A teardown of the Apple Smart Keyboard shows the iPad Pro accessory is definitely durable
The teardown experts at iFixit recently took a look at the Apple Smart Keyboard – one of the official accessories for the new iPad Pro.
While there was nothing surprising of note in the teardown, it is interesting to see all of the technology packed into a simple keyboard.
Even though the firm called the keyboard durable, don’t expect to do any actual repairs on the $169 accessory. It received a zero out of 10 repairability score because it is impossible to open without damaging the internal components, which isn’t exactly surprising.
The Apple Pencil’s weight and palm rejection technology were lauded in a new review.
And the other iPad Pro accessory – the $99 Apple Pencil – also received a strong review at a site dedicated to pens, Pen Addict (via 9to5Mac.)
In the review, Myke Hurley said he previously never found an acceptable iPad stylus, but that the Apple Pencil was different thanks to a number of different factors including its weight and the palm rejection technology:
I have been astounded by just how well this works. I can have my arm, wrist, and other hand on the screen, and the iPad Pro can distinguish the movement of the Pencil over the movement of anything else. I am thoroughly impressed by this.
And overall, he was pleased with the device, saying it allowed him to write naturally on the iPad Pro screen:
As a 1.0 product, I am astounded by just how well the Apple Pencil and iPad Pro work together. After only having used it for a few days, I am now at the point where I wouldn’t want to go back. Being able to take quick notes or doodles whilst recording podcasts, having quick access to some sketching tools to mark up a document or screenshot, and having a new way to interact with iOS more precisely, has made the Pencil a must-have item in my toolkit.
Even though the iPad Pro launched earlier this month, both the Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil are still in very short supply. Any order from Apple’s site today is listing a four to five week wait for both items.
The tablet, which features a 12.9-inch screen, starts at $799 for a 32GB Wi-Fi unit. A 128GB Wi-Fi only version is $949 while a Cellular + Wi-Fi edition with the same amount of storage is $1,079. Buyers can select from a space gray, silver, or gold version of each tablet.
For other recent iPad Pro news, see: Apple acknowledges issue with iPad Pros, but no solution yet, Holiday quarter iPad Pro sales expected to top 2.4 million units, and How strongly could the iPad Pro outsell the Surface Pro 4?