Apple’s Magic Keyboard Is Now Available for Pre-Order

If you’ve been eagerly anticipating taking full advantage of the new mouse and trackpad support in iOS 13.4, your wait is almost over, with Apple announcing today that the new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro is now available for pre-order on Apple’s online store.

Announced alongside the new iPad Pro last month, the new Magic Keyboard is Apple’s latest first-party keyboard accessory for its iPad Pro, reinventing the earlier Smart Keyboard Folio in a new design that provides a more laptop-like experience, introducing a much better keyboard, an integrated trackpad, and the ability to raise the viewing level and angle of the iPad Pro for a more comfortable working experience.

The Magic Keyboard attaches magnetically to the iPad Pro, using the Smart Connector found on the rear casing rather than relying on Bluetooth, so it doesn’t require any separate batteries and doesn’t need to be recharged. In fact, the new Magic Keyboard offers an additional USB-C port, allowing you to take advantage of pass-through charging from the keyboard itself and connect other accessories to your iPad Pro without the need to rely on a USB-C hub.

A floating cantilevered design lets you elevate the iPad Pro to a more appropriate eye-level and adjust the viewing angle up to 130 degrees. The full-sized keyboard also features backlit keys and a scissor-switch mechanism that makes for a smoother, more responsive, and more reliable typing experience.

Naturally, the Magic Keyboard cover includes the magnetic closure that turns the iPad Pro off and securely locks it when the case is closed. With the new 2020 iPad Pro, this also disabled the microphone at a hardware level, preventing any possibility of audio eavesdropping.

The Magic Keyboard works with both the new 2020 iPad Pro and the older 2018 iPad Pro models, and can be ordered today on the Apple online store in the U.S. and more than 30 other countries, for $299 for the 11-inch iPad Pro and $349 for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Layouts are available in over 30 languages, including U.S. English, British English, simplified Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. The Magic Keyboard is expected to begin arriving in customers’ hands by next week.

While the Magic Keyboard doesn’t come cheap, and there are other options available, recent reviews have revealed that the trackpad quality on recent third-party iPad Pro keyboards has been somewhat disappointing. With Apple’s expertise in developing outstanding trackpads, it’s a safe bet that if you plan to use the iPad Pro as a laptop replacement and take advantage of the new trackpad support iPadOS 13.4, the Magic Keyboard will be worth the investment.

Although Amazon officially opened preorders for the new Magic Keyboard last week, the listing suggested that it wouldn’t be ready to ship until May 30. While this was undoubtedly a placeholder on Amazon’s part, especially under the current circumstances, we’d still recommend ordering the Magic Keyboard directly from Apple if you’re in a hurry, since Apple normally prioritizes inventory for its own stores, and shipping dates from Apple are already showing as early as April 24. Whether this will slip as demand increases remains to be seen, but for now it’s a safe bet that any delays that Apple experiences will push Amazon’s delivery dates out even further.