Apple’s Keyboard for the iPad Shines
I ordered the iPad keyboard when I bought my iPad, and it arrived today. The keyboard is amazingly heavy; it’s carved from a single block of aluminum and seems to weigh about five pounds. It holds the iPad firmly, and is just barely heavy enough to stay put when you pull the iPad out. It would be awkward for carrying around. If you want a portable option, a wireless bluetooth keyboard is your best option to take a keyboard with you on the road.
The keyboard itself is basically Apple’s keyboard with a few extra buttons where the function keys would be:
- Home
- Search
- Dim
- Bright
- Photos
- Onscreen keyboard
- A blank key that does nothing (!)
- Rewind
- Play/Pause
- Forward
- Mute
- Volume Down
- Volume Up
- Lock
The iconography is quite obvious. Otherwise it’s a typical Mac keyboard, option key and all. One difference is that Alt-delete is not interpreted as backspace–this is a key I miss. Might be a good use for that blank key if the right set were shifted left so it could be placed above delete. The key feel is superb, just like a Mac keyboard, and I can type on it as fast as any keyboard I’ve ever used. I really wish there was an additional dock connector on the long bottom axis so the iPad could be used in landscape mode. I check my email in landscape mode, and I tend to do all of my “producing” work in that mode. I wrote this review in Pages with the keyboard, and I’m quite impressed that the iPad and this keyboard could actually replace a desktop for light users.
The keyboard makes the iPad far more useful when not wandering around, and will allow it to replace a laptop for many users. I consider it to be a mandatory buy for iPad owners.
Does the iPad fit in it when it’s wearing the official iPad case from Apple?
Comment by Laura Moncur — April 19, 2010 @ 11:03 am
The iPad will not fit in the keyboard dock with any case on.
Comment by Matthew — April 19, 2010 @ 11:47 am
Does anyone know if this will work with a keyboard tray like any of the ones found here… Keyboard Trays?
Comment by Harold White — April 21, 2010 @ 4:46 pm
It’s fairly easy to cut a “window” in the bottom of the Apple iPad case to accommodate the area needed for the dock connector and the backrest. I’m not going to pre tent that the result is pretty, but it does work perfectly well. I did it by tracing the backrest area with a pencil and cutting the case with a pair of scissors. Now I’ve got a dorky square of aluminum showing near the dock connector and no longer need to take the case off to use the keyboard.
Comment by Matthew — May 8, 2010 @ 10:59 am
This is a great gadget, definitely makes the Ipad easier to use. Probably going to give this next easter as a present to my father next easter 2012. Thanks for the great article on it.
Comment by mariah — July 29, 2011 @ 3:32 pm