Re:Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Key...
by asdff on Thursday August 06, 2026 @02:42PM
(#49200613)
You could do all that and maybe after many hours it might work, or you could also solve this in 5 minutes by just plug in the magic keyboard to the computer, stick it in a box with a cut out for the touchid sensor, and just stick your mechanical keyboard on top of the box.
Re:Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Key...
by naikrovek on Thursday August 06, 2026 @02:03PM
(#49200126)
“requires a donor [Apple Magic] keyboard” is not the same as a third party making a Touch ID-compatible sensor. That’s Apple making a Touch ID-compatible sensor and a third party taking it out and putting it in another keyboard.
This does not qualify as a third party Touch ID compatible keyboard.
Re:Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Key...
by notpushkin on Thursday August 06, 2026 @02:16PM
(#49200317)
Yeah, but it’s a third party mechanical keyboard with a Touch ID sensor.
I suppose if one came across a pile of old / broken Magic keyboards, they could extract a bunch of Touch ID sensors and sell those to a keyboard manufacturer (or in their own keyboard). This does not scale, obviously, but including it as an option could work.
Reverse-engineered from the Apple Magic Keyboard and requires a donor board, though