Altar II Keyboard on Kickstarter

Electronic Materials Office is the brainchild of Andrew Emerson. Back in 2023 he launched the Altar I, a rather distinctive mechanical keyboard. Much thinner than most, very opinionated in its industrial design and keycap typography. I got one and I don’t regret it, but there was too much I didn’t like about it, so it’s mostly sat in a drawer.

Today on Kickstarter Emerson/EMO has launched a campaign for the Altar II. Same cool aesthetic, but with improvements that address everything I didn’t like about the Altar I. The Altar II has all new switches. It’s so thin it resembles the profile of Apple’s Magic Keyboard from the side. The dial — now called the M-Dial — now attaches magnetically, which means it’s easy to detach for putting the keyboard into a bag. And it has new features that never even occurred to me, like NiteLite — backlighting from “a long-wavelength amber-red light that won’t affect your body’s circadian rhythm, meaning you can sleep better at night.” The sleep benefits might be voodoo but red lights are undeniably easier on your eyes at night, and it looks cool as shit. (My favorite feature of Apple Watch Ultra is “Night Mode” — a handful of watch faces that switch to all-red in the dark.)

I love that mechanical keyboards have come back into vogue, and that the market for them is thriving. But most of them annoy me. Often because they aren’t really keyboards — they’re design-your-own-keyboard kits. Kits are fun, but I want someone else to do the hard work of making all the design decisions. Don’t make me choose between half a dozen (or more!) types of switches. You’re the goddamn keyboard designer, you pick the switches. That’s my thinking. Altar II is that type of keyboard — one that has been properly and thoroughly designed for you. You just choose the key layout — US or UK. That’s it.

Another thing I don’t like about most mechanical keyboards — that also makes them feel like a hobby, not a finished product — is that they’re designed for cross-platform use. If they’re customizable via software, the software tends to be confusing and poorly made. Altar II is designed for the Mac and is going to come with a native Mac app for configuration. Fuckin’-A right.

I haven’t tried the Altar II yet because it’s only at the preproduction stage. That’s why it’s on Kickstarter. You can wait and see what I think of it next year. But if you jump on the Kickstarter now, there’s a first-48-hours early bird price that will save you $70. Retail price is going to be $350; for the remaining 40 hours or so, you can book one for just $280. After tomorrow, Kickstarter pricing goes up to $300.

★ Tuesday, 10 November 2026