First Reviews Emerge Of The Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro... Gesture Support and More!

[SenKa]

For a lot of people, myself included, this video by MrExitStrategy tells us all we needed to know about the Magic Keyboard case for the iPad Pro.

For those who want a TL;DW, it is as follows. Trackpad gestures are VERY similar to macOS, which should open up the product to a very large customer base of Macbook customers (i would imagine mostly those who use the Air). Two finger scroll, and 3 finger swipes all work almost identically to how they work on macOS, which means if you are already accustomed to macOS multitasking this very well COULD be your next computer. Though, as noted in the video the trackpad is somewhat small. I personally don't see too much space to have extended it vertically without limiting screen angles for the iPad itself.

 

For those looking for a little more, Macworld has compiled what we know about it so far in their article found here, but I will give you the highlights.

Quote

"Apple’s use of the name “Magic Keyboard” for its latest case is likely meant to drive home that it’s a “real” keyboard, complete with the scissor switches you’ll find in the recent 16-inch MacBook Pro. The keys are even backlit—which is an improvement over Apple’s standalone Magic Keyboard."

Quote

"Like the Smart Keyboard Folio before it, the Magic Keyboard holds the iPad Pro in place with a powerful magnet. But now there’s an especially good reason for that grip. Thanks to a cantilevered hinge on the Magic Keyboard, you can tilt the iPad up to 130 degrees until you find the perfect viewing angle, much as you might with a MacBook. The iPad itself “floats” above the keyboard, so you won’t have to look down as far as you would with the Smart Keyboard Folio."

Quote

"The Magic Keyboard has a USB-C pass-through port for charging built right into the hinge. You can only use it for charging, but on the bright side, this port frees up the USB-C port on the iPad itself for any thumb drives, wired mice, or other peripherals you want to hook up."

Quote

"The Magic Keyboard costs a jaw-dropping $349 for the 12.9-inch model. For perspective, that’s more than you’ll pay for an entry-level regular iPad. The 11-inch model is slightly more affordable at $299, but that’s still a hefty chunk of change.

As for the Smart Keyboard Folio, the 12.9-inch model costs $199 and the 11-inch model costs $179. That’s an attractive difference, but keep in mind that you’re really missing out on a lot of features by sticking with Apple’s older design."

 

My thoughts:

I wish we knew all of this from day 1 of the iPad Pro refresh, but... good LORD am i excited. Ill personally likely be waiting for the next iPad Pro, but I finally found a replacement for my aging 2014 Macbook Air! Everything i actually do on it can easily be done on an iPad, as I do it on my iPad Mini 2nd gen anyways. That is also getting quite long in the tooth, so both slimming down my backpack and getting a substantial performance upgrade will be a great way to start off my bachelors degree.

 

The price of the magic keyboard is certainly expensive at $350 for the larger of the two, but it is also quite justified if you look at what all goes in to it and compare it to other first party accessories. Though, word is that lots of other companies with good reputations for making iPad cases are going to be throwing their hats in the ring. Though these devices usually come in much cheaper, I have yet to hear of one that quite matched Apple's own.

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

this is cool, but I still need a full Mac for video editing and other things. there are some apps I use like HandBrake for file compression since it has built-in presets for 3 and 5 minute video's to make them fit discord's filesize limit etc that you just can't run on an iPad. 

 

also I'm old school and prefer a insert boomer voice: REAL COMPUTER

 

seriously though, it's cool, and it could probably replace my Mac for 90% of what I do on it, but that last 10% is really handy sometimes. I could see myself using this as a primary computer though, and using my Mac when I need to do the 10% of things that an iPad just can't do due to OS limitations. if I could afford it, which I can't. 

[SenKa]

9 minutes ago, Twilight said:

this is cool, but I still need a full Mac for video editing and other things. there are some apps I use like HandBrake for file compression since it has built-in presets for 3 and 5 minute video's to make them fit discord's filesize limit etc that you just can't run on an iPad. 

While I do some mobile video editing as well, it is quite rare and I could easily pick up a cheap couple year old mac mini to handle that. I also have nitro, so the upload limit never occurred to me.

 

9 minutes ago, Twilight said:

seriously though, it's cool, and it could probably replace my Mac for 90% of what I do on it, but that last 10% is really handy sometimes. I could see myself using this as a primary computer though, and using my Mac when I need to do the 10% of things that an iPad just can't do due to OS limitations. if I could afford it, which I can't. 

Thats basically how I feel. I would still need *something* with me to do video editing, but I also have my desktop for that which is MORE than capable and what i use 95% of the time anyways.

 

The way I see it, is apple has effectively removed the *need* for 3 devices to do everything you need unless you do mobile video editing as your profession. Instead of me needing a beefy desktop, Laptop, AND Tablet in order to have all bases covered, I now only need the desktop and the tablet. I have a feeling most Macbook Air customers will agree.

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

1 minute ago, SenKa said:

I also have nitro, so the upload limit never occurred to me.

even here. I wanted to upload a 3 minute screen recording, and on a Retina Mac that's like a 60mb file. ran it through handbrake with a custom preset I made, 11mb. it really is an amazing program. I use it so much.

 

3 minutes ago, SenKa said:

Thats basically how I feel. I would still need *something* with me to do video editing, but I also have my desktop for that which is MORE than capable and what i use 95% of the time anyways.

for me it's also just little stupid things like using Gimp. it's not required, there are drawing apps for iOS too, but I just like Gimp for some things and I'm used to it, and I can't use it on an iPad. it really is more OS limits than anything else, since spec wise the iPad Pro is iirc faster than my 2017 13" MacBook Pro which is my main computer. 

[SenKa]

7 minutes ago, Twilight said:

for me it's also just little stupid things like using Gimp. it's not required, there are drawing apps for iOS too, but I just like Gimp for some things and I'm used to it, and I can't use it on an iPad. it really is more OS limits than anything else, since spec wise the iPad Pro is iirc faster than my 2017 13" MacBook Pro which is my main computer. 

The A12X roughly matches a 6700 if i recall, so it would be a power upgrade from your 7360U. I personally use Affinity Photo, which has an iOS build. It works VERY similar to Photoshop, which I was certified in and am very accustomed to. I could never quite get in to the swing of it with GIMP.

 

Handbrake is a very good point, as there aren't any video compression apps on iOS that match just how good it is. I am currently testing the iMovie app to see if that has a good way of handling it, as I was honestly unaware it existed until just now... will report back. There ARE browser based solutions to this as well, but again, no where near as robust as handbrake

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

1 minute ago, SenKa said:

The A12X roughly matches a 6700 if i recall, so it would be a power upgrade from your 7360U.

UwU

 

1 minute ago, SenKa said:

I personally use Affinity Photo, which has an iOS build. It works VERY similar to Photoshop, which I was certified in and am very accustomed to. I could never quite get in to the swing of it with GIMP.

we have a 10.2" iPad in the house with an Apple Pencil. it belongs to my mom and I asked her to get the pencil so I can draw with it. I'm still trying to get sidecar working reliably with my MacBook, since the last time I tried it I had massive lag, I didn't even try drawing with it because holy shit the lag. I'll definitely give that app a shot just to see if I like it enough to not need sidecar and a desktop drawing app. 

 

3 minutes ago, SenKa said:

I am currently testing the iMovie app to see if that has a good way of handling it, as I was honestly unaware it existed until just now... 

wait what, there is iMovie on iOS? I use it on my Mac to edit... 

 

3 minutes ago, SenKa said:

There ARE browser based solutions to this as well, but again, no where near as robust as handbrake

handbrake is a gift from the video compression gods

[SenKa]

1 minute ago, Twilight said:

we have a 10.2" iPad in the house with an Apple Pencil. it belongs to my mom and I asked her to get the pencil so I can draw with it. I'm still trying to get sidecar working reliably with my MacBook, since the last time I tried it I had massive lag, I didn't even try drawing with it because holy shit the lag. I'll definitely give that app a shot just to see if I like it enough to not need sidecar and a desktop drawing app. 

Supposedly Sidecar is a bit finnicky with pre-bluetooth 5.0 devices at times, as mentioned I only have an iPad mini 2 which did not get iPad OS. Did you try it using a USB-C to Lightning cable to directly connect them? If the lag persists there, reboot both devices and give the Macbook an SMC reset.

 

4 minutes ago, Twilight said:

wait what, there is iMovie on iOS? I use it on my Mac to edit... 

Yep! It seems quite useful for quick edits from quickly cutting up a basic recording and exporting it. The one stupid thing is that "Save video" is exporting as normal people know it and "Export video" is exporting the iMovie project to copy it over to another device... Facepalm

 

7 minutes ago, Twilight said:

handbrake is a gift from the video compression gods

Update, iMovie for iOS does have 3 presets for exporting and compressing video. Though, they are VERY basic with 0 configurability. 360p, 720p, and 1080p, refresh rate isn't changeable and I believe it stays with the native rate of the clip. Would 100% work though, and something i'd quickly adjust to.

[suicidalfranco]

might make an iPad the replacement for my macbook, since every mac released to this day have been huge turn offs for me

[Arika]

i really dont like the floating design of it. it's doesn't really fit the "professional" vibe that the iPad pro is supposed to be about.

[SenKa]

16 minutes ago, Arika S said:

i really dont like the floating design of it. it's doesn't really fit the "professional" vibe that the iPad pro is supposed to be about.

Of course its all about perspective, but i think it adds to it. Reminds me of the surface studio to an extent. 

[TempestCatto]

31 minutes ago, Arika S said:

i really dont like the floating design of it. it's doesn't really fit the "professional" vibe that the iPad pro is supposed to be about.

I don't mind it as much. But what gets me is that I expect it to sit on the case, like we're all used to. It would take me quite awhile to get used to the idea that it floating is normal. But it still makes me uncomfortable tbh.

[Guest]

Regardless of cost or how useful the iPad is as a laptop replacement - that is no doubt the best tablet keyboard. Looks fantastic.

[KWelz]

I agree.  For most of us this isn't going to replace a main computer.   I just upgraded to Near Maxed out MBP 16.  But not everyone needs the same things we do.  And I actually see times this could make my ipad a good replacement for my laptop when I don't need full functionality and don't want to lug around the full machine.   I may pick one up and seed. 

 

[Valentyn]

That damn price in Ireland for them! It would certainly be handy for me; as I don't own a laptop and found myself using it more lately; but that price...

 

 

[hishnash]

On 4/19/2020 at 10:55 AM, Twilight said:

also I'm old school and prefer a insert boomer voice: REAL COMPUTER

I have a distinct feeling this iPadPro will be the testPlatform for developers to install the ARM version of macOS when it is announced this WWDC.

 

 

On 4/19/2020 at 10:49 AM, SenKa said:

I have yet to hear of one that quite matched Apple's own.

No one will outdo apple on the touchpad quality even high end windows laptops are years behind apple on this aspect.

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

Just now, hishnash said:

I have a distinct feeling this iPadPro will be the testPlatform for developers to install the ARM version of macOS when it is announced this WWDC.

i doubt they will announce it this WWDC. highly doubt. 

regardless, it's possible, but iOS and macOS are still distinctly different. 

[hishnash]

2 minutes ago, Twilight said:

i doubt they will announce it this WWDC. highly doubt. 

If they want to release and ARM mac before 2021 they will release some test platform, maybe not at WWDC but maybe later in the year.

Apple have released test platforms for every other CPU transitions (they have already done 2 transactions in the past for the mac).
 

3 minutes ago, Twilight said:

regardless, it's possible, but iOS and macOS are still distinctly different. 

Yes, i wander how much iOS 14 will change things, there are strong rumors we will get Xcode for iOS that will show quite a commitment to a `large` pro applications. If apple turn around and also push their other video and audio pro applications then things might well be quite interesting... but we need to wait and see.

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

1 minute ago, hishnash said:

IApple have released test platforms for every other CPU transitions (they have already done 2 transactions in the past for the mac).

they did, but that was announced at least a year before transitions began, and those dev kits (from powerpc to intel transision) were basically prrototype Mac Pro's with Pentium D's in them i believe. 

 

if they were working on an ARM Mac to announce it would be a MacBook with some kind of ARM cpu and a prototype motherboard, not a device consumers can buy.

 

3 minutes ago, hishnash said:

Yes, i wander how much iOS 14 will change things, there are strong rumors we will get Xcode for iOS that will show quite a commitment to a `large` pro applications. If apple turn around and also push their other video and audio pro applications then things might well be quite interesting... but we need to wait and see.

yup, we just have to wait. 

[hishnash]

2 minutes ago, Twilight said:

if they were working on an ARM Mac to announce it would be a MacBook with some kind of ARM cpu and a prototype motherboard, not a device consumers can buy.

 

but this time they have an ARM device already out there, much simpler to let devs install macOS beta onto an iPad than try to make a custom (costly due to low production runs) hardware platform.

Consumers can buy the iPadPro but cant install macOS on it, only developers (maybe even a subset of them.. ) would be able to get that developer beta of macOS. If they are just thinking of macOS running on a low end macBook then the internals of the iPadPro are basically the same. 

If they are planning ARM macOS on higher end macs (iMacs etc) then yes they might need a more powerfull test-platform so as to expose things like dedicated GPUs. (unless apple have sneaked USB4 support into the latest iPadPros without enabling it, i think this is unlikely).