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Can a 17" MacBook Pro keyboard be re purposed (i.e made USB)

My Macbook pro 17” died. I have been able to reuse the display by using a cicuit board off ebay, which drives the LCD display via a HDMI plug and 12v power. My question is can I reuse my Mac keyboard by converting it to a USB keyboard? I’d like to keep the case with the screen plus circuitry to drive it and also use the keyboard on another computer (Rasberry Pi) by converting it to USB. The flat cable that comes out the Keyboard is thin, very short and has a lot of wires. Is there a standard socket for this keyboard interface. And is it a standard keyboard interface andis there any where I can find out what the ribbon cable leads are if I can find a socket for it? It seems a shame not to be able to use a perfectly good keyboard etc.

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Sorry the interface the MacBook Pro keyboard assembly has is the straight analog lines (X-Y lines) switch matrix part.

You would still need the keyboard encoder chip to convert the signals into the needed digital code and then convert it to the USB interface (Apple uses a custom chip for this on the logic board).

Here’s a schematic view of things

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The lines WS_KBDx are the raw matrix lines (keyboard ribbon cable) which connects to the encoder chip U5701 on the logic board in this example system.

Block Image

Reference: How Computer Keyboards Work

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Thanks for diagrams and your answer much appreciated.

I understand I'd need a decoder, I guess what I'm asking is if I can break out the connector can I pass the X-Y lines to another (different) keyboard decoder? For instance I have a USB kbd I've taken apart, would it be possible to map (from the broken out Mac connector)? I assume Mac keyboards are similar to most other keyboards, tho' some keys might not match (i.e. like " key is sometimes exchanged with the @ key on the shift no 2 key. Would an old Apple separate keyboard be a better match for mapping if I retrieve the decoder circuitry. Or am barking up the wrong tree entirely lol?

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Technically the chip is an encoder. Taking the raw switch lines encoding them into a needed digital signals (Converting from the analog world to the digital world).

Hacking would take some doing! You'll need to figure out how Apple has wired things. I could see this as a fun project for a kid for a science project.

The Apple 1243 USB keyboard is mechanically the same as the laptop keyboard and is already wired up to a USB interface in a nice case too! This used one for $10 bucks is a steal!

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Peter, you have had precisely the idea I have had. Dead 17" in the drawer, I have purchased a circuit board to drive the LCD from China but not connected it up yet. I too want to get the keyboard converted to USB then I plan to install a Raspberry Pi into the MBP case for a nice Raspberry Book Pro (with 17" screen).

How far did you get with the keyboard cunning plan? I was considering using a Raspberry Pi Pico to read the keyboard lines and then do the digital encoding, there are others that have used a Pico as a USB keyboard controller. Another option would be to cannibalise a standard Apple keyboard in the hope that the matrix is the same (I doubt it is). Not sure about getting the track pad to work though.

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