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This is Incredible - iPad Pro Magic Keyboard Impressions

2020-04-23 · Tech review, setup or bag tour · Ali, Ali Abdaal (channel) · recording, 10:22 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Tools, apps and tech · mode: Review and recommendation · tags: Aimed at students

In his first impressions of the 2020 Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro, Ali calls it the single best product he has used in a long time: he sets a typing record of 156 words per minute, says the trackpad makes the iPad more productive and the £350 pays for itself, and faults only its price, weight and two-handed opening.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Unboxing tease and intro: the iPad Pro since 2017, the old keyboard folio, the new Magic Keyboard

  • ★★ The iPad Pro has been one of Ali's key productivity tools since 2017, and he really liked the old Smart Keyboard Folio, one of his favourite typing experiences. — 00:00:23 · iPad Pro

00:00:53 — The keyboard: a 156 words-per-minute typing test, the scissor keys, the hand brushing the iPad

  • ★★ In his first typing test on the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard, Ali types 156 words per minute at 99.23% accuracy, the best of his life; his previous record was 154. — 00:00:53 · Magic Keyboard, iPad Pro
  • ★★★ Ali calls the Magic Keyboard's keyboard fantastic: it feels exactly like the MacBook Air's scissor keyboard, now also on the 16-inch MacBook Pro, with nicely clicky keys, a good space bar and good proportions. — 00:01:23 · Magic Keyboard, MacBook
  • ★★ Ali's only slight gripe with the Magic Keyboard's typing: at its most horizontal position his hand occasionally brushes the bottom of the iPad Pro, though it is still much better than the old keyboard. — 00:01:48 · Magic Keyboard, iPad Pro

00:02:12 — Backlight, the trackpad and why the keyboard pays for itself

  • ★ The Magic Keyboard is backlit; its brightness is changed in the iPad's keyboard settings, but Ali says it adjusts itself from the iPad's ambient light sensors. (hedged) — 00:02:12 · Magic Keyboard, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★★ One of the main reasons Ali thinks everything done on an iPad Pro is inherently less efficient than on a proper MacBook is that you have to reach up and touch the screen. — 00:02:12 · iPad Pro, MacBook
  • ★★★ The Magic Keyboard's trackpad is as good as a MacBook's, Ali says, though much smaller and with a physical click, and he expects it to significantly increase his productivity on the iPad, especially for selecting text. — 00:02:56 · Magic Keyboard, MacBook, iPad, Safari, YouTube, iPad Pro
  • ★★★ Because he makes his money online mostly from writing that turns into video scripts, Ali calls the £350 Magic Keyboard a no-brainer: if it helps him make one more video in three years, it has paid for itself. — 00:03:34 · Magic Keyboard

00:04:11 — The floating design, its angles, and writing with the Apple Pencil

  • ★ The iPad Pro floats on the Magic Keyboard's very rigid, well-built stand, attached by magnets; it tilts back only so far before falling over, and Ali finds that furthest-back angle a pretty good one for typing. — 00:04:11 · Magic Keyboard, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali calls Notability his favourite note-taking app for the iPad. — 00:04:39 · Notability, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★ Ali says he will do a comparison of Notability and GoodNotes at some point. — 00:04:39 · Notability, GoodNotes
  • ★★ To write with the Apple Pencil, Ali turns the iPad Pro around on the Magic Keyboard; he doubts that is the intended use, but it works surprisingly well and is how he would use it for extensive writing. — 00:05:16 · Magic Keyboard, Apple Pencil, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali calls the Paperlike his favourite screen protector of all time, because it makes writing on the iPad feel like paper; he has ordered a new one for his 12.9-inch iPad Pro. — 00:05:16 · Paperlike, Apple Pencil, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali plans to take the Magic Keyboard to work every day for the next month, film B-roll there and ask his fellow doctors what they think of its floating design. — 00:05:16 · Magic Keyboard

00:05:55 — Taking it to work, build quality, weight and opening it with two hands

  • ★★ The Magic Keyboard is very rigid and well built, Ali says, while the old Smart Keyboard Folio flexed and felt flimsy; the whole package feels heavy, much beefier than the folio. — 00:06:11 · Magic Keyboard
  • ★★ Citing weighings by people online, Ali says the Magic Keyboard case alone weighs about 700 grams, more than the iPad itself. (hedged) — 00:06:25 · Magic Keyboard, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ An annoyance Ali noticed at once: the Magic Keyboard cannot be flicked open with one hand like a laptop; opening it is a fiddly two-handed job. — 00:06:25 · Magic Keyboard

00:07:11 — Pass-through charging, the free USB-C port, closing it

  • ★★ The Magic Keyboard has pass-through charging over USB-C, which frees the iPad Pro's own USB-C port for things like Samsung T5 SSDs or an SD card reader, so Ali, with his 12.9-inch iPad Pro, could try editing videos or photos on it. (hedged) — 00:07:11 · Magic Keyboard, iPad Pro
  • ★ Ali says music production is something he wants to get into. — 00:07:49

00:08:18 — The lap test on the sofa and in bed

  • ★★ The Magic Keyboard passes Ali's lap test: it works on his lap with a little slouching, beautifully on the sofa and in bed, but it is top-heavy and cannot hang off the lap's edge like a laptop. — 00:08:18 · Magic Keyboard

00:09:24 — Verdict: the best product in a long time, the price, and whether students need it

  • ★★★ On first impressions Ali calls the Magic Keyboard the single best product he has used in a very long time, with nothing to fault except its price. — 00:09:24 · Magic Keyboard

    “this is the single best product I have used in a very, very long time”

  • ★★ Ali gives the Magic Keyboard's price as £300 or $300 for the 11-inch iPad Pro and 350 for the 12.9-inch. — 00:09:24 · Magic Keyboard, iPad Pro

  • ★★★ For him and many people he knows, Ali says the return on investment makes the Magic Keyboard a no-brainer; a student probably does not need it, but one with loads of spare cash will not be disappointed. — 00:09:47 · Magic Keyboard

In the description and comments

  • ★★ Asked whether the Paperlike wears down the Apple Pencil's nib, Ali says increased friction is likely to wear a nib over time, but in two years he has never had to replace one. — creator comment · Paperlike, Apple Pencil
  • ★★ Ali Abdaal (channel): Asked for a GoodNotes versus Notability video, the channel says there is fundamentally not much difference between them: like Keynote versus PowerPoint, they do the same thing. — creator comment · GoodNotes, Notability
  • ★★ Ali Abdaal (channel): To a doctor asking whether an iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil beats a MacBook for productivity on the go, the channel says go for it: still less efficient than a proper laptop, but more fun. — creator comment · iPad Pro, Magic Keyboard, Apple Pencil, MacBook
  • ★★ Asked whether the iPad can do research work once possible only on a full computer, such as desktop websites and citations, Ali says it can but with difficulty, and he would not recommend it. — creator comment · iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Ali Abdaal (channel): The channel says the Magic Keyboard is very much a keyboard, not for handwriting, although the iPad can be used on it upside down if you have to. — creator comment · Magic Keyboard, iPad Pro
  • ★ Ali says he is still a junior doctor but has dropped the phrase, because no one outside the UK knows what it means. — creator comment
  • ★★★ Ali Abdaal (channel): Asked whether the Magic Keyboard changes the iPad Pro versus MacBook Air verdict, the channel says no: the iPad with it is not a good laptop replacement, and a student starting medical school should get a MacBook Air rather than a 12.9-inch iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard. — creator comment · Magic Keyboard, iPad Pro, MacBook

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: iPad Pro · Magic Keyboard

Also: Organizations: Apple · Samsung · YouTube

Products: Apple Magic Keyboard · Apple Pencil · GoodNotes · iPhone · MacBook · Notability · Paperlike · Safari · Smart Keyboard Folio

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