I covered my reasons for being a little sluggish with my Magic Keyboard overage yesterday. While today was better, I am still running about half speed. However, I have had a lot more time to use Apple’s newest keyboard accessory and start to form some early impressions.
I’ve gotten used to disappointment with Apple keyboards. I never liked the Smart Keyboards for iPad Pro and the lack of backlighting on the original Magic Keyboard holds it back in comparison to cheaper, comparable quality Bluetooth keyboards that do. Thankfully I was never forced to use the terrible Butterfly Keyboards that MacBook users have had to deal with for years, but they can’t be ignored. The last Apple Keyboard I liked was their older Wireless Keyboard and I owned it ten years ago. This is not a good track record.
I guess I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up and expected different this time, but here we are. The new Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro is far more limited than I initially hoped and this has been confirmed by video reviews from people who got them early.
While Apple originally slated the new Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro for release in May after it was announced alongside the new 2020 iPad Pros, it was made available for pre-order today in Apple’s online store. The initial delivery window starts next week.