Apple 2020 iPad Pro owners thread. Your computer is not a computer (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

“Daring Fireball: 2020 iPad Pros Do Not Have U1 Ultra Wideband Chips”
https://daringfireball.net/linked/2020/04/06/ipad-pros-u1

 

[Sam Posten]

Bummer:
https://sixcolors.com/post/2020/04/review-brydge-pro-ipad-keyboard-with-trackpad/

 

[DaveF]

Saw that. Maybe it can be fixed with firmware / software?

 

[Ted Todorov]

Saw that. Maybe it can be fixed with firmware / software?

I don't see that happening - the chances of a firmware update for a third party product with a tiny user base is somewhere between zero and null.

 

[DaveF]

I mean firmware update to the keyboard from Brydge. I assume they want to get their product working.

 

[Sam Posten]

12.9 Magic Keyboard ordered.
https://9to5mac.com/2020/04/15/magic-keyboard-for-ipad-pro-now-available-to-order-ships-next-week/

 

[DaveF]

Post review when you’ve had some time with it!

 

[Sam Posten]

"It really does turn the iPad into a laptop. Except wait, the iPad is good precisely because it’s NOT a laptop"
https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/20/21227345/magic-keyboard-ipad-pro-tablet-laptop-review-price-specs-features

 

[DaveF]

 

[DaveF]

I'd have to check out how it fits and feels in my travel satchel. Assuming there's a world in which I travel, out there waiting for me.

 

[DaveF]

John Gruber tends to focus on things I care about in reviews
https://daringfireball.net/2020/04/the_ipad_magic_keyboard

The Smart Keyboards are iPad covers you can type on. The Magic Keyboard is a portable keyboard stand, not a cover — when you want to use your iPad as a tablet, not a laptop, you must detach it.

I also find that I get through about half a video or half a review on the keyboard before quitting. There's really only so much to be said about a keyboard, and everyone seems intent on saying about 50% more than is needed . So I haven't actually read the entire review above. But most of it.

 

[Ted Todorov]

"It really does turn the iPad into a laptop. Except wait, the iPad is good precisely because it’s NOT a laptop"
https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/20/21227345/magic-keyboard-ipad-pro-tablet-laptop-review-price-specs-features

I'm sorry, but that is an absurd review. The Verge (and I do listen to their podcast) tend to have a "let's invent a reason to dump on Apple" mode, no matter what. Apple products can only have a 100% positive view if they are talking about about old ones, long off the market.

See for instance -- this quote is from Daring Fireball:

Federico Viticci, writing for MacStories:

The Magic Keyboard turns an iPad Pro into a laptop, but it does so in a way that isn’t definitive — the transformation can always be reversed by the simple act of pulling the “computing core” away from it. This is also where the Magic Keyboard differs from competing accessories such as the Brydge keyboard: aside from Brydge’s poor trackpad implementation, I always found their design discouraged a constant alternation of roles — from laptop to tablet, and vice versa. It could be done, but carefully putting the iPad inside the Brydge’s keyboard clips and pulling it out was a chore. As a result, I found myself leaving the iPad Pro inside the Brydge keyboard at all times and never using it as a tablet. The Magic Keyboard feels like it was designed with the opposite principle in mind: it enables a laptop mode for the iPad, but you can always undo it and return to the iPad’s pure tablet form in two seconds. And when you’re done using the iPad as a tablet, you can just as easily re-align it with the Magic Keyboard (thanks to magnets in the case) and go back to using the physical keyboard and trackpad.

The whole point is, the Magic Keyboard allows the iPad Pro to stay a pure iPad and NOT be a laptop, while it's competitors do not.

I really understand what Viticci is saying here: my original 9.7" iPad Pro I got with a Logitech keyboard/case. Superb keyboard: backlighting, easy to type, excellent additional keys, very reasonable priced. Basically perfect in every way except that with it, the iPad was no longer my beloved read/text on the crowded subway or in bed device, and removing the iPad from the keyboard/case was a painful process. I ended up very rarely using the keyboard -- it just sits on the shelf. From what Viticci says this is precisely the problem the Apple Magic Keyboard doesn't have - your iPad is still an iPad precisely because it is utterly effortless, indeed inviting to pull it off the keyboard

 

[Sam Posten]

Agreed completely @JohnRice . It's all about the anger clicks, both for and against their dumb ass arguments. I can hear Nilay cackling every time he posts something dumb about how Apple is stupid for not bringing back the headphone jack, knowing he's going to get angry clicks.

Anyway, my keyboard is OTW and will be here tomorrow.

 

[Sam Posten]

Hands-on: Apple’s $300+ Magic Keyboards turn iPad Pros into business laptops

While Logitech offers an iPad-to-laptop conversion accessory for $150, Apple's iPad Pro version is at least twice as expensive, but not twice as nice.

venturebeat.com

 

[Ted Todorov]

Agreed completely @JohnRice

I think you meant me -- I don't think John Rice posted on this thread

 

[JohnRice]

No, I haven’t.

 

[Sam Posten]

I blame the new forum software =p

 

[Sam Posten]

Good so far. Nice couch companion

 

[Ted Todorov]

Good so far. Nice couch companion View attachment 71655

My top question -will it work well to type in a literal laptop mode:
i.e. with my MBP, I can sit on the couch and type away with the mac on my lap, with my 10.5" iPad Pro and Apple "folio" keyboard I can not -- is this new magic keyboard solid enough to let you type that way?

 

[DavidJ]

My top question -will it work well to type in a literal laptop mode:
i.e. with my MBP, I can sit on the couch and type away with the mac on my lap, with my 10.5" iPad Pro and Apple "folio" keyboard I can not -- is this new magic keyboard solid enough to let you type that way?

That’s what I want to know too. I find the Apple keyboard cover only works well enough for me on a desk. I tried to use it in bed the other night and it just wasn’t worth it.