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Aug 04, 2023

Cherry Redesigns Iconic MX Mechanical Keyboard Switches

The mechanical keyboard scene gets bigger every year, and it wouldn't exist without Cherry. The German switch maker's original MX designs are the foundation upon which most of today's myriad keyboard

The mechanical keyboard scene gets bigger every year, and it wouldn't exist without Cherry. The German switch maker's original MX designs are the foundation upon which most of today's myriad keyboard switches are based. Now, Cherry has announced a new version of its iconic design, with redesigned housings, updated springs, and a touch of factory lubricant.

It's hard to overstate the importance of Cherry's 1984 MX patent—in a few short years, MX switches had replaced most of the competition in new mechanical keyboards. The enthusiast community didn't really pick up until 2012 when Cherry's patent expired. This led to an explosion of innovation as companies began to reproduce and modify MX designs. Cherry has made some minor adjustments to its MX switches since then, adding new weights, silenced stems, cheaper options, and so on. The new MX2A is the most dramatic alteration yet.

From the outside, you'd be hard-pressed to spot the differences in Cherry's new switch. The inside is rife with updates, though. At the bottom of all MX switches, there's a dome that holds the spring in place. In MX2A switches, this dome has lubricant pre-applied at the factory. This is something enthusiasts do by opening switches and lubing them by hand. Cherry didn't apply lube in as many places as most modders would, but this should help reduce spring noise and friction. Cherry says the dome itself is also smoother and more tapered.

Speaking of the spring, that's different, too. Cherry has switched from a standard cylindrical spring to a barrel-shaped one. It says this shape is more durable and will maintain its shape (and therefore resistance) better than the old design. The stem, which is the moving part that sticks up from the housing, has been tweaked with a ring of ribs that keep the spring centered to reduce wobble. Cherry calls this the "crown." Likewise, the housing has ribs that help the stem glide up and down with less friction.

The MX2A design is coming to all of Cherry's switches, which are identified by the stem color. The iconic black, blue, brown, and red switches are all getting a makeover, but so are newer switches like the Cherry Silent Red and Speed Silver. These switches are beginning to appear for purchase online, but many of the variants are still hard to find. They'll also show up in retail keyboards, which is where they'll make the most impact. Custom keyboard builders can still get cheaper and more mod-friendly switches from other manufacturers, but being able to buy a keyboard equipped with better Cherry switches is a good thing for less obsessive typists.