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Apple Confirms Magic Keyboard With Touch ID is Compatible With a MacBook's Touch ID Sensor
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They technically could offer the keyboards for sale separately right now. It would be the wrong move until there are enough keyboards in stock to support selling separately and including with computers. If they sell too many keyboards separately now, they would end up with a bunch of iMacs with no keyboard available. That would hamper their ability to sell iMacs. Since the iMac would not be usable without a keyboard.
This would be a win for clamshell folks or anyone with a hardware problem, once Apple starts selling separately.
Do you really think the reason they aren't sold separately is because Apple just can't make enough keyboards?
Apple already makes Magic Keyboards (without Touch ID) for separate purchase for other Macs. Couldn't they just shift production from those to the new kind? The only reason that wouldn't be possible is if they specifically can't make enough fingerprint sensors, but they used to include fingerprint sensors in iPhones, which means they already have the capacity to pump those out by the millions.
I have no clue about whether Apple can or cannot make enough keyboards. I image that the keyboards can be produced more quickly because they are smaller and have fewer components. I imagine the only production that will be shifted will be from any keyboard that is discontinued (old iMac Pro keyboards) to the ones they will be offering. I don't know how long they've been actively producing the keyboards or how long from that point it will take to produce enough stock.
My only point was that they can't offer the new keyboards separately until there are enough produced. Whether they can produce enough keyboards is a different question. Why they might choose not to offer the keyboards separately when they can is another different question.
They could probably make enough of them if they wanted to.
Question is: Why would they want to?
There is just hardly a market to sell them separately. Except for a few geeks online that can't wait to get their hands on one (me included). Few people own an Apple Silicon Mac. Even fewer people own an Apple Silicon Mac that doesn't already have Touch ID built-in.
On the other hand, they might still have stock of the older Mac keyboards that they want to sell first - rather than having these sales cannibalised by sales of the new peripherals.
I'm sure they will eventually be sold separately. Just as the space gray peripherals they introduced with the iMac Pro (which were only later sold separately).
Question is: Why would they want to?
There is just hardly a market to sell them separately. Except for a few geeks online that can't wait to get their hands on one (me included). Few people own an Apple Silicon Mac. Even fewer people own an Apple Silicon Mac that doesn't already have Touch ID built-in.
On the other hand, they might still have stock of the older Mac keyboards that they want to sell first - rather than having these sales cannibalised by sales of the new peripherals.
I'm sure they will eventually be sold separately. Just as the space gray peripherals they introduced with the iMac Pro (which were only later sold separately).
Anyone know if the magic keyboard with Touch ID will work with an M1 iPad? That is, use Touch ID to unlock the m1 iPad?
Thanks! Apple should add support for the M1 iPad as well, I mean it has the same exact processor.
I have two wishes:
- They release the version with a num pad in space grey
- It's compatible with my 2019 i9 MBP
- They release the version with a num pad in space grey
- It's compatible with my 2019 i9 MBP