I was at my local Best Buy and saw a stunning 13” iPad Pro on display, all set up with the equally beautiful Magic Keyboard. I’ve had a complicated relationship with the Magic Keyboard since it came out in 2015. On the plus side, it turns an iPad into a MacBook-like experience with magnets that work so smoothly. Plus, it’s versatile enough to be used comfortably in almost any situation. But, the downside is the price. It’s not just expensive; it’s uncomfortably so. The Magic Keyboard is an accessory for the iPad, but it has a price tag that feels like it should be included with the iPad itself. You could even buy an iPad (the basic model) for the price of this accessory!
The Magic Keyboard is pretty appealing, and I can’t help but look at it from every angle. The main thing that stands out is the price, which is absolutely, mind-blowing, ridiculously, obscenely expensive. When you buy an iPad, it should be a rule that you have to get an Apple Pencil with it, or maybe, just maybe, the price should include one. If you buy the iPad and the pencil, adding a Magic Keyboard really pushes the price into MacBook territory.
The iPad with the Magic Keyboard combines simplicity and complexity. On one hand, you have a single device that can be a tablet one minute and a MacBook-like device the next. The complexity comes from needing an accessory for your iPad to make this work, and that accessory adds a lot to the cost of your setup to make it MacBook-like, even though it’s not a full MacBook.
When I look closer, the 11-inch iPad with a Magic Keyboard might offer something different from a MacBook. In terms of size and weight, the 13-inch MacBook Air and the 13-inch iPad with Magic Keyboard are pretty similar, so I’m not sure the iPad setup is better in this case. However, the 11-inch iPad with Magic Keyboard is unique because it’s smaller and lighter than any MacBook, even though it’s still pricey. The combined price of the 11-inch iPad Air with the Magic Keyboard makes it a bit more affordable.
For this to make sense, you need a good reason to want the iPad. The most obvious reason is that there’s an app only available on the iPad. Another reason might be that you prefer the touch or Apple Pencil interface for certain apps. If either of these is true, you might even justify the 13-inch iPad setup.
I’ve considered a possible compromise: I’ll get a MacMini for my heavy tasks, since my current MacBook spends a lot of time docked to a monitor and keyboard on my desk.
One last thing about the Magic Keyboard is that it doesn’t fit all iPad models. This means that future iPad upgrades will likely require future Magic Keyboard upgrades. So, you might end up paying the same high price for the Magic Keyboard again.
My current setup is a MacBook as my main device and a Magic Keyboard-less iPad as a backup. What do you think about the Magic Keyboard, and do you think the features and functions are worth the price?
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