Apple has not been shy when it comes to shrewdly shedding things that may no longer be necessary. Examples? Look at the removal of the floppy drive from the original iMac, the lack of an optical media drive on the new MacBook Air, and the absence of any type of removal media bay on any iPod or iPad.

The Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (MB110LL/A) is a wired USB keyboard that still includes the ubiquitous numeric keypad. This may be the end of the road, however, for the numeric keypad, as the Bluetooth version of Apple's keyboard has eliminated it. Had the Bluetooth version included a numeric keypad, I would have likely purchased it instead. Apple also previously sold a wired keyboard without a numeric keypad, which had been bundled with all iMacs. It was quietly discontinued after the last iMac refresh, when Apple replaced it with the Bluetooth keyboard.

As someone who still routinely uses a 10-key, a numeric keypad was a requirement as I looked to replace an older Apple Pro keyboard (one that came with my old G4 tower years ago). I was pleased to find it in stock at my local Best Buy. The suggested retail price of the keyboard is $49, the same as the Apple Store or via mail through Amazon.com.

The keyboard is packaged in Apple's minimalist style, with just the keyboard (with built-in USB cable), a USB extension cable, and a few sheets of documentation. There are no drivers to download or install. Plug it in to a USB port and go.

The keyboard itself is comprised of a single piece of aluminum on a thin plastic base. Two USB 2.0 ports are located on the outer edges of the plastic base. Both ports require you to lift the keyboard to plug anything in due to the thinness of the keyboard and the recessed location of the ports. The location also restricts what can be plugged in there -- forget about quickly connecting your flash drive unless you leave an extension cable plugged in.

The Apple Keyboard's keys are raised slightly above the aluminum base, very similar to the keyboard of a MacBook Pro. The keyboard lacks adjustments for height or angle. Tactile feel is good; if you like the keyboard on a MacBook Pro, you'll like this one too. I used a gel wrist rest with my previous keyboard, but could not continue using it with the new one.

The row of function keys at the top also provide convenient access to specific Mac OS X functions, such as Dashboard and Expose, along with media keys (play/pause; next track; previous track), volume controls, and CD eject. The location of the special function keys mirror those on the MacBook Pro. However, they are slightly different from Apple's older Pro Keyboard, which meant some relearning was necessary due to old habits. As an example, the Pro keyboard's volume keys were above the numeric keypad, so that's naturally where my hand continue to reach. With time, I'm sure I'll get used to the new positions.

My new Apple Keyboard looks good and feels good. Inconveniently located USB ports aside, it's a welcome addition to my desktop and nicely complements the Magic Mouse on my desk.