Apple Magic Keyboard - Floating iPad Pro

The World of iPads: A Macbook Air Owner's Dilemma

As a long-time user of laptops, I've recently found myself torn between my trusty Macbook Air and the latest iPad Pro with an accompanying keyboard case. The question on everyone's mind is, which one should I choose? In this article, we'll delve into the pros and cons of each device and explore why having both might be the best solution.

One of the main advantages of the Macbook Air is its portability. Weighing in at just 2.75 pounds, it's incredibly lightweight and easy to carry around. The iPad Pro, on the other hand, weighs in at a whopping 1 pound. This is largely due to the fact that laptops are typically heavier than iPads, with most of their weight concentrated at the top. To combat this, Apple designed a case for the iPad Pro that adds significant heft to the device, making it feel more substantial and balanced.

While the case does help to alleviate some of the top-heavy issues, there are still limitations to consider. For example, in certain positions, such as when using it on a table or desk, the iPad can be prone to tipping over. Additionally, when trying to close the screen, it's not always easy to do so without accidentally triggering a gesture or shortcut that takes us out of the current app. Furthermore, the lack of function buttons on the keyboard makes it difficult to adjust settings like brightness and volume, which are typically accessed via physical controls.

Despite these limitations, I must admit that having an iPad can be incredibly convenient. The touchscreen interface is intuitive and responsive, making it perfect for tasks like browsing the web or checking email. However, when multitasking becomes necessary – whether it's writing a review while listening to music or taking notes during a Zoom call – things quickly become complicated. There's no escape key, and even simple actions like changing keyboard brightness require navigating through multiple settings menus.

For those who prefer to use their iPad as the primary device, there are workarounds available. For instance, if you need to type frequently, Apple provides a range of shortcuts and gestures that can be accessed from within apps. However, for users like me, who rely heavily on laptops for tasks that require more complexity and flexibility – think writing, video editing, or coding – the iPad falls short.

In recent years, Apple has made significant strides in bridging the gap between its devices. For example, the 120Hz refresh rate on the latest iPad Pro provides a silky-smooth viewing experience, while the built-in cameras have become increasingly versatile. Additionally, the App Store offers an impressive array of apps that take full advantage of the iPad's touchscreen capabilities.

Ultimately, my Macbook Air will remain my primary device for now. The keyboard and trackpad provide a level of precision and flexibility that the iPad simply can't match. However, having an iPad – particularly with its accompanying keyboard case – has opened up new possibilities for me. By being able to switch between devices seamlessly, I've discovered that I don't need to choose just one.

The keyboard case, which adds around $350 to the iPad Pro's base price of $1,000, offers a level of versatility and convenience that makes it hard to resist. It's like having an iPad and a laptop all in one – or rather, having two devices that can work together seamlessly. While it may not be the most cost-effective option for everyone, for me, it's worth every penny.

In conclusion, as an iPad Pro owner with a Macbook Air, I've found myself caught between two worlds. On one hand, the iPad offers unparalleled convenience and flexibility; on the other, its limitations become apparent when trying to tackle more complex tasks. While having both devices may seem like overkill, it's a solution that works for me – at least for now.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat's up guys i'm phd here you know there used to be entire youtube channels dedicated big ones to just reviewing cases you know laptop cases iphone cases i never really got super into that because i was like oh you know how interesting could a case really be i'm not a big case guy but this is this has got to be the most interesting case we've seen in a long time this is the new apple magic keyboard case for the new ipad pro 300 bucks for the small one and 350 bucks for this bigger one and there was a lot of hype for this case right it was announced alongside this new ipad which was barely actually different from the previous ipad pro but along with the new mouse and cursor support on the ipad it re-stoked this whole fire of can the ipad pro be a full-time computer so i've been using this new ipad and this magic case as my primary computer for the past couple days and all weekend and the conclusion i've gotten to is this is the best version of the ipad as a computer for sure but i would still rather have a laptop let me explain so for your money this is actually a pretty substantial like nice case there's a lot going on here it's a top part full of magnets that locks onto the ipad and does not let go like it's a strong magnet pattern matching up to the ipad then there's a hinge which is like this long metal tube through the middle with a usb type-c pass-through port on the side for charging then a base which is this silicon rubberized material we've seen in apple cases before with a full-size backlit keyboard and trackpad and it's a lot of material it's a bit thicker and heavier also than you might be imagining you ready for this ipad pro weighs this big one 640 grams and then without the ipad the case by itself weighs another 702 grams so it weighs more than the ipad so combined they are thicker and heavier than a macbook air and so while it's not nearly as elegant to open and close like a laptop would be the one thing you can say about this case is it is well built so to get this in place basically you open this up and quickly you find that the hinge has this locking point where it gets to the locking point and it snaps into place and that's nice and then the top part continues opening like a hinge so you've opened it like this you take the ipad you lock it with the magnets into the top half everything lights up the pins are all connected and now it's floating above the keyboard as advertised now we've already seen ipad cases with keyboards before there's plenty of people already using them but there's a couple things that make this one so impressive number one is that hinge it's pretty stiff like a laptop and it is limited in how far back it goes but actually find it goes just far back enough for any of my normal use it just kind of pops off the back and hovers the ipad there then the keyboard is really nice i think it's the nicest part it's scissor switches so it has a nice travel and it actually feels clicky like the new macbook air and 16 inch macbook pros keys and since the board is stiff and well built there's actually no flex at all unlike some laptops and then it's backlit which no doubt sucks a little bit of extra power from the ipad's battery but i like the backlight it's a nice touch it fades on and off and just generally yeah it's it's the best keyboard i've ever seen in an ipad case that's facts and then of course there's the trackpad 2. it's not the biggest trackpad in the world like you might find on a full-size laptop but it is nice and it definitely completes the the laptop computer feel with the new ios cursor and it clicks it really physically clicks so everywhere from corner to corner which is nice so now you have the ipad hovering above the keyboard here with just enough room to type and not really ever touch the ipad usually for me that's good and so now it feels like a computer the usb type-c charging passthrough is at the bottom like where a normal computer port would be and i seem to be getting almost 100 efficiency through those pins which definitely impressed me so it's like a real 13-inch laptop ish computer with a 120 hertz screen and ipad os and all of its quirks but let me tell you there are still a lot of quirks to this being your main computer first of all weight management is something we often think about with these ipad cases in a laptop you open this by the hinge and all the weight all the guts in the computer are at the bottom and the top is just a lightweight screen so opening and closing it pretty elegant not a whole lot of problems there but with the ipad in this case or any case like this the ipad is the computer and so most of that weight is up top and so it can feel a little bit top-heavy this is part of why they made this case so heavy is to try to combat this a little bit to try to make it feel a little bit less top-heavy but still it's not perfect this whole thing here it's still lappable in some positions that's a new word right lappable most of the classic laptop positions are still fine i know some people were wondering about this it's better than you might expect but from experience it's still not as flexible as a truly bottom weighted laptop where the hinge is just moving the screen weight and then if you get down to the keyboard great keyboard like i said physically speaking but there's no escape key so if i want to exit a full screen video or use anything you typically escape you have to touch the screen and you've probably noticed by now there's no function buttons at all on this keyboard meaning there's no brightness volume or even keyboard backlight brightness shortcuts here for all that you gotta touch the screen in fact just to change the keyboard brightness you have to go into the settings app into general into keyboard settings and then into keyboard hardware settings and then that's where you can manually turn up or down the keyboard backlight brightness luckily auto brightness is typically still pretty good it's using the ipad's sensors by the way so that's hopefully not something you have to do very often but still you get the point here and then also i on a mac i'm a i'm a command q person as a lot of mac people are whenever i want to quit an app command q to close it it doesn't quite work the same way here if you're in an app and you hit command q nothing happens you have to touch the screen or command h to go home but if you actually do want to close an app in your multitasking without touching the screen shout out to peter mckinnon actually for teaching me this you go to the command tab menu and then find the app you want to close in there and then command q to close that and then you know like normal with an ipad there's a bunch of gestures from the trackpad and keyboard shortcuts to learn in fact if you hold down command at any point in anything it'll show you a list of all the keyboard shortcuts available to you at that time in that app so that's a pretty cool pro tip but that represents a little bit of a learning curve if you've come from something else with a keyboard so at the end of the day let me let me wrap it all up with this my macbook air spec is 1200 bucks this ipad pro the 13 inch the same size screen is a thousand bucks plus the 350 case that makes it 1350. now if i could only have one if i could only have a laptop with no ipad or this ipad keyboard case which is a bit more expensive but no laptop i really want to say i would rather have this i'd rather have like the ability to pop off and have an ipad at any time and then when i want to type i got the keyboard and i can go back and forth and it's much more fun it's 120 hertz it's got way more apps there's cameras if i need them this is just more fun but i still need that laptop sometimes and for me that's especially when multitasking like if i'm writing the review on the keyboard and i have spotify playing in the background and i just want to skip to the next song there's no button for it i have to go over into spotify and then swipe and then come like have you ever tried to be on a zoom call and take notes at the same time in an ipad good luck it's not it doesn't work but all that being said in ipad land there are two types of people in this world those who get a case or a folio or a keyboard for their ipad and they keep it in it all the time they never take it out that's just the way the ipad is now or those who get a key keyboard or case and pop it out and use it mostly like an ipad all the time and then sometimes they need a type so they'll pop it in here type away it becomes a typing machine then when they're done pop it back out use it as an ipad again for that second type of person this setup this accessory is the best possible version of the ipad this is a go this is awesome go for it spring the 300 bucks but for me i'm not getting rid of my laptop but that's been it thanks for watching catch you guys the next one peacewhat's up guys i'm phd here you know there used to be entire youtube channels dedicated big ones to just reviewing cases you know laptop cases iphone cases i never really got super into that because i was like oh you know how interesting could a case really be i'm not a big case guy but this is this has got to be the most interesting case we've seen in a long time this is the new apple magic keyboard case for the new ipad pro 300 bucks for the small one and 350 bucks for this bigger one and there was a lot of hype for this case right it was announced alongside this new ipad which was barely actually different from the previous ipad pro but along with the new mouse and cursor support on the ipad it re-stoked this whole fire of can the ipad pro be a full-time computer so i've been using this new ipad and this magic case as my primary computer for the past couple days and all weekend and the conclusion i've gotten to is this is the best version of the ipad as a computer for sure but i would still rather have a laptop let me explain so for your money this is actually a pretty substantial like nice case there's a lot going on here it's a top part full of magnets that locks onto the ipad and does not let go like it's a strong magnet pattern matching up to the ipad then there's a hinge which is like this long metal tube through the middle with a usb type-c pass-through port on the side for charging then a base which is this silicon rubberized material we've seen in apple cases before with a full-size backlit keyboard and trackpad and it's a lot of material it's a bit thicker and heavier also than you might be imagining you ready for this ipad pro weighs this big one 640 grams and then without the ipad the case by itself weighs another 702 grams so it weighs more than the ipad so combined they are thicker and heavier than a macbook air and so while it's not nearly as elegant to open and close like a laptop would be the one thing you can say about this case is it is well built so to get this in place basically you open this up and quickly you find that the hinge has this locking point where it gets to the locking point and it snaps into place and that's nice and then the top part continues opening like a hinge so you've opened it like this you take the ipad you lock it with the magnets into the top half everything lights up the pins are all connected and now it's floating above the keyboard as advertised now we've already seen ipad cases with keyboards before there's plenty of people already using them but there's a couple things that make this one so impressive number one is that hinge it's pretty stiff like a laptop and it is limited in how far back it goes but actually find it goes just far back enough for any of my normal use it just kind of pops off the back and hovers the ipad there then the keyboard is really nice i think it's the nicest part it's scissor switches so it has a nice travel and it actually feels clicky like the new macbook air and 16 inch macbook pros keys and since the board is stiff and well built there's actually no flex at all unlike some laptops and then it's backlit which no doubt sucks a little bit of extra power from the ipad's battery but i like the backlight it's a nice touch it fades on and off and just generally yeah it's it's the best keyboard i've ever seen in an ipad case that's facts and then of course there's the trackpad 2. it's not the biggest trackpad in the world like you might find on a full-size laptop but it is nice and it definitely completes the the laptop computer feel with the new ios cursor and it clicks it really physically clicks so everywhere from corner to corner which is nice so now you have the ipad hovering above the keyboard here with just enough room to type and not really ever touch the ipad usually for me that's good and so now it feels like a computer the usb type-c charging passthrough is at the bottom like where a normal computer port would be and i seem to be getting almost 100 efficiency through those pins which definitely impressed me so it's like a real 13-inch laptop ish computer with a 120 hertz screen and ipad os and all of its quirks but let me tell you there are still a lot of quirks to this being your main computer first of all weight management is something we often think about with these ipad cases in a laptop you open this by the hinge and all the weight all the guts in the computer are at the bottom and the top is just a lightweight screen so opening and closing it pretty elegant not a whole lot of problems there but with the ipad in this case or any case like this the ipad is the computer and so most of that weight is up top and so it can feel a little bit top-heavy this is part of why they made this case so heavy is to try to combat this a little bit to try to make it feel a little bit less top-heavy but still it's not perfect this whole thing here it's still lappable in some positions that's a new word right lappable most of the classic laptop positions are still fine i know some people were wondering about this it's better than you might expect but from experience it's still not as flexible as a truly bottom weighted laptop where the hinge is just moving the screen weight and then if you get down to the keyboard great keyboard like i said physically speaking but there's no escape key so if i want to exit a full screen video or use anything you typically escape you have to touch the screen and you've probably noticed by now there's no function buttons at all on this keyboard meaning there's no brightness volume or even keyboard backlight brightness shortcuts here for all that you gotta touch the screen in fact just to change the keyboard brightness you have to go into the settings app into general into keyboard settings and then into keyboard hardware settings and then that's where you can manually turn up or down the keyboard backlight brightness luckily auto brightness is typically still pretty good it's using the ipad's sensors by the way so that's hopefully not something you have to do very often but still you get the point here and then also i on a mac i'm a i'm a command q person as a lot of mac people are whenever i want to quit an app command q to close it it doesn't quite work the same way here if you're in an app and you hit command q nothing happens you have to touch the screen or command h to go home but if you actually do want to close an app in your multitasking without touching the screen shout out to peter mckinnon actually for teaching me this you go to the command tab menu and then find the app you want to close in there and then command q to close that and then you know like normal with an ipad there's a bunch of gestures from the trackpad and keyboard shortcuts to learn in fact if you hold down command at any point in anything it'll show you a list of all the keyboard shortcuts available to you at that time in that app so that's a pretty cool pro tip but that represents a little bit of a learning curve if you've come from something else with a keyboard so at the end of the day let me let me wrap it all up with this my macbook air spec is 1200 bucks this ipad pro the 13 inch the same size screen is a thousand bucks plus the 350 case that makes it 1350. now if i could only have one if i could only have a laptop with no ipad or this ipad keyboard case which is a bit more expensive but no laptop i really want to say i would rather have this i'd rather have like the ability to pop off and have an ipad at any time and then when i want to type i got the keyboard and i can go back and forth and it's much more fun it's 120 hertz it's got way more apps there's cameras if i need them this is just more fun but i still need that laptop sometimes and for me that's especially when multitasking like if i'm writing the review on the keyboard and i have spotify playing in the background and i just want to skip to the next song there's no button for it i have to go over into spotify and then swipe and then come like have you ever tried to be on a zoom call and take notes at the same time in an ipad good luck it's not it doesn't work but all that being said in ipad land there are two types of people in this world those who get a case or a folio or a keyboard for their ipad and they keep it in it all the time they never take it out that's just the way the ipad is now or those who get a key keyboard or case and pop it out and use it mostly like an ipad all the time and then sometimes they need a type so they'll pop it in here type away it becomes a typing machine then when they're done pop it back out use it as an ipad again for that second type of person this setup this accessory is the best possible version of the ipad this is a go this is awesome go for it spring the 300 bucks but for me i'm not getting rid of my laptop but that's been it thanks for watching catch you guys the next one peace\n"