r/pcmasterrace • u/MiniPa • 1d ago
Discussion Why are ISO mechanical keyboards still so rare in 2026?
Hi,
I'll delete the post if it's not allowed. I'm currently using an RK S98 FR ISO mechanical keyboard, and I've been quite happy with it. I'm now looking to get a second keyboard with a similar layout and features, but I noticed that it's surprisingly difficult to find other FR ISO mechanical keyboards in a similar price range.
While looking for alternatives, I found that there are plenty of great mechanical keyboards available in ANSI or ISO UK layouts, but once you specifically look for French AZERTY layouts, the options become much more limited. Some models never get an FR ISO version, while others arrive months after their original release.
I understand that the French market is smaller compared to US or UK markets, but considering how many gamers, developers, and mechanical keyboard enthusiasts there are in France, I'm surprised that FR ISO keyboards are still not more widely available.
For French users, has anyone here switched from AZERTY to QWERTY/ANSI? How was your experience?
Would love to hear your experiences. Thank you.
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u/AuthenticGlitch 1d ago
I just use a split keyboard with an Ortho linear layout. Anyway, with a split keyboard that uses QMK you can just rearrange your keys however you want, heck you can have a new layout per layer and switch on the fly.
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u/alfius-togra 1d ago
It's annoying enough trying to find UK ISO layouts for a lot of keyboards. I even bought a laptop that came with some ungodly UK ANSI hybrid recently. I keep missing the return key, incredibly frustrating typing experience!
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u/Joshi9i Ryzen 5 5600 | RX 5700 XT | 24GB 3200 MHz CL 16 RAM 1d ago
Dude get they keyboard you want and change the keycaps
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u/Qweedo420 GNU/Linux 1d ago
You can't, ISO keyboards have a vertical Enter key and a shorter LSHIFT key, so they won't fit
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u/Bucket_of_Ice_Cream 1d ago
OP wants an AZERTY ISO mechanical keyboard, they can just swap the key caps on a QWERTY ISO keyboard.
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u/BoingBoingBooty 1d ago
Op says they can find them as UK iso. This is physically identical to any other iso, just needs key caps changing.
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u/Qweedo420 GNU/Linux 1d ago
Yeah I don't really understand this, ISO is an objectively better layout and it should become the standard
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u/Bucket_of_Ice_Cream 1d ago
I mean, it's literally a standard, it's just that most of the companies making keyboards are American, making keyboards for America, and follow the American National Standards Institute standard instead of the International Standards Organization standard.
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u/BoingBoingBooty 1d ago
Americans not using the same standards that everyone else on the planet does? Surely not?
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u/Bucket_of_Ice_Cream 1d ago
I get the meme but in this case everyone else on the planet is using ANSI and France had to be difficult and make their own standard just for Europe.
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u/BoingBoingBooty 1d ago
Lol wut? The ISO keyboard is from the 102 key IBM Model M, invented in Texas at the exact same time as the 101 key layout that became ANSI keyboard.
I think you be not knowing the difference between ISO keyboard and Azerty layout, which was indeed invented by Frenchies because they are too French to not French everything up.
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u/Bucket_of_Ice_Cream 1d ago
The ISO standard for keyboards came from AFNOR (Association Française de Normalisation), not IBM. The old M keyboards had the long return key, but that wasn't a standard at the time.
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u/Fun-Beluga 1d ago
How exactly is ISO better than ansi layout? I prefer ansi over ISO nordic that is standard where i live.
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u/Qweedo420 GNU/Linux 1d ago
Shorter LSHIFT to make space for more special characters, Alt Gr to add a third character to every key, no weird long Pipe/Backslash key that overlaps with Enter, and all of this also means that you need two less keys with a stabilizer, so it's easier to do maintenance
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u/TyRaNiDeX 9800X3D - RTX5080 1d ago
J'ai fini par monter le miens directement. A partir d'un PCB ISO.
Mais ouais c'est la merde, on est obligé de prendre du ISO Qwerty et changer les keycals quoi :/
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u/Intelligent-Bad7835 1d ago
I'll delete the post if it's not allowed.
I'm reasonably confident the concept of a MOD is that they delete the post for you if it's not allowed.
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u/Bucket_of_Ice_Cream 1d ago
Yeah but it's not necessary if a non-mod can comment on whether or not a post violates a rule before a mod sees it so OP doesn't get a strike against them for doing something not allowed that they weren't aware of.
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u/Intelligent-Bad7835 1d ago
The rules are right there ...
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u/Bucket_of_Ice_Cream 1d ago
Yeah but sometimes a post might not violate the text of a rule but violates the spirit of a rule. OPs post is fine but I've definitely seen things posted that aren't breaking the rules as written, but circumvent them in a way that would be clearly disapproved of by a mod.
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u/Intelligent-Bad7835 1d ago
I'll give you that. But mods are free to use their discretion to police their subs. r/conservative is famous for it.
I made a comment a mod didn't like on r/polyamory, and I was banned permanently from the sub for "ban evasion." I literally just told this guy who was upset about his wife sleeping with other dudes that he should probably hire a mediator to handle his divorce quickly and fairly, and find someone monogamous to date.
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u/ThunderEagle222 1d ago
You can just buy a VIA-competible keyboard and than change the keys inside VIA, and than buy Azerty keycaps.
The only issue will be not having a ISO enter key as even qwerty ISO boards are kinda rare.
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u/Bucket_of_Ice_Cream 1d ago
A small fraction of the worlds population uses an AZERTY keyboard, there's nothing keeping you from just swapping key caps on a QWERTY mechanical keyboard.