Apple’s Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro
is here, but there are a lot of unanswered
questions surrounding it. Like why is there
no top row of function keys? Why the new floating
iPad design? Why does it weigh so much? Why
does it cost $300 to $350? And why would anyone
actually pay that much for it?
So in this video, I’m gonna break down everything
I know about how to best use the Magic Keyboard,
as well as what I think about the quality
of the materials, the keys and the trackpad,
and finally, I’m gonna explain why I think
this is actually Apple’s Master plan for
the iPad Pro.
Just from the unboxing experience, we can
tell that Apple is focusing on this product
being very simple to use. And it shows because
all you have to do to set it up is place your
iPad Pro close to the case, and it magnetically
snaps into place.
And before you can even bring your hands down
to the keyboard, it’s already connected,
and same with the trackpad, the cursor shows
up instantly.
It does this by using the smart connector,
which gives a hardwired connection between
the keyboard and the iPad, which provides
power for the keys and trackpad to work reliably
without any lag at all, not having to rely
on a bluetooth connection and not requiring
batteries that need to be recharged.
And that’s one of the things that sets this
Magic Keyboard apart from the other options,
because this is the one and only case with
a trackpad that uses the smart connector for
the iPad Pro.
What’s great is that it also supplies power
for the keyboard backlighting, which the old
Smart Keyboard folio didn’t have, and it
gets even better since it actually turns on
automatically as it gets dark in your room
because it takes data from your iPad’s ambient
light sensor that’s used for the display's
auto-brightness.
And if you want to turn it on manually, there’s
a backlighting brightness slider within the
Hardware Keyboard options in the settings.
Now one question that people have, is does
the keyboard case and the backlighting cause
your battery to drain quicker? Well, since
the lights are LED’s, they take very low
power, and the keyboard and trackpad take
barely any power at all.
One feature that you literally cannot get
on any keyboard case for any iPad ever, is
the USB-C port that’s built into the hinge,
that can actually charge your iPad Pro through
the smart connector, which in turn frees up
the original port on the iPad Pro for things
like hooking up a storage device.
Now let’s talk about that hinge. The back
of the case has two portions, the bottom,
which snaps into place as you open it, and
the top, which can be used to adjust angles.
And this means that your iPad Pro floats in
the air, which has a couple of benefits.
First of all, Apple wants the iPad to remain
a touch first device, so the floating design
keeps the iPad conveniently closer to you.
And the second benefit is that at any time,
you can simply lift the iPad Pro off of the
case to use it as a tablet, and because the
case uses the smart connector, the keyboard
instantly disconnects, which doesn’t happen
with bluetooth keyboards, which force you
to turn them off in order to use the onscreen
keyboard.
A lot of people complained that you can’t
fold the case back and use it in tablet mode,
but that’s the whole point of this floating
design, so you don’t have to deal with the
extra weight, or trying to pry the iPad from
the case, you simply lift it off with one
hand.
And then, when you’re done with tablet mode,
just put it back on the case and you’re
instantly back to laptop mode. And when you’re
finished, it’s easier than ever to use one
hand to fold it down and take it with you.
And as far as adjustability of the angles,
I found it was perfectly fine 99% of the time
for when you’re using it as a laptop.
Now there’s no doubt that this keyboard
case is heavy, and Apple did this on purpose
because if they didn’t, it would be extremely
top heavy and this would cause it to easily
tip over, but with the extra weight, you get
a really solid and sturdy solution.
And what’s great about the magnetic connection
is that it’s so strong that there’s no
way that the iPad Pro will fall off unless
you’re intentionally trying to budge it.
As for the materials, they’re using the
same Polyurethane rubbery finish which I personally
don’t really like since it smudges very
easily, but if they chose a different finish,
it could have been even more heavy than it
already is. And as for cleaning it, Apple
recommends simply using a soft, slightly damp,
lint-free cloth. Don’t use any chemicals.
Now let’s move onto the keyboard.
Apple says it uses the same scissor switch
keys as their MacBook keyboards, and it’s
true! These keys feel so much better than
the smart keyboard folio, that the keys alone
are worth it for those who do a lot of typing.
And I’d say that these keys are better than
on any other keyboard case like the Brydge
Pro.
My favorite thing about the keyboard is that
it supports the same shortcuts that you get
on a MacBook, and if you’re unsure about
which shortcuts are supported, simply hold
down the command button within any app to
see the full list of shortcuts for that app.
My favorite shortcut is Command + Tab, which
cycles through all of your apps, letting you
press q to close an app, or let go of command
to enter into the selected app.
The main issue that people have is the lack
of a top row of function keys, so why didn’t
Apple add this?
Well, I myself mostly only use the brightness
and volume controls on my work iMacs keyboard,
and that would have been incredibly useful
on the Magic Keyboard, but I know that there
are people who use other keys like media controls
for pausing and skipping tracks.
I think the reason Apple didn’t add this
is first of all, they’ve never added it
on any of their keyboard cases before, and
there honestly isn’t much room for it on
the keyboard itself, since they already had
to squeeze down the trackpad size in order
for even the numbers keys to fit properly
without being hidden underneath the floating
iPad.
And as for there not being an Escape key,
you can actually go into the Settings app,
then general, keyboard, hardware keyboard,
modifier keys, and you can actually switch
the Caps Lock key to function as an Escape
key.
But I’d say that you don’t really need
an escape key, since the trackpad gesture
support is so good that it’ll be quicker
to use that instead.
For example, while watching a youtube video,
just pinch with two fingers to exit full screen
mode. And you can also swipe up with three
fingers to get to the home screen, or swipe
up and stop to get the app switcher.
As far as the quality of the trackpad, I can
tell you that you will never find a better
trackpad on any other keyboard case out there.
It’s actually made out of a single pane
of glass, which is the material Apple uses
for their excellent MacBook trackpads.
With a plastic trackpad, like on the Logitech
Combo Touch, it isn’t as smooth of an experience,
especially if your finger isn’t completely
dry.
And on that keyboard, it uses a diving board
design, meaning that the top of the trackpad
is incredibly hard to click, while the bottom
is very easy.
With the trackpad on the Magic Keyboard case,
you get a really unique design where the clicking
pressure is even no matter where you click
it.
And the best part is that you can go into
the trackpad settings within the General menu,
and enable tap to click, which makes using
a trackpad a thousand times better, and my
favorite option within the trackpad settings
is two finger secondary click, which lets
you instantly right click by tapping with
two fingers.
And then on top of that, you can go into the
Accessibility settings, then Pointer Controls,
to customize basically everything about how
the trackpad works, like disabling the annoying
trackpad inertia setting which leads to inaccuracy,
and disabling the pointer animations, so your
cursor won’t morph into buttons anymore.
So as far as the overall keyboard and trackpad
experience, you literally can’t beat it
on any other keyboard case, and that’s one
of the reasons why Apple priced it so high.
So let’s answer that question, why else
would Apple price it at $300-350.
Well, the way I see it is that Apple wants
to start a trend.
Just look at the original AirPods for example.
When they were released, they were ridiculously
expensive, but despite all of that, they were
wildly successful, and the entire earbud industry
followed in Apple’s footsteps.
They succeeded because one.. they added incredible
amounts of functionality and reliability that
made them just work so well.
Two.. the design was totally unique, and it
acted as a symbol for the Apple brand.
And three.. They were more expensive than
expected, so it created a sense of Exclusivity
that started all of those “broke” memes
which is actually what made AirPods sell even
better.
And if you think about it, the Magic Keyboard
case adds so much more functionality than
any other keyboard case, and the smart connector
makes it the most reliable option as well.
The new floating design is original and incredibly
unique, so if you see a floating tablet, you
know it’s an iPad Pro, so it acts as a symbol
for the Apple brand.
And finally, the price is expensive, so it
gives consumers a really special feeling to
own this keyboard case, just like it did with
the original AirPods.
And there you have it.. That’s Apple’s
Master plan for the iPad Pro. They want this
Magic Keyboard case to become successful and
act as a symbol for the Apple brand to push
the entire industry forward.
And if you think about it.. They’ve been
planning for this keyboard case for years.
We know this because on the 2018 iPad Pro,
the smart connector was not only relocated,
but they made it quite a bit larger than before,
and it wasn’t really being used for anything
until now.
That larger smart connector was actually designed
to support pass-through charging, which we
finally got with the Magic Keyboard case,
and that larger connector is why the 2018
model also supports this case, and not only
the new 2020 iPad Pro.
What this ultimately shows us is that Apple
has been planning for this moment for years,
and that’s also why they’ve slowly increased
the price of the iPad Pro, so that together
with this Magic Keyboard case, it would cost
around the same as one of their entry-level
MacBooks, so whichever one you end up buying
for your computing needs, Apple is still making
the same amount of revenue.
And that’s the final piece of Apple’s
Master Plan for the iPad Pro.
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