iPad Pro Magic Keyboard Typing Experience

[Macintosh101]

For anyone wondering about the typing experience on the Magic keyboard, yes it is a huge improvement over the previous Smart Folio keyboard, but the typing experience is not the same as using a 16” MacBook Pro or the new MacBook Air.

Whilst they all have the same scissor switch mechanism, the experience of typing on the Magic keyboard is much ‘springier’ and there looser feeling to the keys when typing overall. There is also a rather hollow sound when typing, which I think is to do the fact that the Magic Keyboard has a very thin base underneath the keys, whereas the MacBook Pro has a much more hefty solid base under the keys, which I suppose dulls the sound. I notice when using the Magic Keyboard on the lap the ‘springier’, more hollow sound / feeling is heightened, compared to when using it on a solid surface like a table or desk.
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Interestingly i just whipped out my Work-issued Surface (which i very rarely use and have very little good to say about). The keyboard on the surface feels better to me, simply becuase it feels more cushioned and less springy. I guess it all depends on how you like a keyboard to feel, so it will vary according to individual taste.

 

[jmgregory1]

For anyone wondering about the typing experience on the Magic keyboard, yes it is a huge improvement over the previous Smart Folio keyboard, but the typing experience is not the same as using a 16” MacBook Pro or the new MacBook Air.

Whilst they all have the same scissor switch mechanism, the experience of typing on the Magic keyboard is much ‘springier’ and there looser feeling to the keys when typing overall. There is also a rather hollow sound when typing, which I think is to do the fact that the Magic Keyboard has a very thin base underneath the keys, whereas the MacBook Pro has a much more hefty solid base under the keys, which I suppose dulls the sound. I notice when using the Magic Keyboard on the lap the ‘springier’, more hollow sound / feeling is heightened, compared to when using it on a solid surface like a table or desk.
[automerge]1587675085[/automerge]
Interestingly i just whipped out my Work-issued Surface (which i very rarely use and have very little good to say about). The keyboard on the surface feels better to me, simply becuase it feels more cushioned and less springy. I guess it all depends on how you like a keyboard to feel, so it will vary according to individual taste.

I’m currently using an old Apple bt keyboard with my iPad Pro (2018 12.9”) and Magic Trackpad 2 while working at my desk, and the keys on this thing are really springy. It’s certainly not a negative for me, as I can type extremely quickly with it. The keyboard folio I still have, but am not using, slows me way down because of the limited key travel.

I imagine that the new Magic Keyboard case will feel similar, albeit with less noise because the keys are flat on the desk as opposed to tilted up on this old keyboard. I’ll end up picking one up here in the next month, assuming we end up getting back being able to be on the road again. The only thing I worry about it getting used to the small trackpad. The Magic Trackpad 2 offers so much real estate.

 

[Cosmo M3]

the typing experience is much better than the SKF, but it's no 16" MBP or MBA (2020)

 

[Macintosh101]

the typing experience is much better than the SKF, but it's no 16" MBP or MBA (2020)

Totally agree

 

[gr2gztch]

Anyone else notice the keyboard double spacing automatically?

 

[paulbee]

I know I’m a tiny minority here, but I genuinely liked the way typing felt on the Smart Keyboard Folio. There was something about the way the fabric keys worked that made typing feel effortless. I am definitely noticing that I have to press harder than I’m used to on the Magic Keyboard. I’ll get used to this keyboard; the touchpad makes it worth the upgrade for me, since I think it’s going to make it possible to work on long documents and programs in a way that I never found natural on the iPad before. And I adore the way the iPad floats; that extra height is such an improvement for lap usage. But if they’d sell me a version of this that had the SKF fabric keyboard, I would buy it. I fully realize I’m probably the only person.

 

[Macintosh101]

Well this works rather well indeed...

 

[davidjearly]

I’m typing this message on my new MKB and 12.9” Pro to find out if I can adapt to a MacBook-less world. I’m not missing the MacBook one bit and feel the typing experience on this to be honestly exceptional. I absolutely love the thing.

 

[E pow]

I love the Magic Keyboard typing experience!!

 

[Mike Boreham]

I think it would be helpful if people expressing views on the keyboard typing experience say whether they are touch typists or pick and poke.

I am pick and poke and find the SKF keys fine, but I could imagine that a touch typist would much prefer the MK.

 

[gatorknight904]

Anyone else notice the keyboard double spacing automatically?

Yes I have noticed this when using the FB app.

 

[paulbee]

I think it would be helpful if people expressing views on the keyboard typing experience say whether they are touch typists or pick and poke.

I am pick and poke and find the SKF keys fine, but I could imagine that a touch typist would much prefer the MK.

I’m a touch typist. I’m getting used to the MK, but I still do really like the SKF typing experience. (I’m most puzzled by how other people describe having to press hard on the SKF. I found it soft and gentle to type on—I don’t know any other way to describe it—in a way regular keyboards, including the MK, aren’t.

Yes I have noticed this when using the FB app.

I found this to be a Facebook-specific problem on the SKF, and it is the same on the MK.

 

[thatsthequy]

If OP referring to springiness means it feels like a short travel version of the 2014 MacBook Pro keyboard then I am even more excited. In my opinion that laptop has the best keyboard for typing and long term use than any I have ever used before.

 

[valleian]

While I never had too much of an issue with the SKF, the keys were nothing if not a bit mushy. The MK is infinitely better, and imo, from what I remember from using it in the Apple Store, the 16” MBP had a slightly less appealing experience than the MK for iPad Pro. I like how sturdy and kind of tight the keys feel on the MK on the iPad Pro. The keys feel less wobbly to me. Will have to do a side by side comparison next I get the chance. I guess everyone has a different experience, and I’m apparently one of the crazy ones who loved the butterfly keyboard of infamy, so take my experience with the grain of salt it’s worth lol.