iPad Pro Using Apple Magic Keyboard with 12.9” iPad Pro

[Tom G.]

I just saw an article listing the keyboards that you can use with iPads and especially the 12.9” iPad Pro. In it they listed using an Apple Magic keyboard. I have one and would like to use it with my new 2018 12.9” iPad that I should get next week. In the article it said that you should be able to use the Magic Keyboard with any iPad that is running IOS 9.0 or above.

I tried to use it on my present 1st generation 12.9” iPad Pro running IOS 12.1, but it doesn’t seem to want to pair with it. Has anyone out there used this keyboard with an iPad or iPad Pro and can give me a tip on how to do it.

I would like to use my Magic Keyboard with the new iPad until some 3rd party keyboards become available. There may be some that I like more than the Apple one. I am currently using the Apple Smart Keyboard that I got when I got my 1st gen iPad Pro, and it works just fine, but after I got it I wished I had held out a little longer and gotten the Logic keyboard instead. That is why I want to hold off on getting a keyboard until I see some other keyboards. Also it appears that because Apple has changed the position of the smart connection on the new iPads you can’t use the older style Smart Keyboard on the 2018 model ipads.

 

[rikmac]

Mine pairs easily. Are you putting keyboard into pairing mode? Not sure exactly how and I am on travel for the rest of the week and forgot keyboard at home but you could probably google it to find out how. If it does not pair with the iPad can it pair with anything else? Maybe something is wrong with iPad or keyboard... Good luck

 

[Dave-Z]

I've also had no trouble using my Apple Magic Keyboard with my 2nd gen. 12 iPad.

If that keyboard was paired with something else previously, make sure that first device (laptop, etc.) has Bluetooth turned off.

 

[Tom G.]

Thanks, that was the problem. I originally got the keyboard for use with an iMac that I sold years ago. The new owner did not want the keyboard as it didn’t have the number pad on it, so I kept it and paired it with my MacBook Pro, just to do it. I completely forgot about having done it. Once I turned off the Bluetooth on the MacBook the keyboard paired up nicely with the iPad.

I actually use the iPad more than on the MacBook these days, this will allow me to check out the 3rd party keyboards/cases before getting one.

Again thanks.