Keyboards that have you covered.
The Magic Keyboard is impressive, and it fulfils Apple’s intention of adding the comfort and efficiency of a keyboard and trackpad without downgrading the iPad’s touch-first experience. What has always made Apple's iPad-centric keyboard somewhat unique was the lack of any moving parts. There is no mechanical or butterfly mechanism moving the keys. The keyboard itself is made of.
iPad keyboards provide a great typing experience and lightweight, durable protection for your iPad. And they attach to iPad magnetically — no need for switches, plugs, and pairing. The Magic Keyboard delivers even more with a floating design, backlit keys, and a built‑in trackpad.
Find the right keyboard for you.
Magic Keyboard
The Magic Keyboard is an amazing companion for iPad Pro and iPad Air. It features a great typing experience, a trackpad that opens up new ways to work with iPadOS, a USB‑C port for pass‑through charging, and front and back protection. The Magic Keyboard features a floating cantilever design, allowing you to attach it magnetically and smoothly adjust it to the perfect viewing angle for you.
Compatible with
- iPad Air (4th generation)
- iPad Pro 12.9‑inch (3rd and 4th generation)
- iPad Pro 11‑inch (1st and 2nd generation)
Comfortable typing
Full‑size, backlit keys and a scissor mechanism with 1 mm travel for quiet, responsive typing.Built‑in trackpad
Designed for Multi‑Touch gestures and the cursor in iPadOS.Floating cantilever design
Smooth angle adjustability delivers the perfect viewing angle.Front and back protection
Folds into a case to provide front and back protection for traveling.
Smart Keyboard Folio
The Smart Keyboard Folio is a full‑size keyboard when you need one, and it provides front and back protection when you don’t. Simply attach it and start typing.
Compatible with
- iPad Air (4th generation)
- iPad Pro 12.9‑inch (3rd and 4th generation)
- iPad Pro 11‑inch (1st and 2nd generation)
Two viewing angles
Switch between two viewing angles ideal for whatever you’re doing.Front and back protection
Provides lightweight, front and back protection.
Smart Keyboard
The Smart Keyboard is a full‑size keyboard made for iPad. It delivers a comfortable typing experience wherever you are and converts into a slim, durable front cover when you’re on the go.
Compatible with
- iPad (7th and 8th generation)
- iPad Air (3rd generation)
- iPad Pro 10.5‑inch
Type or watch
Folding design enables different configurations for typing email messages or watching videos.Lightweight cover
Provides slim, durable front protection.
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Apple setups are mostly very clean and organized. That’s often the case because most of their products are focused on minimizing cable clutter and containing the hardware in a small elegant form factor. When opting for a product that offers such a clean look, such as the iMac, you probably don’t want to get yourself wired peripherals. Cables lying all over the desk can completely destroy the clean feel a setup has to it.
![Review Review](https://zdnet4.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2014/09/02/55872791-3278-11e4-9e6a-00505685119a/thumbnail/770x578/8c913aca8f918e08c95dbf7596b6c250/microsoft-surface-pro-3-review-impressive-hybrid-tablet-but-keyboard-should-be-bundled.jpg)
One of the easiest ways of maintaining a clean setup is opting for wireless peripherals instead. Nowadays it’s quite easy to find a good bluetooth keyboard at that. Almost every keyboard manufacturer has at least one bluetooth variant in their offering. So why would you choose Apple’s magic keyboard?
Keyboard with num pad or without?
In case you are thinking of buying a new iMac, Apple includes a Magic Mouse 2 and a Magic Keyboard 2 without the num pad. For a little price increase you can also choose to get the version with num pad instead. Before making the purchase, it’s important to think about whether you actually want a keyboard with or without the num pad.
The Magic Keyboard 2 with num pad actually has a few extra buttons, which can be programmed in the system preferences window. They range from F13 to F19. Unlike F1 all the way through F12, they do not include any built in functionalities. Instead you can map some onto them. Depending on your workflow that might actually prove to be quite useful. The arrow keys are also not cramped into the main part of the keyboard. They have an extra area for themselves and are all full sized. Whether that’s useful or not is up to preference.
The main advantage of the smaller variant of the Magic Keyboard 2 (besides the lower cost) is it’s size. The two keyboards differ over 30% in length. While that may be insignificant for some, it allows you to keep your mouse or trackpad closer to the keyboard, and therefore closer to your body. It also makes using both trackpad and mouse at the same time all the more practical.
New Apple Ipad Keyboard Review
Some people like me don’t use the num pad at all. In that case I don’t find the few extra buttons to be worth the increased size.
Is Apple’s bluetooth keyboard worth the full price?
For those thinking about getting a keyboard for their Mac Mini (which comes without peripherals) or for their Macbook, there are still many reasons to consider buying the magic keyboard instead of a different one.
Just like the iMac or other apple products, the magic keyboard is clean and simple looking. It features a really small footprint, especially when it comes to it’s height and keycap size. The keycaps feel like a mixture between the Macbook Pro keys from 2015 and those butterfly keycaps from 2016 an onward. They are easy to press but have a slightly clicky feel to them. It is by far the lightest keyboard that I have ever held and can easily be put into any backpack.
Luckily, the keyboard doesn’t require batteries anymore. It can be charged via lightning port, which comes with the box. Due to the keyboard not having a backlight feature, the battery lasts very long. It usually takes months of constant use before I am forced to recharge it.
While I really enjoy the typing experience, it’s hard to compare it to a mechanical keyboard. The Magic Keyboard 2’s design is in perfect synergy with the Magic Trackpad 2 and way more compact than any mechanical keyboard could ever be. If you don’t care about that however, but simply want the best typing experience possible, then it’s worth considering buying a mechanical keyboard instead.
Though Apple’s keyboard obviously made some trade off’s for it’s size and weight, it still feels extremely reliable and premium.
Verdict
Apple Smart Keyboard Review 12.9
I am a huge fan of the magic keyboard, which is why I’ve used it with every single Apple based setup that I had so far. As of today there hasn’t been a bluetooth keyboard that can truly replace it for me. There are two issues that I have with it though. The first one is that there’s no easy device changing mode. Switching to an iPad requires you to turn the keyboard off and then connect it (or to connect it via lightning cable). Additionally, the small variant only comes in a silver chassy with white keycaps. I would’ve loved to get a spacegray version of it with a spacegray trackpad. Besides those two gripes, there’s nothing that I would change as of now.
Apple Ipad Pro Keyboard Review
To view Apple’s Magic keyboard simply click here* for the full sized version and here* for the smaller one.