Keyboard Rubber Dome Switch

By Xah Lee. Date: . Last updated: .

Most keyboard's key switch mechanism is rubber dome switch. Basically all Laptop Keyboards, and Microsoft Keyboards , Logitech Non-Gaming Keyboards .

Rubber dome switch is cheap to make, but is not as good as other mechanisms that use spring. Rubber dome's tactile feedback is not precise, is wobbly, and wears out. Usually what made it worse is the cheap key housing that goes with it. (ever had squeaky keys that make ugly noises and sometimes stuck midway due to friction?)

keyboard construction
Laptop keyboard construction. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Keyboard_Construction.JPG ]
keyboard rubber dome
Rubber dome switch. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Keyboard_Construction_Button_Press.JPG ]

Rubber dome switches in general are are considered the worse of key switches, with very rare exceptions.

Rubber dome switches are bad because:

AppleDesign Keyboard NMB B membrane assembly QkC59
AppleDesign Keyboard (NMB,B) membrane assembly [photo by Daniel beardsmore, 2016-05-29, from https://deskthority.net/wiki/File:AppleDesign_Keyboard_(NMB,B)_--_membrane_assembly_4.jpg]

Good Rubber Dome Switches

These key switches use rubber dome mechanism for key press, but use non-contact electro-capacitive mechanism as the electronic switch. They don't have the hit-bottom problem.

Key Switch Topic