Ipad Pro Magic Keyboard Dimensions

Its gesture-friendly touchpad and elegant design go a long way to making the iPad Pro more like a MacBook, and its scissor-switch keys feel great to type on, too. We just wish the Magic Keyboard weren’t weighed down by both its hefty weight and high price.

So, for those following along with a calculator at home, the 11-inch iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard weighs 2.3 pounds when docked. That’s just half a pound shy of the MacBook Air, and tempering a bit of the iPad Pro’s lovable portability.

The 12.9-inch version, according to multiple reports, is a hair or few under 3 pounds, making it almost as heavy as the 3.1-pound MacBook Air Pro 2020 (13-inch). Other buttons I’d wish Apple had added include media controls for volume, play and pause, fast forward and rewind.

The latter is an elegant means of cord-management, keeping the cable behind the iPad as it floats in mid-air, rather than having it jut out of the USB-C port on the tablet’s right side. Every case and stand needs a good hinge, and the Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro uses strong magnets for keeping the floating display in place.

The iPad Pro Magic Keyboard illuminates in the dark (Image credit: Future) The Magic Keyboard’s biggest feature is the 3.9 x 1.8-inch touchpad that answers the prayers of many who want Apple to make the iPad more like a laptop. Sure, it’s a little on the small side, but as someone who’s tested a bunch of PC laptops, I’m completely positive about Apple’s implementation, as it’s all clickable, rather than just the bottom half that some see-saw touchpads let you click. Sure, I could just lift my fingers off the keyboard and nudge it up myself and then tap the screen to pick an app, but that’s just taking away from the potential power of the touchpad.

I’m hoping Apple finds a way to implement a touchpad gesture for opening the dock on the bottom of the screen. As it stands now, you have to do the slightly backwards method of hitting Command+Space and searching in Spotlight, and then clicking and dragging an app to either side of the screen.

Sure, I could just lift my fingers off the keyboard and nudge it up myself and then tap the screen to pick an app, but that’s just taking away from the potential power of the touchpad. Google Docs, though, is the biggest problem child: it doesn’t even show keyboard shortcuts when you hold the Command button. While Notes and Word recognized that I was in the body previously, Docs made me click into the document each time, even if my cursor was blinking on screen.

Apple’s Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro: Everything You Need to Know

In the guide below, we cover everything we know about Apple’s Magic Keyboard, including compatible devices, feature set, and more. The biggest complaint about the Magic Keyboard has been the weight, which adds quite a lot of bulk to the ‌iPad Pro‌. As mentioned above, the 12.9-inch model paired with a Magic Keyboard is heavier than a MacBook Air. The first Magic Keyboard was released for the 2020 ‌iPad Pro‌ models in March of 2020, and a second-generation version came out in April 2021.

The updated 12.9-inch Magic Keyboard released in 2021 is, however, backwards compatible with the 2020 model. It’s also worth noting that in 2021, Apple also introduced a white version of the Magic Keyboard for the first time, which is available for both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ models. The design of the Magic Keyboard does not allow it to be flipped around to the back of the ‌iPad Pro‌ for a sketching or drawing mode. It’s smaller than the trackpad on a MacBook, but works in much the same way, allowing navigation throughout iPadOS with swipes, gestures, and taps.

Compared to the ‌Smart Keyboard‌ Folio that does not have a trackpad, the keys on the Magic Keyboard offer a more satisfying press thanks to the 1mm of travel.

The keys on the Magic Keyboard are backlit and the brightness adjust based on the ambient lighting in the room.

Apple designed a unique trackpad experience built for a touch-first interface for the ‌iPad‌, introducing support for multi-touch gestures and the cursor. When using the trackpad, the cursor displays on the ‌iPad Pro‌’s screen as a circle, a design Apple chose because it looked similar to the tip of a finger.

The Magic Keyboard works across iPadOS, with the cursor transforming when there are elements on the display that can be interacted with. You can quickly edit text in apps using the cursor, scroll through Safari, enter multitasking views, and more, with a number of gestures supported.

Bring the cursor to the top left of the ‌iPad‌’s display to open Notification Center. Use two fingers in a text editing app to bring up Cut, Copy, and Paste options. Apple is also building support into specific apps like Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. The 11-inch Magic Keyboard options sold in 2020 and 2021 are compatible with ‌iPad Pro‌ models from 2018, 2020, and 2021, as well as the fourth-generation iPad Air. There are a lot of little hidden features and tweaks that aren’t immediately obvious when using the Magic Keyboard, so make sure to check out our tips and tricks video to learn about some handy features like adjusting the backlighting of the keys and bringing up the onscreen keyboard.

11-inch iPad Pro Magic Keyboard review: Is small big enough?

So when Apple announced the Magic Keyboard with trackpad for iPad Pro in March 2020, I threw my money at my computer screen with a celebrated, “huzzah!” At this point, all the big tech bloggers and vloggers have already told you what’s great and what’s not-so-great about the Magic Keyboard for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, but what about the smaller one? If, like me, you want to know is whether the smaller 11-inch iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard configuration could be a comfortable laptop-like experience, too, you’re in the right place. And yes, I wrote and published this 11-inch iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard review exclusively using the combo.

You can find the previous 12.9-inch iPad Pro Magic Keyboard from retailers like Amazon while supplies last. Others have very strong opinions about what makes a good keyboard, and the slightest changes to tactility and feedback have a huge effect.

There is plenty of wrist pad room for me to rest my palms next to the trackpad without accidentally clicking it. Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro side view (Image credit: IMore) The folio part of the keyboard case, the magnetic backing that the iPad Pro sticks to, is where most of the unique design aspect comes into play.

There are multiple strong magnets on either side of the mount to keep the iPad Pro in place. I was actually able to disengage the iPad Pro from the magnets with one hand by grabbing it right next to the angled backside and pulling it forward, but it was a little awkward. Still, I’d give up one-handed removal from the mount in exchange for a reliable magnetic connection, which I think Apple was betting on when the design team came up with this system.

USB-C Charging port on the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro (Image credit: IMore) In a lot of 11-inch iPad Pro Magic Keyboard reviews, writers talk about the hinge design. The magnetic mount and multiple-angled hinge design give the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro its unique “hovering” aesthetic. Since the iPad Pro, which would essentially be the display part of a laptop, is so top-heavy (because it’s a whole computing device, not just a display), the anchor hinge at the base and the mount angle hinge had to be adjusted to correct for too much weight on top. It was pretty ingenious to come up with a way to counterbalance the top heaviness of the iPad Pro while still allowing for some angling freedom. Most cases either have an awkward kickstand on the backside, which is pretty uncomfortable on a lap, or only offer two or three stationary angles, with the bottom of the iPad anchored down to the keyboard base magnetically (think, Smart Keyboard design).

Brydge, actually, seems to have come the closest with an infinite number of adjustable angles, though if you go past the sweet spot, it’ll start to tip over. If you were able to place the iPad directly onto the keyboard base at the exact angle it sits when fully open, you’d cut off the number keys row entirely.

This hover design allows for plenty of keyboard space, while also providing enough wrist pad distance for you to comfortably set the palm of your hands if that’s how you type. The only problem with the hover design is that my fingertips will oftentimes inadvertently tap the iPad whenever I’m reaching for a number or the delete key. I’ve been typing on my iPad Pro with the Brydge Pro+ for a few months now and got used to the extra weight that comes along with a keyboard and trackpad combo. This, I really like, because the palms of my hands don’t mash into the edge of the keyboard base while I type.

Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro sitting on lap (Image credit: IMore) It still tips back just a little, making me feel compelled to hold down the base with the palms of my hands in order to avoid any potential spillover.

If I raise my wrists up from the base in an attempt to practice good typing positioning, I get a lot of bounce. I am very aware of why Apple didn’t include a row of function keys with the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro. I managed to get about nine hours straight of working on my iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard attached with about 25% battery left. That’s with standard work-based activities like email triage, two 30-minute meetings in Google Hangouts Meet (a serious battery hog), writing this review and uploading it to our system (along with the photos), planning content for the website, checking in with my coworkers in Slack regularly, and a few other work-type things. It does suck up a few percentage points of juice over the day, but it’s still within Apple’s battery performance estimate of 10 hours of usage for the iPad Pro, so the drain is negligible. When we all found out how much the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro costs, I think we had a collective double-take.

I love that I can have the same scissor switch, bouncy key, springy feedback keyboard with my iPad Pro.

I love that Apple has transformed it for mobile and I can have the same scissor switch, bouncy key, springy feedback keyboard with my iPad Pro.

Logitech Folio Touch Type Mode Side (Image credit: Christine Romero-Chan / iMore) While the Magic Keyboard is missing the function key row, the Folio Touch has it with all of the basics, including a dedicated Home button, media playback, brightness control, and more.

The trackpad also has incredibly smooth scrolling as well from my experience, and thanks to the folio style, you can have way more flexibility with viewing angles. And even if you don’t need the keyboard, you can just fold it back all the way and just use your iPad Pro normally, while keeping it safe and protected from bumps and scuffs. You want a protective keyboard case that won’t add a lot of bulk and has a unique design The keys are spread out enough, even on the 11-inch iPad Pro, that it doesn’t feel cramped or compact.

It still wobbles around and tends to tip backward just a bit if you don’t have your knees angled at exactly 90 degrees. Added price and availability section with information about the 2nd-generation Magic Keyboard and new white color. Ipad Pro Magic Keyboard 1 Year Later (Image credit: Christine Romero-Chan / iMore) It’s been over a year since Apple introduced the first-generation iPad Pro Magic Keyboard. Apple also revealed the second generation of Magic Keyboard at its ‘Spring loaded’ event, alongside the new iPad Pro (2021).

You may be thinking about picking up one of the Magic Keyboards to go with a brand new iPad, especially the insanely powerful 12.9-inch with the Liquid Retina XDR display.

As long as you take care of it and store it properly when not in use, the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard will still look decent, even a year later. However, if you aren’t a fan of mechanical keyboards, then yes, Apple’s scissor switch still feels excellent for what it’s worth.

This is simply due to my typing style, the more compact size of the 11-inch version, and the fact that the iPad is floating above the keyboard. It also doesn’t help that the -, +, return, and right shift keys are smaller than normal, due to the much more compact layout.

Not to mention the lack of a function key row with buttons for going to the Home screen, media playback, and more, and I honestly kind of regret my purchase.

Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro review

The Magic Keyboard is the best solution for turning the iPad Pro into a laptop, but its high price and lack of flexibility means it’s not for everyone. It has a sturdy design and a nifty metal hinge that holds the tablet in a floating position for better viewing angles. Before you empty your wallet, keep in mind that the Magic Keyboard supports the 2020 iPad Pro and 2018 model.

One of the benefits of buying an iPad Pro over a MacBook is because of how easy a tablet is to carry around the house or slip in a bag and bring on a plane. Attach the 1.6-pound keyboard and the iPad Pro goes through the same transformation as my body during quarantine, inflating to 3 pounds. The fit is as precise as you’d expect from a $350 keyboard: everything lines up nicely; you can still access the volume controls and power button, and the speakers aren’t covered.

Magic Keyboard (left) vs Surface Type Cover (right) (Image credit: Laptop Mag) On the back of the cover, is a faint Apple logo and a seam so the bottom of the iPad Pro can move toward you.

The bottom of the keyboard is a hard, flat surface that didn’t bend or wobble when I used the iPad Pro on my lap.

The most interesting thing about the Magic Keyboard is the cantilever hinge, which holds the iPad Pro a few inches above the ground and lets you angle the tablet for a better viewing experience. The Magic Keyboard is either open or closed — you can’t fold it back and use the iPad Pro as a tablet without removing the cover. This also means you can’t use the iPad Pro in portrait mode without there being a keyboard sticking out of one end.

It brings the iPad Pro closer to you so you don’t have to reach so far to tap on the screen, and it prevents the bottom of the display from getting obstructed by your hands as you type. Compared to the Magic Keyboard, the keys on the Type Cover have a less weighty feel to them and are, therefore, easier to click.

Don’t read too much into it — this is just my personal preference, and I’m sure many people will appreciate how solid the keys on the Magic Keyboard feel. It’s a significant addition that signals Apple’s intent of turning the iPad into a legitimate laptop alternative. My fingers glided effortlessly across the touchpad’s smooth glass surface, with each motion being mimicked by the on-screen cursor. Scrolling felt smooth as I moved two fingers across the length of the touchpad, while three-finger swipes to return home were 100% reliable. After using the Magic Keyboard for several days, I found myself defaulting to the touchpad for most uses, and only lifting my fingers to tap on smaller icons or navigate certain apps. You can’t connect an external hard drive or smartphone for transferring data, so you’ll still need a dongle to do so.

Still, the USB-C port is a welcome addition to the keyboard as it lets you charge the iPad Pro while keeping wires out of the way.

The Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro delivers a comfortable typing experience but the case is rigid and heavy, and the price is borderline ridiculous.