I have been using iPads for several years now and love them, they are great for watching content and surfing the web. It wasn’t until I got a new iPad Pro about a year and a half ago that it turned into a productivity machine as well, and why is that you say, well I bought the Apple Magic Keyboard with it.
For me the Apple Magic Keyboard completely transform my iPad Pro, It effectively turns it into a mini computer. And that’s what I love about it.
it means that I can use my iPad instead of my MacBook Pro for certain things (most things). I mainly use it for all things related to writing like these blogs (including planning), it also allows me to be able to sit in the lounge of an evening and draft a post whilst watching the TV in the background. Also on occasion, I take my iPad and head to a coffee shop because it’s so much more portable but if I didn’t have the Magic Keyboard I would be less likely to write in coffee shops.
I use a digital journaling app called Day One and I only use my iPad with the Magic Keyboard for writing my journal. Again this is because I can be sat on the sofa or in bed and just pull out my iPad and type away with ease. It makes use of the portability of the iPad whilst adding the ability to type comfortably.
The Good
So let’s talk about the keyboard itself. I find the typing experience on this keyboard amazing, the keys have a nice tactile feel and although small the keys don’t feel too small or squashed. This means that I can be typing comfortably on the iPad for a good couple of hours. The keyboard is also backlit so it’s great for when you are using it in low light.
A couple of other things that I really enjoy about the Magic Keyboard is that it has a track pad and for its size, it’s more than good enough. This is great as it means that I don’t need to pair a Bluetooth mouse to it and I can just use the trackpad and touch screen together. it also offers a good level of protection for your iPad as when you close it up it’s also a cover (front & back) so I can be confident that my device is safe.
I also enjoy the keyboard shortcuts that you can use with this. It gives you all the standard ones like copy and paste but you also get some other useful ones like CMD + H to take you to the Home Screen. You can also press and hold the globe button and it will give you all the shortcuts available to you on that screen or application.
One other cool feature is that you can charge your iPad through the case via USB-C. It’s not quite as quick as charging as using the charging port on the iPad but it’s a hand feature to have as it’s on the other side. So if your cable is a bit short this comes in handy.
The not so good
OK so far I have only talked about the positives of this little Magic Keyboard but there are a couple of things that are a bit irritating.
- there are no function keys, so you can’t change the brightness of the screen for instance. this is not the end of the world but it would be useful to have rather than having to go to the control centre to do it.
- If you want to just use the iPad as a tablet you have to remove the keyboard. So you lose the case protections at this point.
Other benefits
Although I mainly use it so I can type I also just use it as a stand. It works well for this as you can adjust the angle of the screen so you can generally get it at the angle that you want. This is also good for when you a type at a table or just on your lap as well as you can angle it to the best position for a comfortable typing session.
You will be able to use the keyboard with the iPad Air as well as the Pro Version, I imagine that this would be the same for future versions of these versions of the iPad.
The Price
So this is something that I think that I need to touch because it is very expensive for an external keyboard or can we say accessory. It comes in at £279 which for any keyboard is expensive and there are a lot cheaper alternatives out there. By the time you have spent potentially nearly £1000 on an iPad Pro and then you add this you could buy a MacBook Air. Why is it so expensive I really don’t know?
Conclusion
I certainly love my Magic Keyboard and would not use my iPad Pro half as much if I didn’t have it. When I finish writing I will often pop it off the case and do some reading or watch content whereas before I would just use my phone and for writing my Macbook. So for me, it makes it worth having the iPad Pro. I do however feel that its over priced and that there are other options out there that look to be just as good at half the price (Logitech).
having said that I don’t regret buying it at all and would recommend it if you are willing to pay the price tag.