International Laptop Keyboard

[Alessandro]

My Italian cousin is fixated on getting a Macbook, and needs an Italian keyboard for it. She is visiting us here in the US and went to the Apple store and they said they didn't sell any with Italian keyboards. Naturally, that doesn't stop any of us that peruse these forums. But, I don't know that much about the relevant issues, and a Goggle search was a bit fragmented, so I wanted to ask here.

So, here is what she needs:
Macbook
Italian physical keyboard

I forget the exact layouts, but Italian keyboards traditionally have a second meta key to accommodate extra symbol keys. What would be the best way to do this? I could remap the keys, but then the physical keyboard would still look like an English keyboard. How do I have a physical keyboard that is like Italian ones and then remap it?

Is it typical to:
Put a keyboard overlay - how common is this
Replace the keypad with an Italian one then remap the keys in Software? Maybe I could undo some screws and buy another KB online if that's a common solution.

Thought I'd see what some common solutions to this issue are, that are easy but also effective and not too cumbersom. Thanks!

 

[corkyg]

MacBooks with Italian keyboards are normally sold in Italy. It might be possible to buy an external USB keyboard (Italian) and use it. Also, check E-Bay.

Mac

 

[TheStu]

If your cousin is thinking the White MacBook, then you should be able to get a replacement, Italian TopCase (Keyboard, trackpad, palmrest assembly) off eBay. Since the keyboard connects internally over USB, the OS should pick it right up and run with it.

If she is contemplating an aluminum MacBook Pro 13" or something then she is probably SoL since you do not want to replace that keyboard yourself. She would be better off getting it in Italy. The drawback of course is that the 13" MacBook Pro starts at 1149 Euros, which is like 300 Euros more than it should be. (The US price is $1199USD, that converts to roughly 850 Euros)