iPad Pro Which keyboard do you use with your 2018 iPad Pro?

[yegon]

Fortunately not experienced any perceivable wear and tear on either my 11” or 12.9” ASK. The larger one never leaves the house so I’d expect it be in good condition, but my 11” is also fine despite me taking it work every day since launch. Work on the railway, it’s not a wild adventure in the jungle, but equally it’s not the same neat airconned environment every day, and it gets jostled about.

It’s not bent either, heheh. No special treatment, bung it in this nice leather sleeve I bought ages ago;

https://www.harberlondon.com/collec...th-apple-pencil-holder?variant=17002201743471

 

[PeterJP]

I carry the iPad Pro 11" in its folio. I love this setup for taking notes with the pen. But when travelling, I like to leave my mac at home and I need to be able to type out text on the iPad. So I started the search for the ideal travel keyboard. As usual, I spent way too much time on it But I found an interesting one: the Cooler Master SK621. It's a low profile, 60% mechanical keyboard. In other words: it retains only the alphanumeric block and drops the F keys, the numeric keypad and the navigational keys. It does have arrow keys, which results in a few compromises. For travel, it comes with a small pouch. I intend to use it with the iPad standing up with the Folio, possibly on a box or a book, at desks in remote offices.

I ordered it and it has just arrived, but I will only find time to use it this evening.

 

[JayMysterio]

I carry the iPad Pro 11" in its folio. I love this setup for taking notes with the pen. But when travelling, I like to leave my mac at home and I need to be able to type out text on the iPad. So I started the search for the ideal travel keyboard. As usual, I spent way too much time on it But I found an interesting one: the Cooler Master SK621. It's a low profile, 60% mechanical keyboard. In other words: it retains only the alphanumeric block and drops the F keys, the numeric keypad and the navigational keys. It does have arrow keys, which results in a few compromises. For travel, it comes with a small pouch. I intend to use it with the iPad standing up with the Folio, possibly on a box or a book, at desks in remote offices.

I ordered it and it has just arrived, but I will only find time to use it this evening.

How much was it? Does the RGB lighting work without it being connected to a PC?

 

[Hawaiian Starman]

anyone using
Logitech Slim Folio Pro Case for 12.9"?

worth it?

Most definitely. Backlit keys are very useful in a darkened airplane cabin or anywhere else ambient light is not available. Also, well made frame serves as a good protector. Yes, it adds some weight. However, the solid feel and excellent keyboard action and tool bar make this my #1 choice.

Before purchasing it at the Apple Store, I tried out the Apple Folio. Did not like the typing feel. Also, the lack of backlit keys was a non-starter.

 

[Johnny Steps]

I’ve been switching between the Apple Smart Keyboard Folio 11” and the combination of the ZUGU case with Apple Magic Keyboard 2. I may stick with the latter because it comes off as the best combination (protection on all sides, dedicated holder for Apple Pencil, more angles for viewing, etc.) but that’s not to say the folio keyboard isn’t good either. I would just base it on your usage.

At this point I wish there was a case that allowed me to carry the magic keyboard 2 without having it kind of freely exposed like I have now. Maybe I’ll just buy a case for the keyboard...

 

[PeterJP]

How much was it? Does the RGB lighting work without it being connected to a PC?

It was €140 and RGB works fine without PC connection. I'm using it to type this over Bluetooth connected to my Mac at the moment. I can connect to 3 Bluetooth devices, the only other one so far being my iPad. I've disabled RGB to save battery, but also because I consider RGB keyboards to be useless.

The keyboard has a slight wobble, which I don't like. Also, key travel is way deeper than what I'm used to, having used really flat keyboards also for my desktops for the last 20 years or so. And then this is the Cherry MX Low Profile switch

Reviews complain about the key arrangement. Because it's tiny, the right shift has been reduced to make space for the arrow keys. I don't mind. What they also point out is that, because the keycaps are flat, it's easy to hit a neighbouring key. That's true: I get mishits frequently, particularly for short entries like passwords. Once I get into a typing flow, it works well.

On my mac, I swapped the windows and alt key, because windows=command, so they were the wrong way around. But I understand that can't be done on the iPad... If it turns out to be a hassle, I might return it and go for an Apple Magic Keyboard anyway.

 

[PeterJP]

Update on the Cooler Master SK621. It's quite good as a keyboard. I used it all day on my mac yesterday. But it has serious flaws in how I want to use it, i.e. during travel, with an iPad.

First, the keyboard has a USB-C but cannot be charged with the iPad Pro USB-C charger. That's completely insane and it forces me to carry another cable. The supplied USB-A to USB-C cable works with the iPhone USB-to-Lightning charger, but still.

Second, the keyboard isn't recognised as a pure keyboard by the iPad. It's identified as some sort of input device and I can type alright. But the virtual keyboard stays on the screen. If I hide the virtual keyboard (bottom right button), I can't enter text anymore. The iPad works as if there is no external keyboard connected, except I can use it to enter text when the virtual keyboard is on the screen.

It's a real shame. I was starting to dig the hacker scene around mechanical keyboards. That scene is all based around regular MX switches, which have deeeeep travel that I don't like. It's another disadvantage that the low profile Cherry switches are so new that there's no aftermarket scene for keycaps yet. And the selection of wireless keyboards is very limited, with most having similar BlueTooth firmware, so I'm not risking buying another, lesser known, wireless mechanical keyboard anytime soon. I've just ordered the smaller Apple keyboard which weighs only half and which is smaller in all dimensions. Hoping for a satisfying typing experience!