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Comment by bonyt | Hacker News Reader

I replaced the keyboard MacBook Air M1 keyboard with a $20 model from Amazon and it's been going strong for a full year. I had spilled ginger ale on the original.

The board is riveted in, but there are enough screws to hold the replacement in place. Removing the board is a shockingly violent process, but it worked for me.

Keyboard: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQBVMM3X (price has gone up).

Video of rivets breaking: https://i.tonybox.net/9f2083b218d5.mp4 (you can see I missed a screw and slightly cut my hand here too).

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> I missed a screw and slightly cut my hand here too

After a nasty gash from a washing machine, which impacted my typing for a week, I got a pair of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Mechanix-Wear-Utility-Gloves-Large/dp... $14, may save a doctor visit

I recommend ANSI rated cut protection gloves: https://www.mcmaster.com/9915N987/

I use them when working with sheet metal. They are high-dexterity. Thin and flexible. Steel threads are woven into the fabric. McMaster has a variety of high dexterity gloves - fingerless, insulating, cut-resistant.

I wonder if anyone has hacked it (in the "Hacker News" sense of hack) so that the above keyboard can be used in an external casing, without inserting it into the Macbook body. I'd pay a lot of money for that. The Magic Keyboard is different.

i mean it's pretty nice for a laptop keyboard, but i've never thought of it as good enough to use externally tbh

or do you mean integrating it into a different laptop a la framework? that could be cool, but would also have to think how much the chassey stiffness/specific construction contributes to the feel

p.s. has anybody here tried (the external) magic trackpad? the macbook trackpad is infuriatingly good

I have the external Magic Trackpad. It is wonderful. I use it with my split Moonlander keyboard, and keep it in the middle. I honestly can't use a normal keyboard now, MacBook Pro included.

Anecdotal but I never had more hand pain than when I ordered a Magic Trackpad and tried to commit to it. Pretty bad cramps after a few weeks.

I have a magic keyboard for my studio, bloody expensive, but I just love the ergonomics and feel compared to my two TKL (really nice) mechanical keyboards.

Thanks for posting, I might attempt this if I feel brave enough one day! Mind if I link to this from the post? Could help someone in the future

Sure - of course! Hope it can be helpful.

You can use tiny drill to drill off the rivets - much less violent. I covered everything in paper / masking tape to be able to vacuum off the metal shavings and used small dremmel like electric drill with chinese used re-sharpened pcb drillbit.

Well done! This is the sort of "old HN" spirit that I love. Though if I ever need to do this myself I think I would try using a tiny "crowbar" to break each rivet individually, just to spare myself from cutting my hand.

wow, you are not underplaying the force needed. You can hear the rivets going.

Mind sharing an Amazon link to the electric screw driver you used in your video?

I'm fairly sure that's the iFixit precision electric screwdriver: https://www.ifixit.com/products/precision-electric-screwdriv...

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