Enlarge / We don't know what OnePlus' mechanical keyboard will look like yet. But Keychron's products may hold clues. (credit: Getty )

OnePlus, primarily known for making smartphones like the OnePlus 10 Pro , is working on its first mechanical keyboard . The company faces a crowded market but boasts keycaps featuring macOS-ready legends and a purported focus on customization, including open source firmware.

OnePlus first teased its keyboard earlier in December . It's receiving customer feedback to help design the product before testing it next month. An official reveal is expected in February, followed by mass production in March to April.

A community post today by OnePlus product marketing manager "Percy T." revealed that the keyboard will have a "MacBook layout," suggesting that there won't be a number pad. Despite its macOS-leaning keycap legends, OnePlus said it will also be a Linux keyboard and work with Windows PCs.

Enlarge (credit: System76 )

Prebuilt mechanical keyboards often neglect Linux support. Users frequently report success in getting a mechanical keyboard's basic functions to work, but many of these peripherals don't accommodate software for controlling advanced features, like macros, with Linux. Since last year, System76's Launch keyboard has been trying to address that problem. But number crunchers will be much more interested in the new Launch Heavy.

Released this week, the Launch Heavy is a numpad-equipped version of the 84-key Launch. As detailed in our System76 Launch review , the keyboard is one of the most customizable Linux-focused mechanical keyboards one can find. However, an absent numpad made the Launch an immediate 'no' for many. Now, the newly released Launch Heavy is addressing many, but not all, of its smaller counterpart's shortcomings.

The full-size Launch Heavy makes up for some of the Launch's (pictured) shortcomings. (credit: Scharon Harding)

As you can see, the Launch Heavy's 105 keys aren't a traditional layout. System76 had its way with the keys to the left of the numpad, getting rid of some completely. But compared to the Launch, the Launch Heavy adds keys above the numpad for media control. Unfortunately, there are still no buttons for controlling the volume out of the box.

Enlarge (credit: Cherry )

Cherry, the original mechanical switch maker, is continuing to tap the mechanical keyboard community for new product ideas. Its new mechanical switch, the Cherry MX Black Clear-Top , is a nod to enthusiasts who would love to turn in their modern-day clacker for an old-school terminal keyboard with extra-smooth typing.

’80s roots

Before Cherry's Thursday announcement of plans to release the MX Black Clear-Top, the switch was known to hobbyists as the Nixie switch. Cherry made the switch in the 1980s for German office machine-maker Nixdorf Computer AG. The German switch maker was tasked with creating a version of its linear MX Black switch with "milky" upper housing, a 63.5 g actuation force rather than 60 g, and "the relatively rare solution at the time of having a diode integrated into the switch for n-key rollover," Cherry's announcement explained.

The linear switch ended up being used primarily in Nixdorf's CT06-CT07/2 M Softkeys keyboards targeted at terminals, servers, and minicomputers.

Enlarge / Logitech's MX Mechanical for Mac has an Apple-friendly layout. (credit: Scharon Harding)

Logitech has Mac-ified its MX Mechanical Mini wireless keyboard. That is to say, it has created a version of the truncated keyboard for people who use Mac computers. The Logitech MX Mechanical Mini for Mac joins a small number of mechanical keyboards that are designed for macOS, from its use of Option and Command legends to software support and an Apple-like aesthetic. It's built for a cable-free setup and has pleasant typing but it's not a good fit for mechanical keyboard enthusiasts who like various switch options, premium keycaps, or high programmability... or numpads.

True Mac layout

Logitech released the MX Mechanical Mini, a 75 percent keyboard, alongside the full-size Logitech MX Mechanical in May. The portable Bluetooth LE keyboard can wirelessly connect to three devices, allowing users to pick which device they're controlling by pressing Fn and 1, 2, or 3. Officially, those devices can run Windows, macOS, ChromeOS, Linux, Android, iOS , or iPadOS. Because of that, key legends cater to both Windows and Mac users. The bottom row includes a key that can be Option or Start/Windows and one that serves as Command or Alt.

The MX Mechanical for Mac isn't so neutral. Its layout only includes Mac legends, making for a cleaner-looking bottom row than the original MX Mechanical Mini.

Enlarge / Corsair K100 Air. (credit: Corsair )

There are people who prefer a more compact keyboard , be it for portability, a preferred aesthetic, or saving space. There are also those who prefer keyboards with as many keys as possible. We're not just talking about full-size keyboards with numpads. We're talking about the kind of extra programmable keys that can store macros, launch a favored app, or input a complex string of characters with a press. Corsair's K100 Air, in a way, seeks to address both groups. The mechanical keyboard has a small bank of macro keys inside an incredibly thin 0.4-inch (11 mm) thick frame.

The K100 Air manages to be just 0.4 inches at its thinnest point, according to Corsair's announcement Thursday, with Cherry's MX Ultra Low Profile mechanical switches. The keyboard will use the clicky version of the switch, which has 1.8 mm of travel and actuates at 0.8 mm with 65 g of force.

A profile view. (credit: Corsair )

Even by low-profile standards, that is some shallow typing. For comparison, the MX Low Profile Red switches in keyboards like the Das KeyBoard MacTigr we recently reviewed and Razer's DeathStalker V2 Pro have 3.2 mm total travel, 1.2 mm pretravel, and actuate at 45 g of force. Those keyboards are thicker, naturally, at 1.06 inches and 1 inch tall, respectively. And full-height Cherry MX Blue switches are specced at 4 mm/2.2 mm/60.

Enlarge / Don't worry, there are English legends, too. (credit: Drop)

Middle-earth has seen more than its share of trials and challenges, but perhaps none more pressing today than a lack of mechanical keyboards that any of its various peoples can actually read . For ages, everyone from elves to dwarves had to make do with keyboards carrying legends of unknown languages. Today, keyboard and audio brand Drop released two prebuilt mechanical keyboards to rule them all—or at least speakers of Elvish and Dwarvish.

The Drop + The Lord of the Rings Dwarvish and Elvish Keyboards ($169) are the first to gain official Lord of the Rings licensing, Drop said in its announcement today. The keyboards build on Drop's November release of The Lord of the Rings keycap sets , also written in Elvish and Dwarvish , and follow Drop's Lord of the Rings artisan keycaps made from resin.

Drop's new prebuilt keyboards target people who want a keyboard J.R.R. Tolkien would be proud of but don't necessarily want to go on a Tolkien-style epic journey to build their own.

Enlarge / Das Keyboard MacTigr mechanical keyboard. (credit: Scharon Harding)

Mechanical keyboard manufacturers have a habit of overlooking Mac users. More often than not, mechanical keyboards come with Windows layouts and USB-A connectors, ignoring the many MacBook users with no USB-A ports and the macOS users craving Option and Command keys.

Das Keyboard, a Metadot sub-brand founded in 2005, released the MacTigr mechanical keyboard today to help balance the scales, listing macOS as the board's only supported operating system. The MacTigr doubles down with a Mac layout, USB-C cable, a pair of USB-C ports, and quality switches that will please users used to paying a premium for elevated designs.

But that's about all the MacTigr does. It lacks power features, like easy programmability or swappable mechanical switches. It's not bad, but it is fairly boring, and I expected this cat to have a more memorable roar for its $219 MSRP.

Enlarge / Sonic the Hedgehog mechanical keyboard. (credit: Higround/Instagram )

When you're a beloved blue eulipotyphla with the speed of a race car, all the golden rings, a pal like Tails, and even a pair of hit feature films , you start feeling like you can do anything. That includes typing on a truncated mechanical keyboard without letters, numbers, or any other legends written on the top of the keycaps.

Higround , known for gaming gear, is releasing today a trio of 65 percent mechanical keyboards made in collaboration with Sega, as spotted by Nintendo Wire , as well as other Sega-focused gear, including keycaps and mousepads.

Dreamcast's Sonic Adventure 2 mechanical keyboard. (credit: Higround/Instagram )

Pictures from the brand show a trio of keyboards coming to life with colorful details delivering nostalgic imagery anywhere from, depending on the keyboard, the loops and rings of the Green Hill Zone in 1991 's Sonic the Hedgehog to the contrasting profiles of Sonic and Knuckles from 2001's Sonic Adventure 2 to the rainbow-colored arrow keys mimicking console controller buttons in tribute to Sega's last globally released console, the Dreamcast .

Enlarge / Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro. (credit: Razer )

Peripherals and PC maker Razer this week introduced a new wireless mechanical keyboard that resurrects one of its most creepily named products. The DeathStalker V2 Pro —as well as its wireless, tenkeyless version and wired, full-sized version—manages to be just 1 inch tall at its thickest part by using low-profile mechanical switches that rely on light-based actuation. They're the first keyboards to use Razer's Low-Profile Optical Switches .

Optical mechanical switches actuate when the switch's stem interacts with an infrared light beam within the switch's housing. Razer already sells optical switch keyboards, like the Razer Huntsman Mini Analog , whose keys are also pressure-sensitive. But this is the first time the company has made its optical mechanical technology so short.

The wireless keyboard works over Bluetooth, a dongle, or a cable. (credit: Razer )

The linear optical mechanical switches have a travel distance of 2.8 mm, and they actuate at 1.2 mm with a force of 45 g. For comparison, Cherry MX Reds , have 4 mm of travel and actuate at 2 mm with a force of 45 g.