the case you have. Cause the cutouts can be different. Just check the UK vs USA portable keyboards, both being "English" in this technote:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2841

Maybe sell the computer that still mostly works back in eBay and buy what you want. Lot less risk involved

You might try here....

http://www.ifixit.com/

Neither they nor PowerbookMedic.com carry replacement keyboards for unibodies. Only for older models. PowerbookMedic carries replacement keycaps, though. Very costly, $9/ea.!