It was inevitable that Apple would make the
Smart Keyboard peripheral for an iPad as large as the
iPad Pro with its 12.9-inch display. People often forget that Apple released a full-sized keyboard accessory for the original iPad, but it held back on releasing a first-party keyboard cover accessory like those from companies like Logitech because, in portrait mode, the typing experience can be too cramped. With a display that supports Split View, allowing you to work with documents side-by-side, the iPad Pro is the ideal candidate for a first-party keyboard accessory.
The iPad Pro Smart Keyboard is easily the smartest "Smart" accessory Apple has made for the iPad yet. Like everything that Apple decides to engineer from the ground up, it is packed with lots of excellent ideas, all aimed at optimizing the user experience. It was always going to be interesting to see what Apple developed for its own first-party keyboard cover accessory, as Microsoft has already set quite a high bar in its Surface range for a tablet that seamlessly integrates a keyboard accessory. However, unlike the Surface tablet range where the keyboard cover accessory is all but mandatory, the iPad Pro Smart Keyboard is not essential to the iPad experience.
That said though, there will be plenty of people interested in the Smart Keyboard as a companion for their iPad Pro, particularly as it doesn't add much to the total weight over a standard Apple Smart Cover, but offers much more functionality when you need it. However, for those who plan to do a lot of typing on the iPad Pro, it will certainly be the first device for typing on the iPad Pro that you will looking at, regardless of how much it may weigh (and weight will always be an important part of its overall usability).
Although it may look and function similarly to keyboard cover accessories by other makers such as Logitech, there is a lot more to the iPad Pro Smart Keyboard than first meets the eye. It does not require a switch to be activated, it does not require Bluetooth for connectivity, nor does it need to ever be charged. In other words, it is ready to go right out of the box. It is very much like the Microsoft Surface TypeCovers in this regard, which -- like the iPad Pro Smart Keyboard -- gets both its power and data directly from a connection with the tablet. In the case of the iPad Pro, it is Apple's new Smart Connector that carries out this function.
However, Apple's approach to the iPad Pro Smart Keyboard makes it generally thinner, lighter and less susceptible to damage from solid and liquid spills. As is standard practice at Apple, when it chooses materials for its products, they undergo extensive testing and development; the iPad Pro Smart Keyboard is no exception.
Apple literally tested hundreds of materials before it arrived at its final choice. Unsurprisingly, in the end it opted for a custom-woven fabric that is laser ablated to form the actual shape of each key -- this means that without individual keys that are separate to the fabric, it doesn't have any gaps between the keys to let in foreign materials. The only mechanism sitting under it is are the dome mechanisms from the 12-inch MacBook keyboard. This means travel is short, yet direct and crisp.
Even wilder than the way the keys have been created from the actual material covering the keyboard is the way both the data and power is transmitted between the Smart Keyboard and the iPad Pro. When docked, it looks as though the Smart Connector connects directly to the Smart Keyboard at the docking point. In reality, it actually travels up and over through all the bends and folds from the connection point, and then back through to the keyboard.
Apple has achieved this by etching a paper-thin sheet of nylon with metal, creating a flexible conductive material that allows the keyboard to function. It will be interesting to see where it next deploys this piece of tech -- an Apple Watch wristband, perhaps?
Although some have complained about the lack of shortcuts on the Smart Keyboard, Apple has instead opted to have contextual keyboard shortcuts available at the bottom of the iPad Pro display, or sitting just above the Smart Keyboard. There are also the typical kinds of Mac-like keyboard shortcuts that you can access without the need for function keys. It's a clever approach that helps to reduce the width of the Smart Keyboard.
This actually works to make typing on the Smart Keyboard much easier when you place the iPad Pro Smart Keyboard combination on your lap. In fact, the whole experience of typing on your lap on the iPad Pro with the Smart Keyboard is a far more comfortable and stable experience than the Microsoft Surface, the tablet that wants to "replace your laptop" (as long as you don't want to use it on your lap).
Overall, there is a lot to like about the iPad Pro Smart Keyboard. It may not look especially exciting at first glance, but it is a really functional and clever design -- it is clear a lot of thought that has gone into it. The only slight gripe that we have with it is that it takes a little while to get used to its relatively tough woven cloth feel on your fingers. However, when you realize that it was chosen to form the actual shape of the keys themselves, and that this also means that it will last over a long period of regular use, you can forgive this trade-off. You do get used to it soon enough, at any rate. At $169, it's not cheap, but then clever design and engineering, coupled with the confidence that it will go the distance, is worth the premium.
-- Sanjiv Sathiah
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