Magic Keyboard — Post-Hype
A little over a week ago, I was scrolling through Twitter and I saw people were posting about Amazon having a discount available for the Magic Keyboard 12.9" (affiliate link). Obvisouly, I impulsively bought one at 1 am and it was delivered two days later.
I was always interested in testing out the Magic Keyboard, but thought it was too expensive. But, with the discount bringing the price around $250, I thought it would be worth testing out.
Every day or two, I would think about my experience with the Magic Keyboard and write down in my thoughts so that I could discuss in this article as well as in a video for my YouTube channel.
So let’s talk about the Magic Keyboard long after the hype has passed.
Design
Apple did a great job in the overall aesthetic of this because the floating design makes it feel like you are using some futuristic device. I guess this is where the “magic” comes from.
The design is functional for the most part. The Magic Keyboard does balance your iPad in the case quite well, especially on flat surfaces. The only time where there is a bit of an issue is in the lap. I don’t know about how others have felt, but in my usage so far it has kind of leaned back a bit and one time, it even fell off my laugh when I moved a bit. Thankfully I caught my iPad and avoided dropping it!
The material choice for the Magic Keyboard doesn’t exactly scream $349 premium material, but it does feel nice to the touch. It just isn’t nice to see that it gets dirty so quickly.
Keyboard and Trackpad
There is also one other issue I have with the design…NO ESCAPE KEY! I understand that with an iPad, you are not likely to actually use an escape key or that it would do much, but I have built up a habit of using it and it bothers me that there isn’t one on the keyboard.
The overall typing experience with the keys is pretty nice. I hated the butterfly keys that the MacBooks had before and they always led to my fingers aching, but these scissor switch keys are very nice. They do offer a decent amount of travel and after adjusting, it is very comfortable to type on. I did have some times where my left hand ached, but I think that is just an issue that may be limited to the way I type.
Now for the trackpad! It is small, but it is SMOOTH. You can definitely feel that it is an Apple trackpad. The gestures are easy to get used to and the small trackpad doesn’t hinder your experience much. The only time I feel it does kind of hinder your experience is when pinching to zoom in and out.
Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil
I mainly use my iPad for hand writing notes and doing homework problems, so I use the Apple Pencil a lot. With the Magic Keyboard there is not way of taking notes without taking the iPad off of the keyboard. Thankfully, this process is very easy to do since the iPad mounts magnetically.
Yes, it is annoying to have to constantly do, but it isn’t as annoying as I thought it was going to be. What I did was I just uncounted my iPad, shut the case, and rested my iPad on top in either the portrait or landscape orientation, depending on what assignment I was doing or class I was taking notes from.
This did work well, but it also made me think if it really was worth it for myself to keep the Magic Keyboard if I am using it like this. I would have to say that the answer to that question is NO. I am a tech YouTuber, so I guess I can justify the purchase that way, but it is not needed and it definitely isn’t worth it for myself.
Worth it?
I would say that if you have the 2018 or 2020 iPad Pro and you are for sure not upgrading to a new one this year, then it might be worth it for you, BUT only if you type a lot on your iPad and you don’t have a computer.
I also wouldn’t recommend paying full price for it since it is likely a new version is going to come out when Apple announces the next generation of iPad Pro’s (rumored to be at the March 23rd event). If the new ones are backward compatible for the older iPad’s then this first generation one will surely not be as nice. Who knows what features it will add, but if it does improve, then this one for sure isn’t worth it unless you get a great deal on it.
For now though, if you are able to get that really good deal from Amazon, I would recommend testing it out to see if you like it if you plan on keeping your iPad and don’t want to buy any Magic Keyboard (new or old) at full price, at least, while available.
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