I’ve always been curious to know what keyboards look like in various countries. What does the most ubiquitous item in a computer user’s life look like in other parts of the world?
As an Apple fan, I’ve also been very curious about the internationalized versions of Apple products, and nothing’s more local than languages. It’s kind of like seeing “twilight zone” versions of of one of the most familiar things in my life – the keyboard I spend hours at every day. I use mine so much, and see it so often, my mind narrows and it’s hard for me to imagine that other versions might exist.
But they do. Apple currently makes 32 keyboards for various languages and localizations.
When it comes to Apple’s recent aluminum unibody design, this actually becomes somewhat important. They way Apple makes their computers and the keyboards means they have to mill different holes for the keys out of metal. That’s not a trivial thing. Mill too many of one localization and not enough of another and you suddenly can have supply constraints.
Fortunately, there’s isn’t a lot of variation there. There are three templates: US, International and Japan. The US keyboard is noted by the wide return key, the international uses an “L” shaped return key and the Japanese version has a “fat” return key.
Finding images for all 32 keyboards was a bit of a task. This took a few months. Apple has images of most keyboards on their store page, if you dig deep enough. But not all versions appear in all international stores. Also, some keyboard images do not appear at all in any Apple store and quite a few are mis-labeled.
But they exist. Apple lists them in their support pages, pictures exist from users and I’ve checked the part numbers. They most certainly are real. But for some reason, Apple does not directly sell or show some of them. In searching for these images, it also became clear that a lot of international users have no idea what some of these keyboards look like before they buy them, because I found a lot of questions about them when I was searching around.
I wasn’t always able to find usable images. For roughly half, I had to use user images, 3rd-party sales images and cobble things into the final version. That’s why some look a bit smudged. A few I had to re-create in Photoshop, but used photo reference. I did not do the keypad versions because I didn’t find reliable sources for them, and Apple seems to be slowly ridding themselves of that arrangement, anyway.
Please remember that these are not guarantees of what you will get if you should happen to buy these keyboards. They are just representations of what I could find, and I could be dead wrong on some of this. Don’t complain to Apple if the pictures don’t match the product.
Some of these images are 100% © Apple, and all are based on artwork that is © Apple. Used for purposes of review.
So, as a result of my own anal-retentive curiosity, hopefully this will help some users finally see what these look like.
Arabic Keyboard (MC184AB/B)
Image composited from pictures of the 2009 MacBook with Arabic Keyboard. Mis-labeled on Apple’s site, which displays the English (US) keyboard.
Belgian Keyboard (MC184FN/B)
Image from the US Apple Store.
Bulgarian Keyboard (MC184BG/B)
Image re-created from user photos, Apple’s support pages.
Croatian Keyboard (MC184CR/B)
Image composited from user photos.
Czech (Standard) Keyboard (MC184CZ/B)
Image composited from user photos. Mis-labeled on Apple’s site, which shows the English (US) keyboard.
Danish Keyboard (MC184DK/B)
Image from the US Apple Store.
Dutch Keyboard (MC184N/B)
Image from the US Apple Store.
English (British) Keyboard (MC184B/B)
Image from the UK Apple Store.
English (International) Keyboard (MC184Z/B)
Image from the US Apple Store.
English (USA) Keyboard (MC184LL/B)
Image from the US Apple Store.
French Keyboard (MC184F/B)
Image from the US Apple Store.
French Canadian Keyboard (MC184C/B)
Image composited from Apple’s image for the French Canadian Wired Keyboard. Mis-labeled on Apple’s site.
German Keyboard (MC184D/B)
Image from the US Apple Store.
Greek Keyboard (MC184GR/B)
Image composited from reseller photos of the 2009 MacBook with Greek Keyboard.
Hebrew Keyboard (MC184HB/B)
Image composited from user photos of the 2009 MacBook with Hebrew Keyboard.
Hungarian Keyboard (MC184MG/B)
Image composited from user photos.
Icelandic Keyboard (MC184IS/B)
Image re-created based on reseller photos of the 2009 MacBook with Icelandic Keyboard.
Italian Keyboard (MC184T/B)
Image from the US Apple Store.
Japanese (Hiragana) Keyboard (MC184J/B)
Image from the Japan Apple Store.
Korean (Hangul) Keyboard (MC184KH/B)
Image from the Korea Apple Store.
Norwegian Keyboard (MC184H/B)
Image from the Netherlands Apple Store.
Polish Keyboard (MC184PL/B)
Image from the Poland Apple Store.
Portugese Keyboard (MC184PO/B)
Image from the Portugal Apple Store.
Romanian Keyboard (MC184RO/B)
Image re-created from user photos of the 2006 and 2009 MacBook Pro with Romanian Keyboard.
Russian Keyboard (MC184RS/B)
Image from the Poland Apple Store.
Slovak Keyboard (MC184SL/B)
Image composited from reseller images of the 2009 MacBook with Slovakian keyboard.
Spanish Keyboard (MC184Y/B)
Image from the Spain Apple Store. Mis-labeled on Apple’s other sites where they display the English (US) keyboard.
Swedish Keyboard (MC184S/B)
Image from the Sweden Apple Store. A version of this keyboard may also be marketed as MC184K/B for Finland.
Swiss Keyboard (MC184SM/B)
Image composited from Apple’s image for the Swiss Wired Keyboard. Mis-labeled on Apple’s sites, which displays the German keyboard.
Taiwanese Keyboard (MC184TA/B)
Image from the Taiwan Apple Store. A version of this keyboard may also be marketed as the MC184CH/B for China.
Thai Keyboard (MC184TH/B)
Image from the Thailand Apple Store.
Turkey Keyboard (MC184TU/B)
Image re-created from reseller photos of the 2009 MacBook with Turkey Keyboard.
Turkey Q Keyboard (MC184TQ/B)
Image composited from reseller photos of the 2009 MacBook with Turkey Q Keyboard.