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The Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro will be available for purchase in May for $299 (US) for the 11-inch iPad Pro and $349 (US) for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro Wow. This
by Yabood 7y ago
The Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro will be available for purchase in May for $299 (US) for the 11-inch iPad Pro and $349 (US) for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro
Wow. This must be one hell of a keyboard..
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- gregoriol 7y agoIt's an Apple keyboard, just like the Apple screen stand or the Apple wheels for the Mac Pro
- dmos62 7y agoWhy is this being downvoted? Apple does price its products as luxury items. It's part of the brand.
- deergomoo 7y agoEven the current one that's literally just a run-of-the-mill keyboard is £159 (£199 for the bigger iPad!). A plain keyboard should not cost more than the Pencil.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- nailer 7y agoWell it's also a display stand, to raise the iPad Pro up (insert joke about Apple's 20K stand here). Anyone with a current Mac who's been using it for a while want to tel us how the keyboard is? I'm typing this on one of 2018 ones and it feels like I'm typing directly on a desk.
- dhosek 7y agoI have a current Macbook Pro that's mine and a butterfly-switch MBP from work. The butterfly is acceptable, although I've finally gotten a doubling key, x, which is a problem for doing cmd-x. The new MBP keyboard is noticeably different in feel from the old scissor-switch keyboard, but not especially so. It's comfortable to type on and I'm happy with it.
- dhosek 7y agoAnd of course my doubled key happens right when my only option for going to an Apple Store is to go to China.
- nailer 7y agoCorrecting self, the stand mentioned is 1K.
- qubex 7y agoTo be honest, even though it is extremely overpriced, it will be a great addition to my (new) iPad Pro. This 11 inch iPad Pro has been my main machine since it was released in November 2018, and as such it has been great value for money. I am a bit of an unusual case since I’ve been using iPads to cover (almost all of) my computing and workflow needs since the release of the first iPad in 2010. iPadOS has given the platform an enormous boost in utility. The new keyboard brings is a step closer to being a zero-regrets laptop alternative (i.e., an option orthogonal to as opposed to in replacement of) a laptop.
- Shivetya 7y agoAs pointed out by another, it is also a stand. Now I expect the mechanical work has to be pretty superb to guarantee it can keep the iPad at the angle you choose. I cannot wait for a tear down of the stand. I am a bit confused by the usb-c port for pass through charging. I would have thought a great opportunity would be to have the stand be able to wireless charge the iPad while in use but I expect the power requirements of an iPad in use would exceed current standards. Regardless, the interesting point to me is with keyboard, pencil, and such, the price point overlap with their laptop line makes we wonder about rumors of an ARM chipped line of Macs. Without the processor difference price comparisons are going to be much more difficult to blow off
- wlesieutre 7y agoWhen Apple switched to Intel they rented developers a custom dev kit machine before the consumer products launched. If they change over to ARM, this could very well be the dev kit hardware.
- AgloeDreams 7y agoExactly my thought. This is pretty much a Macbook.
- wlesieutre 7y agoWith a much much faster processor. And macrumors is reporting that they all have 6 GB of memory (this was previously an unadvertised upgrade that game with 1 TB storage). Would be a bit less cramped to run macOS on compared to 4 GB in most of the 2018 models.
- LeoTinnitus 7y agoThat's more than even high end mechanical keyboards cost.
- QuinnyPig 7y agoMechanical keyboards can get terrifyingly expensive--but you're right. That's about the cost of a Topre RealForce.
- falcolas 7y agoIt's only about $40 more than a Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad 2. Toss in a cover which can act as a stand, and you're probably close to the same price. Input accessories are getting pricy.
- 72deluxe 7y ago"Pricey" is one thing, but this is ridiculous!
- AgloeDreams 7y agoDon't forget that it is backlit and because it has power in also adds effectively an additional USB C port, thow in a case and you are well over the top. The current Smart Keyboard Folio + Magic Trackpad 2 is $310.
- LeoTinnitus 7y agoI guess. I mean but at this point, why not just by a macbook?
- AgloeDreams 7y agoWhy not just buy a Surface laptop instead of a Surface? I think it's just a transition over time.
- yborg 7y agoBecause you can't rip the display off your macbook when you want to browse HN in bed? The convertibility is the point.
- baybal2 7y agoTake a notice: it doesn't seem to be any contact pads on the new ipad. If there is indeed no contact pads, then it's likely they had to develop some custom rf connection just to support the type-c without contact pads (usb 3.0 needs a ton of bandwidth,) and that ain't cheap.
- saagarjha 7y agoThey’re on the back.
- baybal2 7y agoCan you point to a picture?
- saagarjha 7y agoHere’s some at the top of the page: https://www.apple.com/ipad-pro/specs/ https://www.apple.com/ipad-pro/specs/
- baybal2 7y agoThree dots on the bottom? Just 3 conductors? Then, very likely some custom IC is still involved to send 3.0 over them.
- wlesieutre 7y agoI wouldn't expect that port to support USB data at all unless explicitly stated. They call it out as "a USB‑C port for passthrough charging."
- baybal2 7y agoAaah, then everything is clear
- tartrate 7y ago
- 76543210 7y agoNah Apple takes advantage of their walled off system. They know they have users and changing to an alternative is too difficult.
- saagarjha 7y agoYou can use any Bluetooth keyboard with it.
- jkestner 7y agoAnd I’ll bet my Bluetooth trackpad works with this now too.
- evilduck 7y agoStandard bluetooth mice already work, they've just buried mouse/trackpad support under the accessibility settings in iOS13.
- dunnevens 7y agoIt probably does. I have a $20 no-name Bluetooth KB + Trackpad. It works perfectly with the current iPadOS.
- jkestner 7y agoTo follow up, yes, it does. But because iPadOS doesn’t support all the swipe gestures on my first generation Magic Trackpad that my Mac does—notably scrolling—I’m disconnecting it. If I’m going to have to touch the screen to scroll, why have the cursor?
- braythwayt 7y agoIt is not my experience that keyboards are part of their garden wall. I have used bluetooth keyboards with my iPads going back to the first generation of iPad Mini. What their keyboards do offer is tighter integration. That’s not a wall, it’s more like growing enticing apples in the orchard within the garden. Not much different than the situation with upgrades for my Volvo. The Volvo stuff is tightly integrated. OEM stuff sometimes involves compromises, like plugging things into the port and fiddling with bluetooth.
- fmajid 7y agoWhat does Apple have against the Escape key? That's a deal-breaker right there.
- ceejayoz 7y agoPeople who value the Escape key were never going to make an iPad their primary computer anyways.
- sirn 7y agoI value an Escape key (being emacs/evil user) and use iPad Pro as my primary computer for the past 2 years. The trick is you just use a real keyboard with it (HHKB-BT in my case) :-)
- kstrauser 7y agoHow do you know if someone uses a mechanical keyboard? Don't worry, they'll tell you. (I hailstormed this message on Cherry MX Blues.)
- fmajid 7y agoSpeak for yourself. I value the Esc key and I spend at least 4 hours a day on my iPad, more than on my Mac or Linux laptops.
- mstade 7y ago
- jkestner 7y agoA keyboard, a trackpad, and a display stand. These are not three different devices!
- oefrha 7y agoMy wallet will hurt but damn this makes my 2018 keyboard folio look like a joke, much like how “a phone, an iPod, an Internet communication device” made previous phones look like a joke.
- davidu 7y agoHah! For those who don't get it, this is an homage to how Steve Jobs first introduced the iPhone. He said (a few times): "An iPod, a phone, an internet mobile communicator... these are NOT three separate devices!"
- ksec 7y agoFor us Apple nerds, his voice suddenly pops into your head when you read the sentence. Cant believe it has been 9 years.
- Maxious 7y agoI've heard of display stands worth up to $1,000 - what a deal!
- Ididntdothis 7y agoI remember when the iPhone X broke the $1000 barrier and made phones that cost even more than that suddenly acceptable. It seems Apple is successfully pushing up the acceptable price for things.
- xenonite 7y agoI couldn't find any weight specifications for the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro. For reference: the 12.9-inch Smart Keyboard Folio, without a trackpad and without scissor switches, weighs 407 grams. So, lets speculate the new keyboard, as a blind guess, weighs 500 grams. Adding this to the new iPad 12.9"'s weight of 642 grams, the total weight is over 1.2 kilograms, which already is in the range of the new MBA2020 with 1.29 kilograms. Why not take the full laptop instead, then?
- bosie 7y agobecause weight isn't everything and it is optional (i.e. i can put the keyboard in my bag): Pencil support, proper portrait support, reading on the ipad is easier once you remove the optional keyboard, much easier to hold on a commute
- ubermonkey 7y agoI have a $100+ Logitech keyboard for my existing iPad. It supports only one position; is not backlit; and has no integrated trackpad. There's definitely an Apple tax here, but it's also a premium item, so that pricing doesn't seem ridiculous to me. Also, the existing Bluetooth options will still work, and the Apple Smart Folio keyboard is still an option at a lower price point.
- ogre_codes 7y ago> Wow. This must be one hell of a keyboard.. Kind of have to look at it as the whole package. You aren't buying an iPad and a keyboard, you are buying a 10.5" laptop for $1,100. I went cheap on my older iPad Pro and just use an aftermarket bluetooth keyboard, but I've kept this guy for 4+ years now and spending a bit (Ok a LOT) more and having a really nice keyboard/ case/ trackpad affects the usefulness of the device for the entire time. Still debating it, still not sure I'm upgrading my iPad yet, but I'm a lot more likely to pay the extra for the nicer setup this time around.
- moondev 7y agoAt that point why not just get an actual laptop - MacBook air for $1k ?
- wffurr 7y agoMacbook Air for $1k is not a very good tablet, battery life and screen are not as good. It's not immediately clear which one is better. Depends on how you expect to use it. For me, I need developer tools, multiple browser engines, and spreadsheets, so I'm going to be on a laptop or desktop as my main computer for a while yet. That's not true of everyone. Many people can use this as their main machine and there are certain advantages to it.
- ogre_codes 7y agoThe CPU, speakers, cameras, and display on the iPad Pro are much better. You can also detach the iPad from the base instantly and have the best tablet on the market. Seems like every generation of iPad & iPad OS makes the Mac a little less relevant. That said... if you need MacOS—for example you are a developer—you get a Mac. It'll be interesting when Macs with ARM CPUs hit the market. Or for that matter... if they were to release MacOS for the iPad.
- pms 7y agoAnd I thought the $100 Surface Pro keyboard is expensive.