Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro review
The new Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro is a very well-made, very expensive add-on for this tablet. It has this backlit keyboardhere and a track pad, finally, and when youopen it up it sort of floats the iPad just so it ends up being a little bit closer to your eye holes. I am continually impressedwith how well-built this thing is. And that is very good,since the 11-inch version costs $299, and this 12.9-inchversion here costs 349. The Magic Keyboard though isjust really well-executed. It does everything thatit was designed to do. I'm just not totally surethat it was the right design in the first place. (upbeat music) But I wanna start out withwhat's great about this keyboard. It's the keyboard. The keys are scissor switcheswith a really solid feel, good travel, and a pretty decent thunk. I mean, give it a listen comparedto the old Smart Keyboard for the iPad Pro. (keys clicking) It's not bad, right. Now the keys, they'renot quite as stable as the brand-new Magic Keyboard on the 16-inch MacBook Pro, but whatever. These keys are great.
I really enjoy typing on them, and they are backlit in in the dark. But you can't adjust the backlighting on the keyboard itself. You have to dig intothe iPad Settings app, like way down in General. Now usually the keyboard lightsare at the right brightness, so it's not too big of a problem, but if you wanna watcha movie or something, it's a real hassle to dig in there. And that hassle would've been solved if Apple had just includeda function row of keys above the number row of keys. But it didn't, which is kind of annoying. But look, this keyboard is solid. There is no flex to it. It is incredibly stablewhen you open it up, and it also holds theiPad pretty securely too. It's hard to get it outta there. And I really like how itdoes lift the screen up and bring it a littlebit closer to your face than other laptops do. That's not something thatI realized that I wanted, but turns out I totally did. Plus, honestly it does justkinda look cool floating there. It does pass-through chargingthrough this USB-C port on the side here, but you can't connect like data accessories to it. But that's nice, it stillmeans that you don't have dopey charging cables hanging off the side of the middle here. The track pad is also really good. It's small by MacBook standards, but I had no problem getting used to it because I've used Surfacelaptops for a really long time.
But this one is actuallybetter than the track pad on Surface laptops becauseyou can click anywhere on the track pad, and it'll still click. It's also really smooth. It just, it feels really nice. Now as far as track padsupport on iPad OS goes, I said before that I thinkApple basically nailed it. And it's better to have a trackpad on a keyboard case now, so it's like much more convenient. And, unlike the bridge keyboard, everything on this track pad just works. The gestures for switchingbetween apps are intuitive. I like how the cursor snapsto on-screen elements, to make them easier to click. And editing text is much better, mostly. Even though Apple has nailed it, a lot of other apps haven't. Google Docs is still a mess on the iPad. And there're a bunch of otherapps that use non-standard UI elements that feel janky, like you can't swipe to archive stuff. Hopefully that gets fixed. So great, right? What's the problem? Well, there's a few. The first is weight. The Magic Keyboard is heavy. This 12.9-inch version whenyou've got it attached, the whole package weighsjust shy of three pounds. That's 25% heavier than the12.9-inch Smart Keyboard. It's heavier than the iPad Air. It's about the sameweight as my MacBook Pro, my 13-inch MacBook Pro. But, it's actually thicker than my 13-inch MacBook Pro, which eh. Now I don't have the11-inch version to test, but I think 25% heavierthan the Smart Keyboard is like a safe bet. And, while the floating screen is great, the available angles on it are not. You could have it anywherebetween 90 and 130 degrees, which actually isn't that much. Look, I'm just gonnamake a comparison here. And we're just gonna sit with it together for a minute. This is my Surface Pro X. It runs Windows on ARM, and that's not great formany reasons, I know.
But we're just talkingabout the hardware here. Now the screen on theSurface Pro X is about the same size. The track pad is about the same size. But the Surface here has akeyboard with a function row on it, and, if you want,you can put it at nearly any angle that you want,almost completely flat. And if you wanna watcha movie or something, you can flip the keyboard behind it. And it's thinner than the iPadPro with the Magic Keyboard, and it's lighter. And, I don't know, thewebcam is in the right place. It's a really good thingthat everybody knows that these are different devices for different needs and different people so that there's no reasonthat the comparison between these two things that I just did is gonna cause any arguments at all. Here's the thing. This is a very well-made keyboard. And Apple made choices when they made it.
They made a choice not to put a kickstand on the iPad itself. Fine. They made a choice abouthow this whole hinge thing would work, and if youagree with those choices, this thing is amazing. I'm just not sure that I do. I think that it's justa little bit limiting. The big story with the iPadover the past two years is whether it's a computer, or what kind of computer, or whatever. So look, I'm tired of that argument, but a lot of people aregoing to ask whether this Magic Keyboard makesthe iPad a better computer. And I think that's the wrong question. The right question iswhether this keyboard makes the iPad a better iPad. And well, my iPad Pro is,by far, the most versatile, do-anything screen that I own. I use it at my desk like a laptop, sitting in a chair justbrowsing around doing some light work, watchingmovies or reading in bed, as a second screen formy Mac using Sidecar, as a second computer next to my Mac when my Mac is chugging.
I just need to listen tosome Spotify or whatever. You can even now, withthe track pad support, use the iPad as like a desktop computer with an external monitorwith your track pad and your keyboard sitting in front of it. It can do a lot. Does the Magic Keyboardimprove all those situation, or does it add moresituations to that stack? Yeah. It works really wellwhen you're at a desk, or you're working in achair because it feels like a laptop. And honestly, my favoritefeature of this keyboard case is that it makes it easierto just grab the iPad and walk away with it. So I love this keyboardcase 'cause it helps me not use a keyboard case. But it's nice to use the iPad by itself. So honestly, since I've had this thing, this keyboard has sat onmy desk most of the time. If you wanna turn your iPad into a laptop, there is nothing better forthat than the Magic Keyboard. It is very well-made and expensive but maybe worth it for you. But to me, the iPad isgreat precisely because it does more than a laptop. It can do all of those other things. And the Magic Keyboard doesn't really help with most of those. It's kind of a one-trick pony, but, I have to admit,it's a pretty good trick. Let's just see. Let's just, let's just... (claps) Hey, what do you think,and thanks for watching. One of the things that happenswhen you record by yourself at home is you forgetto record the end card, and your director, Vjeran, yells at you. So thanks for the reminder, buddy. Let me know what you thinkof the Magic Keyboard down in the comments below,and stay safe out there.
I really enjoy typing on them, and they are backlit in in the dark. But you can't adjust the backlighting on the keyboard itself. You have to dig intothe iPad Settings app, like way down in General. Now usually the keyboard lightsare at the right brightness, so it's not too big of a problem, but if you wanna watcha movie or something, it's a real hassle to dig in there. And that hassle would've been solved if Apple had just includeda function row of keys above the number row of keys. But it didn't, which is kind of annoying. But look, this keyboard is solid. There is no flex to it. It is incredibly stablewhen you open it up, and it also holds theiPad pretty securely too. It's hard to get it outta there. And I really like how itdoes lift the screen up and bring it a littlebit closer to your face than other laptops do. That's not something thatI realized that I wanted, but turns out I totally did. Plus, honestly it does justkinda look cool floating there. It does pass-through chargingthrough this USB-C port on the side here, but you can't connect like data accessories to it. But that's nice, it stillmeans that you don't have dopey charging cables hanging off the side of the middle here. The track pad is also really good. It's small by MacBook standards, but I had no problem getting used to it because I've used Surfacelaptops for a really long time.
But this one is actuallybetter than the track pad on Surface laptops becauseyou can click anywhere on the track pad, and it'll still click. It's also really smooth. It just, it feels really nice. Now as far as track padsupport on iPad OS goes, I said before that I thinkApple basically nailed it. And it's better to have a trackpad on a keyboard case now, so it's like much more convenient. And, unlike the bridge keyboard, everything on this track pad just works. The gestures for switchingbetween apps are intuitive. I like how the cursor snapsto on-screen elements, to make them easier to click. And editing text is much better, mostly. Even though Apple has nailed it, a lot of other apps haven't. Google Docs is still a mess on the iPad. And there're a bunch of otherapps that use non-standard UI elements that feel janky, like you can't swipe to archive stuff. Hopefully that gets fixed. So great, right? What's the problem? Well, there's a few. The first is weight. The Magic Keyboard is heavy. This 12.9-inch version whenyou've got it attached, the whole package weighsjust shy of three pounds. That's 25% heavier than the12.9-inch Smart Keyboard. It's heavier than the iPad Air. It's about the sameweight as my MacBook Pro, my 13-inch MacBook Pro. But, it's actually thicker than my 13-inch MacBook Pro, which eh. Now I don't have the11-inch version to test, but I think 25% heavierthan the Smart Keyboard is like a safe bet. And, while the floating screen is great, the available angles on it are not. You could have it anywherebetween 90 and 130 degrees, which actually isn't that much. Look, I'm just gonnamake a comparison here. And we're just gonna sit with it together for a minute. This is my Surface Pro X. It runs Windows on ARM, and that's not great formany reasons, I know.
But we're just talkingabout the hardware here. Now the screen on theSurface Pro X is about the same size. The track pad is about the same size. But the Surface here has akeyboard with a function row on it, and, if you want,you can put it at nearly any angle that you want,almost completely flat. And if you wanna watcha movie or something, you can flip the keyboard behind it. And it's thinner than the iPadPro with the Magic Keyboard, and it's lighter. And, I don't know, thewebcam is in the right place. It's a really good thingthat everybody knows that these are different devices for different needs and different people so that there's no reasonthat the comparison between these two things that I just did is gonna cause any arguments at all. Here's the thing. This is a very well-made keyboard. And Apple made choices when they made it.
They made a choice not to put a kickstand on the iPad itself. Fine. They made a choice abouthow this whole hinge thing would work, and if youagree with those choices, this thing is amazing. I'm just not sure that I do. I think that it's justa little bit limiting. The big story with the iPadover the past two years is whether it's a computer, or what kind of computer, or whatever. So look, I'm tired of that argument, but a lot of people aregoing to ask whether this Magic Keyboard makesthe iPad a better computer. And I think that's the wrong question. The right question iswhether this keyboard makes the iPad a better iPad. And well, my iPad Pro is,by far, the most versatile, do-anything screen that I own. I use it at my desk like a laptop, sitting in a chair justbrowsing around doing some light work, watchingmovies or reading in bed, as a second screen formy Mac using Sidecar, as a second computer next to my Mac when my Mac is chugging.
I just need to listen tosome Spotify or whatever. You can even now, withthe track pad support, use the iPad as like a desktop computer with an external monitorwith your track pad and your keyboard sitting in front of it. It can do a lot. Does the Magic Keyboardimprove all those situation, or does it add moresituations to that stack? Yeah. It works really wellwhen you're at a desk, or you're working in achair because it feels like a laptop. And honestly, my favoritefeature of this keyboard case is that it makes it easierto just grab the iPad and walk away with it. So I love this keyboardcase 'cause it helps me not use a keyboard case. But it's nice to use the iPad by itself. So honestly, since I've had this thing, this keyboard has sat onmy desk most of the time. If you wanna turn your iPad into a laptop, there is nothing better forthat than the Magic Keyboard. It is very well-made and expensive but maybe worth it for you. But to me, the iPad isgreat precisely because it does more than a laptop. It can do all of those other things. And the Magic Keyboard doesn't really help with most of those. It's kind of a one-trick pony, but, I have to admit,it's a pretty good trick. Let's just see. Let's just, let's just... (claps) Hey, what do you think,and thanks for watching. One of the things that happenswhen you record by yourself at home is you forgetto record the end card, and your director, Vjeran, yells at you. So thanks for the reminder, buddy. Let me know what you thinkof the Magic Keyboard down in the comments below,and stay safe out there.
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