ISO · QWERTY
MacBook Laptop (ISO UK) keyboard layout
MacBook Laptop (ISO UK) is a Mac laptop keyboard built to the ISO physical standard with a QWERTY letter arrangement. It has 79 keys in 6 rows. British ISO layout for UK, Ireland, Australia, India, and Commonwealth countries.
Modelled on the Apple MacBook Air / MacBook Pro.
At a glance
- Platform
- Mac
- Standard
- ISO
- Form factor
- laptop
- Keys
- 79
- Letters
- QWERTY
- Language
- British English
- Numeric keypad
- No
- Enter key
- Tall, L-shaped (ISO)
- Left Shift
- 1.25u, with an extra key beside it
Key map
What MacBook Laptop (ISO UK) is
As a laptop keyboard it has no separate numeric keypad and no navigation cluster: the arrow keys sit in the bottom row, and Home, End, Page Up and Page Down are reached through the Fn key. The function row is shared with brightness and media controls.
ISO or ANSI?
MacBook Laptop (ISO UK) is an ISO keyboard. The three things a typist notices: the Enter key is tall and L-shaped (it spans two rows), the left Shift is only 1.25u wide, and the key between left Shift and the bottom letter row prints ~ `. Because the left Shift is narrower, the left little finger travels a shorter distance to reach it; because Enter is vertical, the right little finger reaches it from the home row rather than from the row above.
Where the symbols sit
These are the keycap legends on MacBook Laptop (ISO UK) for the characters typists reach for most, taken from the layout file. A symbol printed on a keycap with another legend is reached with Shift or the third-level modifier (AltGr on Windows, Option on Mac), depending on the operating system's layout.
Compared with a US keyboard, where @ is Shift+2 and # is Shift+3, these positions are what trip up people switching layouts: the finger goes to the US position and produces a different character.
- " shares its keycap with '
- § shares its keycap with ±
- ~ shares its keycap with `
- \ shares its keycap with |
- | shares its keycap with \
- / shares its keycap with ?
Home row and finger placement
The home row on MacBook Laptop (ISO UK) is A S D F G H J K L ; '. Touch typing starts here: the left hand rests on A S D F, the right hand on J K L ;, and every other key is reached by a short move and a return to this row. CosmicKeys' finger guide animates that reach for each key of this exact layout.
Practice on MacBook Laptop (ISO UK) in CosmicKeys
CosmicKeys does not assume a US keyboard. Choose MacBook Laptop (ISO UK) from the keyboard picker and the on-screen keyboard, the finger animations and the per-key narration all use this layout's positions.
The core curriculum runs on every layout: home row, top row, bottom row, the number row, finger drills, mastery and speed lessons, plus custom lessons you write yourself.
There is also a UK-specific lesson pack for the keys this layout has and a US board does not.
The typing test at /typing-test works on any layout and reports words per minute and accuracy; the lessons, finger-level analytics and hand-position guides are the part that depends on the layout you pick.
FAQ
Is MacBook Laptop (ISO UK) ANSI or ISO?
ISO. It has the tall L-shaped Enter key, a 1.25u left Shift and an extra key (~ `) between Shift and the bottom letter row.
Does MacBook Laptop (ISO UK) have a numeric keypad?
No. Numbers are typed on the number row; if you enter a lot of figures you can pair it with a standalone keypad and CosmicKeys' numpad lessons.
Can I learn to type on MacBook Laptop (ISO UK) with CosmicKeys?
Yes. Pick MacBook Laptop (ISO UK) in the keyboard picker; the lessons, finger animations and narration then use this layout's key positions. The typing test needs no account.