4 ms·

The iPad Magic Keyboard

20 points by robenkleene 7y ago

whywhywhywhy 7y ago
This thing just honestly feels like you had a huge engineering team dedicated to solving this problem with the caveat that you can't just add a kickstand to the iPad itself, which honestly is just a much saner and more useful solution, "Good design is honest" comes to mind. Instead we have this bizarre over-engineered solution that sounds awkward to use and looks pretty ugly. Compared to just opening a kickstand and flipping down a keyboard and still allows you to use your tablet as a tablet. and for $300 they could have used some nicer material, it looks like the stuff a $10 "hardcase" generic carrying case would be made from.
- cdolan 7y ago
  I've been using the iPad pro 12" with the pre-existing keyboard folio from Apple for 2 years now and its my favorite device. I can't wait for the trackpad to be integrated. I personally think this Magic Keyboard is a much better design than a kickstand to the iPad, and I think it looks great. Its reminiscent of the old 2nd Gen tear-drop-with-aluminum-arm iMac from the mid 2000s. Its a different device category and target build quality, but my Nintendo Switch has a kickstand. It never works the way I want it to. I think on-device kickstands are tacky and liable to break, not to mention limited in function.
  - whywhywhywhy 7y ago
    >I think on-device kickstands are tacky and liable to break, not to mention limited in function. Honestly, try one on the Surface line outstanding engineering. At one point I'd have described it as "Apple quality" but now I honestly think that their industrial design team is surpassing Apple in more areas each year. There is no truly good reason why the iPad doesn't have one.
paypalcust83 7y ago
I use an Apple Wireless Keyboard (3rd gen) that has proper inverted T arrow keys with my iPad Pro (10.5) and a Mac mini (Late 2012) spare computer. The subsequent one was and Magic Keyboards are poorly-designed and unusable. To be fair, the Logitech Slim Combo Keyboard Folio is awful. In the first week, the left arrow key cap leapt off the keyboard over the right side and committed suicide. Furthermore, the keyboard doesn't always work on wake, so it negates its entire purpose for being. I took it off to gather dust somewhere and only use the kickstand back case, which pointlessly blocks the SIM tray that I use. (I'm going to Dremel it as soon as my Hazard Fraught order arrives.) I'd send it back, but I still need a case. The Mac mini has: - wired WASD V3 blank caps keyboard for voluminous typing - Logitech MX Revolution (RF) in always free-scroll mode for conventional mousing (recently replaced battery, which is still made by third-parties) - Wireless Keyboard for remote control - Magic Trackpad 1 for multi gestures and remote control
sylens 7y ago
I use the 11" iPad Pro with the pre-existing keyboard case and I really enjoy it. But this one looks so unstable and inflexible. I already get annoyed that I can't position the iPad in a variety of angles like a Surface Pro can.

20 points by robenkleene 7y ago

This thing just honestly feels like you had a huge engineering team dedicated to solving this problem with the caveat that you can't just add a kickstand to the iPad itself, which honestly is just a much saner and more useful solution, "Good design is honest" comes to mind. Instead we have this bizarre over-engineered solution that sounds awkward to use and looks pretty ugly. Compared to just opening a kickstand and flipping down a keyboard and still allows you to use your tablet as a tablet. and for $300 they could have used some nicer material, it looks like the stuff a $10 "hardcase" generic carrying case would be made from.

cdolan 7y ago
I've been using the iPad pro 12" with the pre-existing keyboard folio from Apple for 2 years now and its my favorite device. I can't wait for the trackpad to be integrated. I personally think this Magic Keyboard is a much better design than a kickstand to the iPad, and I think it looks great. Its reminiscent of the old 2nd Gen tear-drop-with-aluminum-arm iMac from the mid 2000s. Its a different device category and target build quality, but my Nintendo Switch has a kickstand. It never works the way I want it to. I think on-device kickstands are tacky and liable to break, not to mention limited in function.
- whywhywhywhy 7y ago
  >I think on-device kickstands are tacky and liable to break, not to mention limited in function. Honestly, try one on the Surface line outstanding engineering. At one point I'd have described it as "Apple quality" but now I honestly think that their industrial design team is surpassing Apple in more areas each year. There is no truly good reason why the iPad doesn't have one.

paypalcust83 7y ago

I use an Apple Wireless Keyboard (3rd gen) that has proper inverted T arrow keys with my iPad Pro (10.5) and a Mac mini (Late 2012) spare computer. The subsequent one was and Magic Keyboards are poorly-designed and unusable. To be fair, the Logitech Slim Combo Keyboard Folio is awful. In the first week, the left arrow key cap leapt off the keyboard over the right side and committed suicide. Furthermore, the keyboard doesn't always work on wake, so it negates its entire purpose for being. I took it off to gather dust somewhere and only use the kickstand back case, which pointlessly blocks the SIM tray that I use. (I'm going to Dremel it as soon as my Hazard Fraught order arrives.) I'd send it back, but I still need a case. The Mac mini has: - wired WASD V3 blank caps keyboard for voluminous typing - Logitech MX Revolution (RF) in always free-scroll mode for conventional mousing (recently replaced battery, which is still made by third-parties) - Wireless Keyboard for remote control - Magic Trackpad 1 for multi gestures and remote control

sylens 7y ago

I use the 11" iPad Pro with the pre-existing keyboard case and I really enjoy it. But this one looks so unstable and inflexible. I already get annoyed that I can't position the iPad in a variety of angles like a Surface Pro can.