Brydge Debuts New Air MAX+ Keyboard With Trackpad for iPad Air and iPad Pro

[EastHillWill]

Licensing cost would be my guess? But it’s not like Bluetooth is a bad technology for the application.

I wonder if Apple has considered lowering, or outright dropping, whatever licensing fees there are for the Smart Connector. It's been available for *years* now and has seen almost zero adoption, so whatever they're offering clearly isn't working.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

My analogy was spot on. I had a phone that could send text messages. I had a Palm Pilot that could cache news. Not any different than a touch device that has better multitasking, or a laptop with a touch screen.

You can argue those devices should remain separate, but at the end of the day Apple will merge the two at least in the pro line. Might not be this WWDC, or the next three, but that day will come. We’re now at the point where the hardware allows it if Apple wants it.

But, that’s bringing a feature of an app, NOT an OS. No one even considered having a phone OS like Symbian and a Palm Pilot OS side by side on the same device. They just took the feature and made it fit the OS it was running on.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I wonder if Apple has considered lowering, or outright dropping, whatever licensing fees there are for the Smart Connector. It's been available for *years* now and has seen almost zero adoption, so whatever they're offering clearly isn't working.

I think it’s like someone else has said, more likely that the connection to the smart connector would drain the battery noticeably. It’s EASY to make an “everyday” product with “everyday” materials and shove a big battery into it. Much harder to design, from the start, with the efficiency in mind.

Plus, the battery is likely an integral part of their design. Part of what keeps the base weighted. Remove that and they’d have to replace it with a non-functional slab of metal?

 

[raccoontail]

And the reality is right now… today… there are FAR more people familiar with iOS and iPadOS than there are with macOS.

True. Many students these days finish high school having mostly used iOS and ChromeOS, and if they go into the job market with only those skills they will be at a huge disadvantage. If I had a college student I'd probably buy them an iPad for notetaking & reading course materials, and windows laptop just so they'd be forced to learn how to use windows. Fewer than 1 in 50 corporate jobs use MacOS.

 

[Skierman23]

Lol yes… That is exactly what I was trying to clarify. I only used the old firmware for about 10 minutes before updating to the beta and now general release.

Like, for the trackpad accuracy and scrolling on a scale from 1-10:
- Old Brydge FW: 3
- New Brydge FW: 8
- Magic Keyboard: 10

I just tested side by side and the difference in scrolling is immediately noticeable.

Hmm, strange cuz I have to disagree, alongside the majority of reviews that I've seen. I wonder if it could be something in your iPad settings causing this? Not quite sure. To each their own.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

and if they go into the job market with only those skills they will be at a huge disadvantage.

Eh, smart kids are smart kids regardless of if they’re using an iPad or a Windows workstation.

Plus, I’m always reminded of the kids that grew up using Apple II’s in schools and got into the workplace and there was Dos/Windows. They did fine! And, there are the kids that were very familiar with OS9 and got to school and the computers were all OSX. It wasn’t the end of the world!

 

[Moyapilot]

Has anyone ever made a trackpad that’s even close to how good apple’s are? I’ve certainly never used one that’s even remotely in the same league.

I have the Magic Keyboard for my 11"pro for almost a year now...It is fantastic and I love it.

But, the trackpad on my Pixel Slate Keyboard is better. It is just as responsive, but has a perfectly sized square shape. I never accidentally touch it with my palms, but its also not vertically challanged like the MK 11".

The Slate keyboard is however not bluetooth, but instead connects via smart connectors like the MK.

So its a long way of saying that in my experience, you can have a trackpad just as good as apples, atleast when it comes to ipads

 

[Six0Four]

Which version are you basing this off? I had the Brydge for the 10.5 Pro and the hinges were rock solid for me. The padding left a lot to be desired and I thought it was going to cause permanent pressure damage time my screen every time I changed the angle but they didn't wobble or were loose at all.

The new version. Even the older version had it. It's not that the hinges are necessarily "weak" it's that they have a bit of play. When you tap on the iPad screen it will have a slight wobble to it.

For example, go to 5:30 in this review and see how the screen wobbles just from typing

 

[Jezzag]

The new version. Even the older version had it. It's not that the hinges are necessarily "weak" it's that they have a bit of play. When you tap on the iPad screen it will have a slight wobble to it.

For example, go to 5:30 in this review and see how the screen wobbles just from typing

That shake does look weird doesn’t it? Ive never experienced anything like that on my two Brydge keyboards. They are totally rock solid. Could it be a combination of typing and the desk thats shaking both the screen and the camera to make it look more pronounced? If its that bad in practise I would be far less interested.

 

[deebinem]

That shake does look weird doesn’t it? Ive never experienced anything like that on my two Brydge keyboards. They are totally rock solid. Could it be a combination of typing and the desk thats shaking both the screen and the camera to make it look more pronounced? If its that bad in practise I would be far less interested.

Yeah, mine never wobbled that bad either.

This brand new MacBook Pro from work does the same thing when I press on the screen.

 

[Six0Four]

That shake does look weird doesn’t it? Ive never experienced anything like that on my two Brydge keyboards. They are totally rock solid. Could it be a combination of typing and the desk thats shaking both the screen and the camera to make it look more pronounced? If its that bad in practise I would be far less interested.

Ya, It seems pretty bad. Check out @ 2:10

I think it's because the iPad 12.9 is very tall and not very wide so it's top heavy.

 

[The Game 161]

Brydge really seem to be producing some great options lately with the size of the trackpads.