The ‘Severance’ keyboard is crazy expensive, but every fan is going to want one

Update August 6: Atomic Keyboard announced that the Kickstarter campaign will launch on August 19 at 9 a.m ET. This article was originally posted on July 17.

Atomic Keyboard has provided an update on the development of its MDR Dasher Keyboard–what most people might otherwise call the Severance keyboard–that was announced back in April. After receiving input from potential customers, the company has revealed its price: a whopping $599 for early adopters, and an eye-widening $899 retail price. And that doesn’t include a waffle party.

However, the MDR Dasher Keyboard is no ordinary keyboard. Besides being inspired by the hit Apple TV+ show (Severance got 27 Emmy nominations), Atomic Keyboard seems to have taken the customer feedback to heart, and they created something unique. The main feature is that it has a swappable layout. It offers three of them:

Atomic

• Innie Layout: this is the layout that best resembles the one used by the Macrodata Refinement department in Severance. It lacks an Escape button, Option button, and Control button. (If you watch the show, then you can’t help but see the symbolism in that.) It also has those six strange buttons atop and below the arrow keys, and a trackball.

Atomic

• Outie Layout: A 60 percent keyboard layout that you’d use regularly.

Atomic

• Dasher Layout: this layout is the same as the one on the Data General Dasher 200, the keyboard that is the inspiration for the MDR Dasher Keyboard.

The keyboard has a magnetic mid-frame that allows for the layout swapping, which Atomic Keyboard says can be done “in seconds.”

Interested in the keyboard? Atomic Keyboard is accepting reservations for $10, which will lock in the $599 price once the Kickstarter event goes live on August 19, and you’ll also get a free deskmat. After the early adopter, the tier 1 Kickstarter price is $649, the tier 2 Kickstarter in $699, and the retail price is $899. The keyboard is expected to start shipping in November.