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The Cockney Rebel

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Nov 16, 2018
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Had my 2020 iPad Pro (11”) since day one.

However, I’ve found that I haven’t been using it. I’ve found it much easier to simply reach for my iPhone 11 when a new notification comes in.

That is, until I bought the Magic Keyboard last week. It’s completely changed the use of my iPad and I’m loving the experience. I only have 2 regrets ...

1: I didn’t buy one sooner

2: Kind of wish I’d bought the larger iPad now, but I’m quite happy with the 11 inch.

Who else has had their iPad experience totally changed with the Magic Keyboard?

If you haven’t bought one, or are sitting on the fence re getting one, I cant recommend it enough.
 
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IngerMan

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Feb 21, 2011
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Michigan
I have had a iPad since before, lightening connection. And have always had a Apple laptop as well. It was a duo.

I had a new 2020 MBA and after a few months I decided to upgrade my mini ipad 4 to the 2020 11” iPad Pro. Then after a few weeks I ordered the MK. WOW was I and I sent my MBA back to COSTCO with the gracious 90 day return policy.

It‘s faster than my 2020 i7 MBA and with APPLE silicon coming to the laptops why not just go their now. The track pad is amazing. I use touch to click which I think is great. I been using it on the MK 100% so far. I find it on the lap is comfortable. I dig the 11” size and have no regrets. I just eliminated one needed device for my future.
 

The Cockney Rebel

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Nov 16, 2018
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I agree, I use mine all the time now as well.

Never touch the screen.

I had buyer’s remorse a while back, as I was simply not using my iPad Pro, but now it‘s essentially a laptop, I’m loving it.

My iMac is now 12 years old, but I’ll be waiting for the new Macs with Apple silicon to upgrade.

Glad you managed to send your MBA back.

What’s your favourite aspect of the Magic Keyboard? For me it has to be the gestures. Everything is so fluid. I still think maybe the larger sized iPad would be even better though, as it wouldn’t feel so cramped.
 
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Mr.Blacky

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Jul 31, 2016
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I agree, I use mine all the time now as well.

Never touch the screen.

I had buyer’s remorse a while back, as I was simply not using my iPad Pro, but now it‘s essentially a laptop, I’m loving it.

My iMac is now 12 years old, but I’ll be waiting for the new Macs with Apple silicon to upgrade.

Glad you managed to send your MBA back.

What’s your favourite aspect of the Magic Keyboard? For me it has to be the gestures. Everything is so fluid. I still think maybe the larger sized iPad would be even better though, as it wouldn’t feel so cramped.
Why didn't you just get some kind of MacBook? Why got an iPad Pro, if you don't wanna touch/use the screen?
 
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spiderman0616

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Aug 1, 2010
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You’ll see a lot of comments about the price, but I almost look at the Magic Keyboard like its own separate device. My work day today has been the perfect example of how I like to use it. I decided to work in my kitchen today and use my 12.9” iPad Pro instead of my MacBook Pro. I did all my busy work and conference calls in the morning, then at lunch I popped the iPad off of the MK and went in another room to read for a while. When it was time to get back into work mode, I just went back to where I left the keyboard and put the iPad back on it.

I have no qualms about taking the iPad off of the Magic Keyboard when I want to draw, read, take notes, or any of the other tablet-y things I do, but I also don’t mind walking around the house with the whole setup if I feel like I’m going to need to type a lot or do a lot of things that weren’t designed for touch.

For me, the Magic Keyboard turned the iPad into the truly modular computer that I’ve always wanted it to be. It feels very liberating in those moments when I don’t feel like unhooking my work Mac from all my desk stuff.
 

The Cockney Rebel

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Nov 16, 2018
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I used to use my iPad 4 all of the time, which I kept for a few years, until it became too slow to enjoy using.

Had a number of 10.5” iPad Pros, which had the bright spot issue, so I got my money back.

Bought this iPad because I’ve always liked them, but for some reason I appear to have gone off of “tablets.” I did buy a 16” MacBook Pro, when they were first introduced, but it had a really creaky hinge, and I’d had enough of the “exchange game” with the 10.5” iPad Pros, so I just gave up.

Then the 2020 iPad Pros landed, so I bought one straight away. My iMac is very old, and I needed something new, so went for one of these. But as I said, I appear to have gone off of tablets.

I fully intend to by a new mac when the new units appear with Apple silicon.
 
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The Cockney Rebel

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 16, 2018
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You’ll see a lot of comments about the price, but I almost look at the Magic Keyboard like its own separate device. My work day today has been the perfect example of how I like to use it. I decided to work in my kitchen today and use my 12.9” iPad Pro instead of my MacBook Pro. I did all my busy work and conference calls in the morning, then at lunch I popped the iPad off of the MK and went in another room to read for a while. When it was time to get back into work mode, I just went back to where I left the keyboard and put the iPad back on it.

I have no qualms about taking the iPad off of the Magic Keyboard when I want to draw, read, take notes, or any of the other tablet-y things I do, but I also don’t mind walking around the house with the whole setup if I feel like I’m going to need to type a lot or do a lot of things that weren’t designed for touch.

For me, the Magic Keyboard turned the iPad into the truly modular computer that I’ve always wanted it to be. It feels very liberating in those moments when I don’t feel like unhooking my work Mac from all my desk stuff.

I think you nailed it, with your modular comment.

It’s nice to have the best of both worlds.

Of course there are some things that the iPad can‘t do, but these instances are becoming less and less.
 
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spiderman0616

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I think you nailed it, with your modular comment.

It’s nice to have the best of both worlds.

Of course there are some things that the iPad can‘t do, but these instances are becoming less and less.

My list of 5 or 6 things that I couldn’t do for my job on my iPad has gone down to 1 thing over the last couple of years. And that 1 thing left is really more my company’s fault than iPadOS’s fault and actually even has a workaround that works fine for what I do.

I know there are still people who find gaping holes in their workflow when they’re on an iPad, but I’m not one of them. I would be very content not having a Mac anymore if I were put in that situation.
 
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The Cockney Rebel

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Nov 16, 2018
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My list of 5 or 6 things that I couldn’t do for my job on my iPad has gone down to 1 thing over the last couple of years. And that 1 thing left is really more my company’s fault than iPadOS’s fault and actually even has a workaround that works fine for what I do.

I know there are still people who find gaping holes in their workflow when they’re on an iPad, but I’m not one of them. I would be very content not having a Mac anymore if I were put in that situation.

The iPad is quite a unique device, in that you either love it, or hate it.

It’s not like a regular laptop or desktop, which you just “get on with.”

I loved my iPad 4, then went right off of iPads, and now I’ve fallen in love with my 11” now that I have the Magic Keyboard.

The iPad really is a unique device, which certainly divides people.
 
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0128672

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Apr 16, 2020
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The iPad is quite a unique device, in that you either love it, or hate it.

It’s not like a regular laptop or desktop, which you just “get on with.”

I loved my iPad 4, then went right off of iPads, and now I’ve fallen in love with my 11” now that I have the Magic Keyboard.

The iPad really is a unique device, which certainly divides people.
I haven't found that the device itself divides people, but rather can it be used successfully for some workflows. For mine it does (especially with the MK), but there are many other fields and requirements for which it doesn't work at all. Regardless of the work side of things, I haven't read about people divided about its use as a consumption device.
 

spiderman0616

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Aug 1, 2010
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The iPad is quite a unique device, in that you either love it, or hate it.

It’s not like a regular laptop or desktop, which you just “get on with.”

I loved my iPad 4, then went right off of iPads, and now I’ve fallen in love with my 11” now that I have the Magic Keyboard.

The iPad really is a unique device, which certainly divides people.
I’m not sure it’s always so black and white as that. I think the division just comes from within the iPad using community as to whether it can be for creation, consumption, or both. I can use it for both, for all tasks that I do every day now that iPadOS is getting more feature-rich. I did not think I’d care about the trackpad support, but it ended up filling a major hole that I never noticed I had, and that is all the web based tools I use for work that were most definitely NOT designed for a touch environment. So much easier to just use a damn mouse if the thing I’m doing was not designed for anything else.

People get really judgey about this, but I don’t see the reason for all the bickering. If someone wants to buy an iPad Pro JUST for consumption, then great—they just bought the best possible tablet for consumption. If someone wants to buy it for creation/productivity, then good for them! (I personally prefer my iPad Pro over my Mac any day of the week for every task I do.) That’s the great thing about the iPad—it can be anything you want it to be. You just have to choose a size and price point.

And that kind of brings it back around to the Magic Keyboard. It’s an expensive accessory, yes. But I look at it more like a whole other Apple device that serves a very useful purpose in the iPadOS environment. It’s not required for me to have it to use the iPad Pro, but it sure does make the experience better when I need a more laptop-type device.
 

NastyMatt

macrumors 6502a
Jul 7, 2020
521
737
I have barely touched my MBP since getting the MK. Granted I am working from home now as opposed to being in the office - which may slightly change my working habits.

Not that I think the MK 'makes' the iPad i.e. for those who can not get along with the iPad but it's which apps I use. An example is Google Suite native apps are not fully featured or intuitive, instead I use Safari which is a lot better. So many apps I find are better in browsers because the native app is dumbed down to be 'mobile'.
 

selim.koeklue

macrumors newbie
Nov 2, 2015
4
0
It was a big urge to give you all a feedback from my experience after nearly two hours: Yes, even if I never expected this, the magic keyboard is truly magical.

I have a Microsoft foldable keyboard with nice key travel and big keys and an additional logitech pebble as mouse as go to setup for desktop usage of my iPad Pro 12.9. I thought the Magic Keyboard is too expensive (it is slightly too expensive, but yeah ;))

After using it it changes really everything. I can use it everywhere as notebook replacement in addition to my mac mini. I mainly use my iPad for Lightroom and basic office stuff. It is so so sooooo good with the magic keyboard, never thought it will be that good. Words are flying and it makes really fun. I wrote two longer emails in a speed, that left nearly no pause between my thoughts and the written word. Backlight and trackpad are awesome as well. Wow!

One drawback: On one edge the rubber is not well made, so I ordered a new one for replacement. Other than that excellent. Even the function keys doesn´t bother me. I had them with the MS foldable and don´t miss them at all. Going up with the trackpad is really easy and leaves more reals estate for keys, which used most.

I am very fascinated!
 

AustinIllini

macrumors G5
Oct 20, 2011
12,699
10,567
Austin, TX
Yeah, the 11 inch is still small, but the display is noticeably better than my 16” MBP. With the iMac I kind of feel like I don’t need a MacBook. Weird feeling.
 

IngerMan

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Feb 21, 2011
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Michigan
I watched the Max Tech video and he claims new iPads announced soon. A iPad Air 4 11” that can use the same MK. A New entry iPad and a New iPad Pro 12.9”. Or something along that lines, you can see it for your self ?

 
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Robbosan

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Aug 21, 2020
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When covid lockdown started i gave my 2018 11" iPad pro to my wife who had a gen 5, and i got a base model 2020 MacBook Air, thinking i would use that out of my home office as i have a late 2015 27" iMac too. I picked up a cheap iPad air 3 but didn't like it so sold it and got another 2018 11" pro, only cost me $100 change over, both 64gb 4g.
Now i have just sold the 2020 air as i found i just wasn't using it that much. Have just ordered the MK so hope you guys are right.
 

Robbosan

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Anyone else getting no charging when plugging into the MK from a iMac?

Don't worry working now.

So far really enjoying it. I thought the no function keys would be a pain but you can just tap the symbols on top right and adjust volume/screen brightness with 2 fingers on track pad.
I only use a trackpad with my 27" iMac and would say its very similar on the MK, just smaller would be my only small negative so far.
 
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Moyapilot

macrumors regular
Aug 14, 2015
248
245
I really think they should allow us to do custom keyboard shortcuts for hardware functions.

”Control” key is hardly used for anything, just let us use a global shortcut with [ ] or something to adjust the volume. Honestly, the only three keys needed are for volume up down, and play/pause toggle.

Otherwise, I am super impressed in how the ipadOS team implemented the cursor so well in v14 of the OS. I think they even improved the mouse i/o functionality with the magnetic latching onto icons and such.
 
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