Using the NewerTech wireless numeric keypad and Karabiner to complement Apple’s keyboard

With all of the hype about Apple’s newest iPhone and Apple Watch, one could easily forget that phones and watches have lineages dating back centuries. Interestingly, the computer keyboard, that mainstay of desktop inputting, can trace its roots back to the invention of the typewriter — right around the same time that the telephone was invented.

Of course, typewriters typically had a row of numbers across the top, but nothing that would resemble a calculator-style numeric keypad. That particular section of a modern computer keyboard can actually trace its lineage, and layout, back the Sustrand adding machine in 1914.

When Apple revamped its line of computer keyboards in 2007, the sleek aluminum devices came in two versions: a wired, full size model that included the numeric keyboard, and a more popular (and pricier) wireless, compact model that omitted it. Anyone hoping for an official Apple wireless version with a numeric keypad was out of luck.

Like in many other areas (floppy drives, CDs), perhaps Apple was foreseeing the future ahead of everyone else, although they later did add a wireless full-size keyboard to their offerings: the Magic Keyboard at a less than magical price of $129. Sibelius expert user Robin Walker on this blog said in 2014 that the keypad is “an object which is by now almost extinct. Nothing more clearly labels Sibelius as a child of the 1990s than its dependence on the numeric keypad.” Indeed, with Dorico eschewing the numeric keypad, this prophecy is somewhat fulfilled, but for Sibelius and Finale, their efficient use relies heavily upon the numeric keypad.

Construction and use of the NewerTech wireless keypad

Several offerings have tried to fill the void for a perfect wireless solution, either through hardware, or apps like NumPad for iOS, which can be used with Finale and Sibelius layouts. But no one has come closer than NewerTech, which makes its $50 Wireless Aluminum Keypad, available from Other World Computing.

Unabashedly described as “the keypad that looks and feels like the Apple Keyboard you already love,” it fulfills that promise. Even the most ardent Apple fan would be hard-pressed to identify the keypad as a non-Apple product. Everything from the brushed aluminum enclosure to the font on the keys on the NewerTech product matches up with Apple’s products. Only upon very close inspection and regular use do subtle differences become apparent: on the NewerTech keypad, the keys are raised ever so slightly more, leading to a miniscule difference in the keypress action compared to Apple’s keyboard; and the keys themselves are just barely more rectangular on the NewerTech product than are the more rounded corners of the Apple one.

But it’s as close a match as one will find. The NewerTech keypad even comes with a plastic bracket to attach to an Apple wireless keyboard or trackpad. The bracket I received worked well, but left a slight gap that was partially remedied by a couple of adhesive strips that are included with the keypad, designed to make the fit more secure.

The keypad itself is powered by two AAA batteries that are included. Inserting them is the same as replacing the batteries on an Apple keyboard. The keypad pairs easily with a computer using Bluetooth, so no USB ports are sacrificed, which is not the case with another wireless keyboard that I otherwise enjoy using, the Logitech K750 wireless solar keyboard. NewerTech says that the Bluetooth range of their keypad is 30 feet.

The keypad gripped firmly to my wood desk, and in several days of heavy use with Sibelius and Finale, it performed well. In addition to the numbers and arithmetic keys, NewerTech’s engineers wisely included some other keys that are missing from the compact Apple keyboard: F13, F14 and F15; a forward Delete; and Page Up, Page Down, Home and End. An extra backwards Delete key and an extra Fn key are also included.

The NewerTech product is the perfect complement to the Apple Keyboard. Designed, as it was, more for accountants than musicians, however, there were a few issues of which users of Sibelius and Finale need to be aware (and can be remedied by reading on):

1. The Enter key does not work as expected. Instead, it mimics the Return key. It only works as an Enter key if the Fn key on the keypad is pressed. Although sometimes these keys do the same thing in simple programs like word processors and e-mail, in programs like Sibelius and Finale, the Enter and Return keys perform different functions. NewerTech says that this is a design feature to ensure compatibility with iOS devices, since iOS does not recognize the Enter Key.
2. There is a Clear key on the keypad, but out of the box it can only be used in conjunction with the Fn key on the keypad. NewerTech chose to make that key’s primary function be Tab, which already has an analog on Apple’s keyboard. NewerTech says that their research showed that the majority of users, such as accounting professionals, use Tab to move rapidly between spreadsheet cells, so that was the main use they built in. Finale users know that the Clear key performs an important function in that program.
3. Out of the box, the keypad doesn’t operate in conjunction with modifier keys (e.g., Command) when pressed on the main keyboard. For instance, Command-Home doesn’t work; only Home is recognized. If you rely on that shortcut, or others like Command-4 to type a quarter note in a tempo mark, you’ll be stymied. NewerTech says this is impossible with any wireless keypad, out of the box, due to two signals being sent via Bluetooth at the same time.

Fortunately, the remedy for all three of these shortcomings is to install the free keymapping utility Karabiner-Elements, from Takayama Fumihiko (PQRS.org). Although the forthcoming instructions seem technical, they are really very easy to follow, and in the end you’ll be able to fully use the NewerTech keyboard with Sibelius and Finale.

Using Karabiner-Elements to remap the NewerTech keypad’s defaults

Step 1

Go to the Karabiner product page, and download and install it according to the instructions.

Step 2

Launch Karabiner and follow the directions for initial setup, making sure to allow Karabiner to access the Mac’s Input Monitoring features.

Step 3

Follow the instructions to open Karabiner-Elements Preferences > Simple Modifcations and find the NewerTech Keypad in the Target Device drop-down menu.

Step 4

Click Add item and choose:

From key: Return; To Key: Enter

From key: Tab; To Key: Clear

If all goes well, your NewerTech keypad will now properly transmit the functions of Clear and Enter key to your Mac without needing to use the Fn key, and you’ll also be able to use your modifier keys such as Command on your Apple wireless keyboard or MacBook in combination with the keys on the NewerTech keypad.

Final thoughts

Despite the need to install the Karabiner key remapping utility to override the keypad’s defaults, the NewerTech Wireless Aluminum Keypad is an excellent and long-overdue addition to the market, especially for laptop users for whom adding a full-size keyboard that takes up a USB port is unsatisfactory. At $50, desktop users with more options will have to weigh its pros and cons against getting a full-size Apple keyboard, or another option like the $60 Logitech full-size wireless model.

You could also do as my friend Doug LeBow suggests: Keep a full-size primary keyboard with an attached numeric keypad, but place the additional numeric keypad on the left-hand side of your computer keyboard. If you do a lot of step-time MIDI input with your right hand on a MIDI piano, this may well be the best of all possible uses for NewerTech’s numeric keypad.