Apple today quietly introduced updated Magic Keyboard models with revised US English key labeling.
On newer keyboards, the tab, caps lock, shift, return, and delete keys are labeled with glyphs rather than edge text. On full-size models with a number pad, the change goes further, with the home, page up, page down, end, clear, and enter keys also swapping their text labels for symbols.
Four models have been updated: the Magic Keyboard, the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and number pad in white keys and black keys.
The only US English model that Apple hasn’t refreshed is the Magic Keyboard with Numpad, which lacks Touch ID and continues to use text labels on the same keys.
This change mirrors one Apple made to its laptops earlier this year, when the new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Neo adopted glyphs on the same set of keys.
Since the US English layout is the default option in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, among other countries, the new labeling effectively extends well beyond the United States. Apple has been using glyphs on its layouts in British English and other European countries for some time, so the symbols will already be familiar to customers in those countries.
