Apple Introducing New Wireless Keyboard

Apple may be introducing a new wireless keyboard to their product lineup. Leaked photos from Apple’s Czech online store may indicate a new layout and perhaps backlighting for the keys in the updated wireless keyboard.

While the images on the Czech site appear to have been leaked intentionally, the accompanying page makes no mention of any updated features. Upon closer inspection of the picture; however, you may notice several key differences. The eject button in the upper-right corner, essentially useless now that most Apple products ship without a CD drive, has been replaced with a power button. The F5 and F6 keys appear to have received new functionality as well, to increase and decrease brightness. This may imply that the new  keyboard has backlit keys, the brightness of which can be controlled with the F5 and F6 keys. The “enter” key also appears to be a bit redesigned.

Aside from the visual differences, not much is known about the new keyboard, yet. There is a possibility that the new keyboardmay contain some of the features just introduced on the new MacBook. The new MacBook features a thinner, fully redesigned keyboard with decreased spacing between the keys, which are 17% larger than the previous version. Each key features its own LED light (as opposed to a single set of LEDs that power the entire keyboard), and the hardware mechanism underneath each key was replaced. The old “scissor-switch” key mechanism was replaced with a “butterfly” mechanism allowing the keys to track straight up and down no matter where you press on the key.

It’s unclear when new keyboards are expected to arrive, but with no real significant upgrades since 2009, the wireless keyboard is due for a makeover. Keep an eye on iDropNews.com for further updates.