Roger Fingas
A teardown of Apple's Smart Keyboard accessory, published on Tuesday, shows some of the advanced technology underneath including conductive fabric, and a key design borrowed from the 12-inch Retina MacBook.
The device uses multiple layers of fabric and plastic to keep it water- and stain-resistant, repair firm iFixit noted. This includes microfiber, plastic, and what iFixit calls a nylon layer — in marketing, Apple refers to it simply as polyurethane.
The keys themselves use the same switches found in the 12-inch MacBook. Some other touches include a stiffening weight in the spacebar — ensuring an even press — and small vents that allow the air pressure generated by typing to escape.
The most important layer in the product is Apple's conductive fabric strips, which link the keys to the Smart Connector on the outside of the case, and provide two-way power and data. iFixit suggested that these should be more durable than regular wires or flex cables, something also advertised by Apple.
The firm lastly remarked that while the product is tough, it is impossible to repair, since opening it up and replacing anything effectively destroys it.
Apple shipped the Smart Keyboard roughly two weeks ago alongside the Pro, selling it for $169.
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52 Comments
What is there to repair?
With Apple's products getting smaller and smaller, thinner and thinner, I think this apparent penchant for "repairability" is getting rather silly. I, frankly, couldn't care less. For example, last year, I bought an iPhone 6+ under AT&T's Next 12 program. And this year, I happily turned it in for a 6S+. I want the latest and greatest, and I want to benefit from the new features, both hardware and software. Let Apple deal with any repairs they wish to make. Or let them recycle parts and materials. And let me always get Apple Care in case something malfunctions at my end. I'm really salivating over this iPad Pro and looking forward to using both keyboard and Pencil along with Adobe's iOS app offerings. The "iPad as graphics tablet" idea is also intriguing, bypassing the whole Wacom thing.
The profit margin on that thing has got to be epic.
While it's cool to see the tech inside this stuff these repairability scores are a joke. I don't understand why iFixit doesn't just do away with the score for those items that aren't repairable. No one is buying an Apple Pencil or Smart Keyboard assuming they'll be able to repair it if something goes wrong.
[quote name="msantti" url="/t/190330/teardown-of-ipad-pro-smart-keyboard-shows-conductive-fabric-macbook-based-key-design#post_2810155"]The profit margin on that thing has got to be epic.[/quote] Still probably less than the margins on the $139 Smart Cover & Case.