A few years ago, Apple used to have a much simpler iPad keyboard lineup. It just offered a Smart Keyboard for each of their iPad models, and they all essentially served as the same product. Nowadays, after the introduction of trackpad support in iPadOS and the Magic Keyboard, everything is unnecessarily convoluted – with each iPad model having a slightly different Magic Keyboard and varying features.
While the keyboard lineup is a mess, that’s not what I take issue with right now – it’s the fact that we’ve lost the Smart Keyboard Folio, which in hindsight was an incredible offering.
There’s beauty in simplicity, and the Smart Keyboard Folio was just that. Before the days of switching to a traditional scissor mechanism and having a trackpad, we used to have much lighter iPad keyboards. They also had an additional benefit of being a typical folio if you wanted the keyboard to get out of the way.
With the current Magic Keyboard, it feels like something you have to commit to. Sure, you can take your iPad off the newer Magic Keyboards pretty easily, but then you have no sort of protection on your iPad. Even if you don’t care about that, theres the simple fact that the keyboard then becomes a separate thing you have to carry around.
The fact that you could fold the Smart Keyboard Folio backwards and still have it on your iPad was great. It was a solution that you didn’t really have to think much about, it just did its job.
For context, for an 11-inch iPad Pro, the Smart Keyboard Folio came in at around 300 grams (0.66 lbs). A Magic Keyboard is around 600 grams (1.32 lbs). That’s double the weight.
iPad keyboard history
Even though Apple introduced the Magic Keyboard back in 2020, it didn’t start to ramp down the Smart Keyboard Folio until a number of years later. They kept it around for the 2021 iPad Pro and subsequent iPad Air launches. The writing was on the wall starting in 2022, when the company didn’t introduce a Smart Keyboard Folio for the 10th generation iPad.
Then, in 2024, with the launch of the M4 iPad Pro, the Smart Keyboard Folio died for good, due to its updated array of magnets.
While it’s unlikely to return, I do think there’s a fantastic market for a lightweight iPad keyboard that truly gets out of the way. Not everyone wants their iPad to be a full-on laptop that you commit to, and in a way, the Magic Keyboard boxes you into that corner.
My favorite Apple accessory recommendations:
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