Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro review: Living the dream | Hacker News Reader

Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro review: Living the dream

sixcolors.com

38 pointstosh62 comments

Is it just me, or do these iPad reviews really seem strained? Like the author is trying really hard to love their new toy, despite the functional setbacks. Don't get me wrong, I love my iPad Pro 11 too and look forward to using it as a writing/notes device, but you'll never take my Mac away except out of my cold, dead, hands.

I think it's more about justifying the case. I feel like Apple "pros" or bloggers really spend a lot of words justifying how each new accessory or device fits their use case instead of just saying "It looks cool, but it's not for me". For me, I'm okay with my current keyboard folio case - I can just pair a bluetooth mouse for the few times I need to work with a mouse, which is not that often right now because there's no native code editor on iPadOS yet.

I also think it looks cool, and I can image how I could use it. But I think of many situations where I’d prefer to use it over my MacBook. My 13” MBP is already very portable. I’ve never struggled to work in a cafe or on a plane with it, and it’s not too heavy to worry about lugging around.

The iPad is great in its own right (what "functional setbacks"?), and if it's also possible to get a laptop-like experience from it, it's even better.

I know I'm not the target user for the product but not being able to write code on it is a pretty significant functional setback.

The bigger issue isn’t writing code (that’s feasible, as is using git), it’s building code. You need a server to load it to or a build pipeline setup for the repository.

I can write code with it, and execute on it in some cases. For example, I find myself using Swift Playground to quickly test out some code I’m tinkering with and run it on device. Or Pythonista/the other interpreters on the App Store. Or I use Blink to SSH into a VM where I can write code to run on Linux etc. I use it quite often.

https://medium.com/@igorandreev/how-to-code-with-ipad-pro-ma...

I don't think this qualifies. You have to use bespoke tools end environments to be able to code in a very limited fashion.

I think a lot of people can get by just fine with SSH/mosh, vim, tmux... I did this for a bit but actually run vs code-server a lot too.

That setup requires you to always have internet. It also requires you to have a remote PC somewhere where you develop. The Ipad is little more then a screen in that case. In contrast I use a Surface Pro and I don't even have a desktop PC.

That's the difference between these devices. One is a fully fledged computer where you can do whatever you want on it. The other is a glorified teletype terminal. It's fine that the iPad Pro isn't a fully functional computing device but the thing that is wrong is Apply positioning it as such.

Xcode is rumored to arrive on iPad this year.

Sir you’ve given me a reason to live.

As much as I want this rumor to be true, the leaker that “leaked” this has a terrible track record. Furthermore, what he “leaked” is something already in iOS 13 thats meant to be a companion app to Xcode for some debugging stuff.

I believe Jason Snell is a happy iMac Pro user.

IMO the iMac Pro exists because they got caught with their pants down on not having a Mac Pro ready to go in time.

That was the consensus of the same Apple reviewers at the time, too. It is apparently still a capable machine (I’ve never used one.)

The reason for this: the hardware is many years ahead of the software.

The potential of the physical device is far ahead of its software capabilities, but you can't install your own OS or run your own applications.

I feel like that’s the case every time I load task manager or the equivalent and see cpu usage almost pegged at 0% most of the time. Or just use a text editor or excel sheet for much of what I do.

You're probably not the target market.

For people for whom this fills an important use-case (there are a few really really killer ones, ask your designer friends), there's literally nothing else like it.

If you're happy with your laptop and mostly just browse the internet or consume media then you're probably just fine with the regular non-Pro iPad and it probably just acts a supplement rather than a critical device.

My frustration is that a lot of features that are built-in on macOS sometimes require extra apps to use.

Want to resize an image (not crop)? There's an app for that, but it's hard to justify paying $9.99 for a photo editor app when macOS Preview supports resizing built-in.

I do find I can focus on specific work a lot better on an iPad. It's so much nicer to use in an intangible way that makes me more productive doing specific tasks on iPad.

And in recent days, it has been a great videoconferencing machine (except the positioning of the camera is weird - it should be on the long edge). Why is the camera on the 'side'?

Sorry, can you explain the resizing limitation a little more? I do agree it’s worth owning Pixelmator or Affinity.

I also would like a second front camera that’s center top when in keyboard mode. It’s on the “side” because that’s top in portrait mode and Apple considers that the default orientation of the iPad.

It's not worth paying $9.99 to simply resize a 4000x4000 image to a 500x500 (for example). That is basic functionality that should be built-in and not need some third-party app.

It's a weird design choice to consider portrait the default, because all first-party accessories (the triangle cover thing, the keyboard cases and folios, and now the magic keyboard) are about using iPad in landscape. When using any of those accessories, the camera on the side is just weird.

Ah, I wonder if you just haven’t seen the resize tool in Preview? I thought you were trying to do something more complex. Here’s a support document with instructions: https://support.apple.com/guide/preview/resize-rotate-or-fli...

That's on macOS, but we're talking about iPadOS here.

Ah, there’s the misunderstanding. :) Use the Image Size app on iOS; it’s free.

You’re probably not going to see a native resize tool on iOS because Apple doesn’t want users thinking about pixels or file sizes, just saving everything and converting down only when needed (Mail’s small/medium/large sending, etc.)

I own the the regular keyboard folio that launched alongside the 2018 iPad Pro and have mostly enjoyed it so far. I wish it had more angles to tilt the IPad at (similar to a Surface's kickstand) but I realize that's not practical with just a case.

I would like to get this because it adds a trackpad, but $300 for a keyboard case is a bit too high, even for an Apple product. The fact that I'm even considering is goes to show just how much I use my iPad Pro in a variety of situations. It was a far better investment than my 13" Macbook Pro.

I just picked up an iPad Pro and the regular keyboard folio, and I'm really torn. Don't know if I like it or not. I find it's a hassle to flip the keyboard back around to close (when I've been holding it like a tablet) without inadvertently detaching the whole folio from the ipad.

I may have fat fingers. Or maybe I'm just used to folios I have used in the past that actually latched physically around the ipad.

But I'm completely with you, either way, on the value of the trackpad. Not worth $300 to me.

It's a little odd to get used to flipping the keyboard back around to close, but I've found that you get used to it pretty quickly. I almost always keep it propped open using one of the two grooves in the keyboard, even when I'm just using it as a tablet. It's nice to be able to rest it upright in my lap.

> It’s a clever design, one that pushes the center of gravity of the combined unit forward, making it more stable (and requiring less weight to counterbalance it). But the result isn’t some new, weird floating-screen category of computer. The result is a laptop.

> This is a good thing.

But it's a laptop that runs iOS instead of MacOS. This is not a good thing.

I think a lot of iOS developers would switch to this setup if Apple would just port Xcode.

Out of curiosity, how would developers run git in a Xcode-on-iPad scenario?

UPDATE: Regarding the GUI git apps and Xcode's built-in git support, do you think that’s enough? In my anecdotal experience these are normally used as an accompaniment to CLI git, not a replacement?

Xcode has git support.

This is great:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/working-copy-git-client/id8966...

Edit: but if Xcode has it built in even better!!

Unnecessary work - and in my opinion that includes most corporate iOS apps - is exactly what's going to be severely cut due to corona.

Conversely a lot of corporate iOS apps enable remote work, so...

Why do you think that?

MacOS is not optimized for touchscreen. In that sense, iOS is more advanced.

FWIW, I hate having to wait a minute or two for email and messages to sync when I open my laptop. I also hate that app developers can roll their own software update. And I hate that apps can run in the background. If Excel on iPad worked well with the kinds of spreadsheets I use, this would be compelling for me.

It depends on your use cases. I think it's a good thing overall. I like the iOS app model much better than the desktop model.

I resent that desktop apps can basically reach into any part of my computer, take 20 seconds to close when I tell them to exit, prevent my computer from shutting down, hog all my resources when I'm not using them, actively steal focus if they decide, fail to run because of some "missing dependency", and do a half-assed job uninstalling themselves.

You also lose the ability to install any software you want on your own hardware. That alone is a dealbreaker for me.

Well up until now I was flying 100K a year and bringing my MacBook Air and my 11 iPad Pro. The laptop was for working on presentations, docs, doing demos and SSH. The iPad was for the airplane and the hotel room bed. If I can really be productive on the iPad+keyboard setup then that changes what I will be packing. After the Apple store open again I am looking forward to trying this out. One downside, no Steam games for the airplane flight. When is the iPad Pro Civ6 port coming?

When is the iPad Pro Civ6 port coming?

You mean this? https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sid-meiers-civilization-vi/id1...

This is evil. Now I do not need to find the laptop! Thanks for sharing. Now can we get Master Of Orion?

Starbase Orion was a pretty good homage when I played it a few years back. The multiplayer even worked reasonably well.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/starbase-orion/id438375580

Maybe a specific iPad Pro version that’s not running at sub-native resolution and with lower graphic settings than the Nintendo Switch port. Civ6 on iPad was a very impressive port when released, but it hasn’t improved to take advantage of recent hardware.

You can change the resolution to run at retina resolution: https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/7ld2ht/civ_vi_is_cap...

Civ6 is pretty good on iPad. The endgame performance is surprisingly good for a port to a machine with no fan.

Yeah I’ve done a couple of play throughs. It’s very good overall, just a bit slow on the turns on big maps.

Its a dog on a 4 Core i7 with a really big map. I cannot imagine what it is like on the iPad, but I am going to buy it and find out.

I've got to ask - why were you carrying both?

What does one do, that the other couldn't?

Is it something basic like touch? or something slightly more complex (but evidently do-able) like a detachable keyboard?

I wouldn't touch the screen on a laptop. But with the iPad the touch interface is so good that you only need a keyboard if you write a long text (or code, for which a laptop would be a better fit anyway).

There is so much entertainment on planes that I stopped bringing any device, maybe 5 years ago.

Granted, your use case isn't entertainment, for the most part.

I got mine last week and have been using it for light editing of word docs. It's works pretty well, the only thing I don't like is, 1) Not much (no) protection on the edges 2) No positive retention of the $100 pencil, you are stuck relying on the magnet to keep it in place during transport.

For the price, it should have included both of those.

Yeah, the lack of pencil protection in first-party Apple cases is baffling to me.

I wonder if they figure everyone just carries a pen roll and Moleskine everywhere they go? I don't get it.

I have a hard requirement before I can pull the trigger on a keyboard for my iPad: I need the same amount of control over keyboard layout that I get with Karabiner.

Specifically, I have caps lock mapped to backspace, and "delete" mapped to actual delete. This is deep in my muscle memory and I'm not interested in changing it.

I'm keeping an eye on things, and when I see that this affordance exists I'll probably get one. There are times when having a touchscreen laptop with a built-in cellular modem is just what I want.

I've been trying to justify this (along with finally buying an ipad), and my main problems with it are:

- It feels like a missed opportunity to solve an ergonomics problem where the ipad could be raised higher to eye level. I realize this would require more keyboard weight though. It feels a bit odd to see photos like this: https://www.reddit.com/r/ipad/comments/g61v3c/twelvesouth_cu...

- The usb-c port on the hinge is strictly for charging only since ultimately it connects via the smart connector.

- It's a stretch but it would've been nice if the keyboard was wireless (like the brydge) so one could connect it to other devices.

I get that I'm likely not an ideal ipad user here though, but it seems like microsoft was stepping towards with their whole surface neo concept.

It's getting a bit ridiculous how powerful the iPad is getting. Not necessarily in a bad way, I'm just confused about the use case.

For anyone with personal real-world experience, what convinces you to buy an iPad Pro + Keyboard over an Air or vice-versa?

Battery life and instant-on. Many speakers/microphones for conferencing. Same apps as iPhone. Just Works. LumaFusion, Flipboard.

It won't replace my laptop, but a touchscreen PDF reader with an excellent stylus and build-in cellular modem is a compelling piece of kit already.

Add in a keyboard and touchpad that's good enough that I can fluently type on it, and I can imagine a lot of scenarios where I'd want to bring just it. Unfortunately most of them involve being able to leave my house and go somewhere else :/

I do need more control over the keyboard layout (see my other comment if curious), but will probably get this when that becomes possible.

I use a computer at work. I don’t use one at home.

I’ve been using an Air 2 since it launched in 2014. Added an Anker keyboard a few years ago and really like typing on it instead of the on-screen keyboard. Made doing crosswords and other stuff a lot easier.

Decided it was time to upgrade and figured I’d get the “best” and try to get another 6 years out of it.

Reading and document markup is much more pleasant for me as a tablet than sitting rigidly at a laptop.

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