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Gurman: Redesigned Magic Keyboard to Accompany New iPad Pro
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I am fine with it for the following reasons:
1) It's not the only wireless keyboard available for the iPad. Tons of options exist, from the very affordable Logitech K380 to the more expensive mechanical keyboards to a myriad of third party keyboard cases, so we are actually spoiled for choice in this regard.
I feel the Magic Keyboard is expensive, but not unreasonably so because there isn't really anything like it. I have used it, and while I would return it for a Smart Keyboard (primarily because of its inability to fold back on itself), I appreciate its compact form factor (it takes up less space on a desk compared to a conventional kickstand design, at the expense of a row of function keys), the additional charging port (essentially turning the Magic Keyboard into a charging dock) and the unique design that makes the screen look like it's floating on air, and it doesn't make the iPad that much thicker and heavier compared to other keyboard cases (like the Logitech Keyboard Folio).
It's uniquely Apple, and maybe for the next iPad Pro, I might look at maintaining both the Magic Keyboard and Smart Keyboard in conjunction. Smart Keyboard when used on the go, Magic Keyboard when docked to an external display at my desk.
2) Apple operates on a profit-maximising principle. When you consider that the Magic Keyboard is a niche of an already niche product category (the iPad Pro), it likely costs more to compensate for the fact that it probably sells in very small quantities (to cover the costs of R&D).
Just my thoughts.
I frequently use the cursor because I have my iPad up on my desk with Universal Control, when I'm sitting I will use the cursor, not bend over to either pick up the iPad or touch the screen. When I use it with tablet in hand, I touch the screen.
This much hostility toward an optional feature that broken or completely bugged out (looking at iPadOS stage manager) is...its weird lets say that.
I'm also saying this as someone that uses Logitech Combo for my iPad Pro, which isn't amazing but also not horrible. Only time the trackpad/cursor stinks is with Google Docs, but I can deal for my use.
Don't want the iPad to be a Mac. Go buy a Mac for that. Optimized apps, cloud storage, touch first etc is what it's built for. We are seeing more apps take advantage of it. Just because it's not like a traditional laptop does not make it any less of one. We should be hoping for iPad os to get better – take some stuff from macOS and adapt it – but not make a carbon copy. The simplicity is what makes iPad/OS so appealing
iPadOS isn’t a problem unless you want it to work like a Mac (in which case just get a Mac). Otherwise it’s a highly versatile OS that’s really fun to use.
There is already an MKUltra company that makes gaming keyboards. There is also the small matter of the CIA program with that name.
I would be fine with touchpad Macs if they made actual sense in their lineup. I'd be good with an iPad Ultra running MacOS - but there's a lot of details to get right, not everyone would be in the market for one, etc. and ironically the more I think about it, assuming there were some 'iPad Ultra running MacOS' limitations (like the M1/2 Airs for example, absolutely can hit thermal throttling, so possible lower freq chips or reduced cores), I could see a future world where I'd replace my MBP for an 'iPad Ultra' for the portability factor to just still wind up with a 'Mini Max' or even Studio as the 'always on desk' system.
No clear answer because it depends on the overall lineup and possibly new capabilities.
I'd gladly take pencil on Mac touchpads however, regardless of changes to iPad and/or Mac lineups, as in many cases, it would alleviate much of my use case where I might use a 'touchpad Macbook' beneficially. Not quite as good as pencil on larger-sized screen, but the trackpads are pretty darned big, so an overall solid solution for anything from signatures on vendor docs or contracts, to using for white boarding and doc markup.
Stage Manager - tried it and wanted to like it, but it caused all kinds of issues including blocking parts of apps I needed to interact with like Slack and Teams among others. Have yet to find it to be terribly useful. iPadOS is too limiting for real work - lack of terminal and tons of open source tools I have on my primary system - it's not just the 'kind of multitasking but not like macOS and other 'full' OSes' but also the lack of tools that mean I can't replace any Mac with an iPadOS-based system. They are ok for light documentation, presentation, markup/review type of work, email and scheduling, issue management and requirements (e.g. ADS, Jira, Confluence, ...) but still has larger gaps.
I do use both of these devices in a similar fashion (except the external display), and having purchased both on eBay for 1/2 price each (MKB - open box, SKF - brand new, sealed) I was able to get them for around the cost of a new MKB alone.
Apple‘s retail price does not have to be a barrier to entry.
Not likely. Price is not the only consideration. The 12.9 could be half the price of the 11 and I still would not buy one. It is too big for my use. Everyone that I know who bought the 12.9 stopped using them for that reason. I know that there are people that are happy with that size, but they are a minority.
Now let's talk about these iPads. I'm happy enough with my M1 12.9" Pro that it has to be some serious improvements before I drop the coin on a new one. A center camera in landscape mode would likely push me over. Not sure an improved keyboard would. Just thinking out loud about how this affects me... Has nothing to do with whether this is a good idea for Apple or not.
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and if the 11" was the only one available, it would not be an option for me. We all have different use cases I guess...
NOBODY? There are people whose entire day is spent using just Teams, Outlook and a browser. Please explain why they cannot do that on an iPad.
Optional control is useless and a waste of engineering time for Apple and third party devs when they could be working on something more important.
Only quibble I have is to point out that the 11” MK works with the iPad Air too (typing on my iPA with MK now
)But that really doesnt change your point
True, and iCloud onlyvsyncs things you set to sync instead of including them in a backup so if you delete something it’s gone, backup or not.
yet, plenty of people loved the touchbar and butterfly switch keyboards. are you saying you're in denial of other peoples needs?
I have the same machine and I’m totally with you on the center-positioned landscape camera. This, plus greatly improved battery life would entice me to upgrade.
RE: part in bold is pretty close to reality. There are some, as for example MacOS consumes more power than iPadOS/IOS from background services and full-fledged multitasking, etc. Also surmountable if desired by making a few changes, such as additional battering in the 'iPad Ultra MK' if need be.
It's not so simple to keep all of the product lines alive, desirable for 'many' to 'buy both' which is undoubtedly part of Apple's quandary here, but absolutely right on form factors are quickly overlapping and the technical 'issues' are solvable ones... but they'd need to be done in a way the 'all I need is my iPad to do real work' group, as well as the 'look, I'm cool - I have an iPad (Pro)' groups aren't pushed out of the ecosystem. Wrote too much on how this could be done a few pages back, but whether or not we ever see it - who knows?
Yeah, I'm still rocking my 2018 IPP 12.9. The MK cover is peeling in the lower left corner, battery is wearing a bit, but generally still no need to 'upgrade' given it's OS/capability limitations for me.
So you're developing apps for iPad and IOS on your iPad then? (one of many lacks/gaps).
Exactly! Steve Jobs introduced iPad as a device that sits in between iPhone and Mac. He understood that many people find desktop OS’s too complicated, and would like something as easy-to-use as smartphone, but with the productivity potential of a larger screen.
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To be fair:
1. tripsync claims to have worked at Apple (engineer, not desc marketing, finance, etc.) so at least has 'some level' of qualification for his opinion, even if many/most disagree.
2. Others have their own, opinions and a wide range of experience, some being completely more or less relevant. You couldn't pay me to touch an Apple product until they went to OSX, as classic was IMO an entirely craptastic OS. Kind of amusingly, my sister worked for Steve (yeah that one) at Next, which became the basis for OSX. I've been in tech a good long while, doesn't mean I'm always right (I correctly predicted the iPhone years before it's release, but completely dismissed iPad on it's release, so hey, 50/50 I guess
)3. I'm not convinced (this is without lining up tons of sales and announcement data) that the original push for 'iPad is a computer' and MK wasn't reactionary and a response to Microsoft pushing Surface solutions hard, as in - why buy an Apple laptop AND a tablet; we've got you covered.
Personally, probably like you, I wouldn't bother with an iPad Pro without the MK's existence, and have put it through it's paces as far as 'can I use this for more than a consumption device?' with the response, for me, being 'yes, but not as much as I'd like to' at the current state.
MacOS can run iPad and IOS apps <right now>, so not like the APIs and bespoke services aren't basically there.
Once upon a time, Apple went through entire macOS releases focusing on optimizations (e.g. Snow Leopard).
If they further optimized MacOS to where perhaps it induced a 25% overhead (think power consumption) and could then be used on iPads, where the user can go 'full macOS mode' or just continue to use as they'd like as 'iPadOS 20' - they'd effectively be back to a single codebase to maintain, versus trying to hack in some pretty core OS fundamentals like scheduling/task and process mgmt/multi-threading into an OS (IOS/iPadOS) never really intended for it.
If a future MacOS can in reality cover both.... why would they 'back port both ways' with macOS -> iPadOS when they already have ported IOS/iPadOS bits into macOS?
It absolutely is not. Having accessibility settings for people that need them is very important. Do ramps leading into buildings for people in wheelchairs also upset you because it cost resources to implement them? There’s no logical rebuttal for this, I’m sorry. Options are good. Period.