Malcolm Owen
Owners of Apple's iPad may finally get their own version of the Magic Keyboard, with a low-end alternative to the iPad Pro accessory potentially arriving in 2025.
One of the headline accessories for the iPad Pro is the Magic Keyboard. However, it's an expensive accessory limited only to the iPad Pro and iPad Air, which means iPad users are missing out.
That may change, if a Sunday Bloomberg report is to be believed. It is claimed a "low-end" iPad version of the Magic Keyboard is in development. Suppliers have allegedly working on components for the accessory, which is expected to appear in the middle of 2025.
The iPad Pro version of the Magic Keyboard was updated to include a larger trackpad, function keys, and a metal palm rest. Not all of these elements will make it into the purported model, but some cheaper updates could be included, such as the function row.
The eventual release could be doubly useful for iPad Air owners. While the May update brought the Magic Keyboard to the model, an alternative aimed at iPad Air and iPad could offer cost savings to consumers.
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4 Comments
How could Apple "low-end" a Magic Keyboard any further - make it out of styrofoam?
Hmm, Apple already has a "Magic Keyboard Folio" for the iPad. It's a two piece design with a function row, decent "click-anywhere" trackpad. One piece is the keyboard section which magnetically attaches to the iPad's edge. A 2nd piece magnetically attaches on the back and has a hinge section for standing up the iPad. $200. Logitech's version can be gotten for $100.
So, Apple has margin to defeature the MKF down to $150. Not sure why they would as Logitech plus clones present lots of options. The big obstacle imo is the Smart Connector. It needs to support USB4, including 10W output on the passthrough.
How Apple gets the cantilever design MK down to $150 sounds difficult. No power pass-through, no key backlighting, mechanical trackpad.
Apple does have room to go up in price with the Magic Keyboard for iPP. ;) They could add batteries in lieu of dead steel ballast. Would increase iPP runtime by about 50%. Use aluminum on the outside. Make the Smart Connector Thunderbolt compatible, and have 2 TB4 ports on it, with all the data features TB4 supports.
I'd like to see a full-on full sized mechanical keyboard folio case accessory for the iPads. They can make a Macbook with full sized mechanical keys too.