What's the Best Apple Keyboard Cover If You Use Your MacBook Every Day?

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If you’re like most creative professionals in this day and age, your MacBook is probably the most important tool in your toolbox. We use them for everything from mundane tasks like checking email and watching Netflix, to very intensive tasks like rendering video and designing billboards. Their power, versatility, and portability make them an integral part of our daily lives. But, as we take our MacBooks from the coffee shop to class, to a pitch meeting to the workshop, each day presents new opportunities for keyboard damage.

If the eyes are the window to your soul, then your MacBook is the window to your productivity – and your MacBook’s keyboard is the window to your ability to use your MacBook in the first place. Putting the poetry aside, if your keyboard breaks, your MacBook is pretty much useless. That’s why it’s so important to adequately protect your keyboard, especially if you use your MacBook on a daily basis. Below we take a look at which Apple keyboard cover will provide the most effective protection for your MacBook’s keyboard.

What is a MacBook Keyboard Cover?

In their simplest form, a keyboard cover is going to place a layer of protection between your device’s keyboard hardware and the outside world. Because of the small crevices created by the cutout of each key, a keyboard’s basic design makes it susceptible to trapping lint, debris, and dust. This is like getting a particle of something stuck in your eye, once it gets into such a tight space, it’s incredibly difficult to get it out. And, if left in too long the debris can cause lasting damage to your MacBook.

According to Quora, a keyboard replacement for your MacBook can cost as much as $125. And, if you send your MacBook to Apple to make the repairs, you’ll have to find a way to make do without your MacBook for several days before they ship it back to you. When we’re so accustomed to using our MacBooks every day, it would be a lot easier (and cheaper) to protect the keyboard from the get-go with an Apple keyboard cover. In the long run, it’s most cost-effective to avoid any keyboard damage in the first place.

What Are the Biggest Culprits of Keyboard Damage?

Water and Other Liquids

Our MacBooks come with us everywhere, and the inspiration to work can strike at any moment. Whether you’re at a coffee shop or in the breakroom hanging out by the water cooler, a keyboard’s worst enemy is lurking close by; liquids. Once spilled on a keyboard, liquids act fast and can enter the precious internals of your MacBook in a matter of seconds. Once inside your MacBook, it’s hard to tell how much damage the liquid caused without seeking professional help and paying for expensive repairs. The best way to protect your MacBook from water damage is to protect the keyboard with a good Apple keyboard cover.

Dust

Even though you can’t always see it, there is dust floating everywhere. Offices are especially prone to airborne particles, with higher numbers of people working together in close quarters. When Apple redesigned the keyboard on their latest MacBooks, they reduced the travel and shrunk the “butterfly mechanism” that makes each key pop back up (the redesign actually led to a class action lawsuit, feel free to read about that here). While this led to shorter key-travel and, ultimately, a thinner profile for the MacBook, the reduced travel makes these new keyboards even more likely to catch small dust particles underneath the keys. If you want to avoid dust becoming a problem for your keyboard altogether, installing the right Apple keyboard cover goes a long way. Most silicone keyboard covers are a single piece that stretches over the entire keyboard, making it nearly impossible for dust to lodge itself underneath any one key.

Crumbs

Let’s face it: we eat around our MacBooks all the time. Though it might not be good for our collective mental health, more and more people are working straight through lunch to meet deadlines and keep up with the pace of their projects. And while it’s convenient to just bring your MacBook down to the coffee shop with you, each bite of that flaky croissant is a keyboard disaster waiting to happen. Without an Apple keyboard cover, any crumbs that find their way onto your keyboard can permanently damage it. With the right MacBook keyboard cover, however, even Cookie Monster could eat while he works.

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How Can an Apple Keyboard Cover Protect My Keyboard?

A silicone Apple keyboard cover works similarly to a silicone phone case – but is actually way more important. And here’s why: Your phone case adds an extra layer surrounding the device, protecting it from everyday wear and tear such as small drops and scratches. A keyboard, unlike your phone, is made up of a ton of moving parts. Because of a keyboard’s basic design, dust and debris can be detrimental. While a speck of dust might slightly scratch your uncovered iPhone, a speck of dust could stop your uncovered keyboard from even functioning. If you’re not willing to take the risk with your phone, why risk damaging your keyboard?

Who Needs an Apple Keyboard Cover?

The short answer: anyone with a MacBook. The long answer: if you’re someone who uses your MacBook every single day, then especially you. Over the course of your MacBook’s life, the likelihood of serious damage only increases with the frequency with which you use it. So, unless you’re a collector (and who would collect electronics anyway?) it stands to reason that you will use your MacBook regularly. Regular use simply opens up more and more opportunities for something to spill on your keyboard or get caught under one of the keys – daily use without an Apple keyboard cover just increases the chances that you’ll need to shell out serious dough for a keyboard repair.

Which Type of Apple Keyboard Cover is Best?

When it comes to choosing the best type of Apple keyboard cover, there’s really only one that is worth considering: a silicone keyboard cover. Silicone is a super durable material that’s been around for a long time – the word was originally coined in 1901 by an English chemist named Frederic Kipping. It is the perfect material for a keyboard cover based on its ability to block the passage of air and water. It’s also heat resistant and easy to clean. All of these traits combined make it the perfect choice for a keyboard cover.

How Do you Clean Silicone Keyboard Covers?

One of the best things about a silicone Apple keyboard cover is how simple they are to install and remove, making them super easy to clean with just a few simple steps:

  1. Fill your sink with warm soapy water
  2. Remove the MacBook keyboard cover and shake off any dust over a trash can
  3. Transfer it to the sink and allow it to soak, fully submerged, for 10 minutes
  4. Swish it around and wipe gently with a dishcloth
  5. Rinse with warm water
  6. Place on a towel and allow to dry fully
  7. Place it back on your keyboard

It’s as simple as that!

Where to Buy an Apple Keyboard Cover?

Now that you know all the advantages of protecting your MacBook with a keyboard cover, it’s time to pick one out for yourself. (Still not sure if a keyboard cover is right for you? Check out these 9 signs you need a MacBook keyboard cover.) At Kuzy, an Apple keyboard cover starts at under $12 (a whole lot cheaper than paying to have your keyboard repaired!) and each one comes in a huge variety of colors and styles. No matter what look you’re going for, you are certain to find the perfect Apple keyboard cover for you!


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Kuzy Products

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