iPad Magic Keyboards May Come With Aluminium Top Case

Last weekend, Mark Gurman claimed in his weekly Bloomberg newsletter that Apple is working on reworking its Magic Keyboards slightly to make its iPad Pro tablets more laptop-like. One change on this front is a larger trackpad, to be closer in size to those found on Macbooks. In a more recent entry of the newsletter, Gurman claims that the top case of the upcoming Magic Keyboard revamps will also be made of aluminium.

The “older” versions of the keyboard accessory is noted to be flimsier, and prone to bending and tearing at the edges. But it’s worth noting that the change to aluminium is only for the top case, as in where they keys and trackpad are, with the cover material retaining the same material as existing Magic Keyboard models.

Noted in the newsletter that thanks to aluminium being a lightweight material, the new model wouldn’t be much heavier. Which is good-ish news, but it still means that we can expect the thing to be a little heavier in its new iteration.

One issue I personally have with the Magic Keyboard, at least during my time with it while reviewing the iPad Air 5, is that it’s too heavy to begin with. When used alongside the tablet, the total combined weight is just slightly over 1kg, but due to the uneven weight distribution it can feel heavier than laptops of the same weight category.

Using the new material may also mean that Apple may use it as a reason to raise the price of the Magic Keyboard, which is locally priced at RM1,479 currently. Though we will likely only find out once the fruit company is ready to unveil the new version of both the iPad Pro range and their accompanying revamped Magic Keyboard. As mentioned in the previous report, this is slated to be unveiled officially in spring or early summer next year. which would be quite a wide window in the middle of next year.

(Source: Bloomberg)