Over on The Sweet Setup, Josh Ginter just published a fantastic review (with photos!) of the new Magic Keyboard for iPad.
A lot of the early-access units and first reviews that came out were of the 12.9-inch model. Josh, like myself, has an 11-inch iPad and his review is of the smaller size.
There were two points that stood out to me most in Josh’s review.
First of all is just how great the hardware connection is between the iPad and the Magic Keyboard. You attach them and you are good to go. You detach them and you are good to go. There is no pairing or unpairing required.
This lack of friction is such a massive advantage that — even for me — I will often just use the attached keyboard even though I have a fussy, clickey bluetooth keyboard already on my desk and ready to pair with the iPad. (More on that another time.)
Secondly, I love how Josh highlights the “philosophical” positioning / signaling of what the iPad Magic Keyboard means for the iPad as a whole:
If ever there was a sign that Apple was working on the iPad’s perceived shortcomings, it’s this: The Magic Keyboard dramatically improves — I’d venture to say “flips on its head” — the notion that the iPad has poor keyboard and trackpad support.
As John Gruber commented regarding Jason Snell’s review of the Magic Keyboard:
Apple has made iPad better in new ways without making it worse in any existing way.