Looking for numpad recommendation with macbook pro

Here are some options for ya. They are various priced, and I do not have any particular thoughts on which is "better". You will have to look these over and decide for yourself.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Numeric+keypad+for+MacBook&crid=NL8SU7D8I3G7&sprefix=numeric+keypad+for+macbook%2Caps%2C129&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

If it works for you and you're fine with charging and carrying one more device then go for it.

Before investing in an Numpad, try using the other various commanders first.

The obvious one here is the QuickNav commander, which is basically a necessity at this point.

It virtually eliminates any need for the VO modifier in 99% of navigation.

The rotor for scrolling through headings slash links slash whatever.

Arrows can navigate left and right, up and down, interact, stop interacting, etc.

And there is a trackpad commander, which you can assign rarely used commands to, so you don't have to hold down three different keys at once to navigate via text color or something.

And finally, you could use the keyboard commander to launch Apple scripts.

I've got a little system monitor that I can access with my number keys, similar to how NVDA does it.

At this point, I don't think a numpad is a necessity.

I have an external keyboard connected to my Mac virtually all the time, and I very rarely use the numpad.

It's just unnecessary. 75% of the functionality can be done with QuickNav, and the remaining 20% with the trackpad commander.

And there you go.

There's only a 5% difference for such a big difference in portability, since you'll have to bring it along with you.

I haven't used a standalone numpad - I have the Logitech MX Keys which is a full size keyboard. I have heard the guys from Double Tap talking about the separate numpads though.

As mentioned above there are a lot of different options for the Mac. I started out with Quick Nav. It's amazing what you can do with effectively four keys and it is quite satisfying to use. However I stopped using it because of two things. Firstly, the bug where the up down keys start acting like left and right keys. I found the fix of pressing left+right keys together easier if it doesn't then trigger quick nav. The other reason is that if I go to, say, Safari, the first thing I tend to want to do is just to first heading. I'd find the quick nav would sometimes change the current rotor item to something else and I'd have to go find it again which slowed me down.

There's also single key nav which used to be part of this. I'm maybe in the minority as I learned the Mac before Windows but it always seems unnatural for me for keys to have entirely different functions depending on mode or context. It just feels like another thing I need to keep mental note of and I usually end up messing up. Seasoned Windows users will likely scoff at this I'm sure.

The good thing about the numpad is that when the commander is on, the buttons always do what you expect. So if I open a web page I hit numpad keys 0 and 5 to jump to the first heading and I'm good to go.

The keyboard commander is perfect for app shortcuts, and I also use it for some things like toggle screen curtain or toggle numpad commander.

When I was first struggling to get to grips with my iMac I bought an external trackpad because a lot of people on here said it made it easier. Whereas it does make it a bit more like the iPhone it feels like a fairly unproductive way to use a Mac. Pressing a key is just faster than performing a swipe. Honestly I never used it. Obviously the Macbook has a trackpad built in so it's a bit different.

The NumPad commander is just great. You can configure it with various modifiers. There's so much I can do one-handed.

Without any modifiers I can move up, down, left right, interact, stop interacting, select an item, use the action menu, bring up the context menu, jump to the menu bar, copy last spoken phrase to clipboard, bring up the item list and rotor. And probably some other things I've forgotten.

If I hold down numpad 0 I can navigate to various things like headings, buttons, tables, links, text boxes etc. I have numpad+enter describe thing thing I'm looking at so I can turn down normal verbosity a bit.

And that covers almost everything I need with VO. I have set up cmd with numbers 1-6 for specific headings and left option with the same to go backwards. Mentally I've not quite got the hang of that yet. I also have cmd+8 for find (VO+F) with cmd+7 and 0 to go back and forwards through results.

I think I just really appreciate having a dedicated part of the keyboard that will just always do VO stuff. maybe because I'm not the greatest at touch typing, but I find it a lot quicker to get to the keys and I'm less likely to hit the wrong one.

With QuickNav enabled, pressing left arrow + up arrow or right arrow + up arrow controls the Rotor. Likewise pressing left arrow + down arrow or right arrow + down arrow lets you interact or stop interacting with an object.

Finally, the SingleKey QuickNav is similar in functionality as focus mode and browse mode in NVDA or JAWS. Where browse mode lets you navigate with a single key for headings, links, etc, and Focus mode lets you fill out edit fields.

Just some food for thought. 😇