Apple MU8H2LL-A Apple Smart Keyboard Folio (Open Box)

Pros: an external keyboard on an iPad is a game-changer. I no longer use my home PC at all. Rarely, I’ll use my home laptop for personal use, but for most things, I’m using my iPad. If any task requires using text, I’ll often switch from my iPhone to the iPad. Or I’ll just wait. If you’re a touch-typist who knows the keyboard shortcuts for editing text, you should get SOME kind of keyboard for iPad. It’s also very light-weight such that I never feel the need to take it off. Cons: For the price, I’d expect them to be more durable and for the support in iOS to be better. Most apps, including the ones that ship with iOS (Messenger, Mail, Notes, Safari, etc.), have trouble where the text input disappears (Messenger, Discord, Slack, lots of other apps), leaving you typing blind (workaround: tap the keyboard icon in the bottom left, tap it again, tap “show keyboard” — the on-screen keyboard will appear, as will the text input, and the next character will hide the on-screen keyboard and leave the text input). Keys will also stop working in some apps (esp. arrows, space, enter, backspace), but not all keys. It’s worse when using the keyboard command to switch apps (Cmd-Tab) then using the touch gestures to switch apps. Usually minimizing the app (Cmd-H) and bringing it back will fix those problems. Sometimes the app has to be force-quit to get external keyboard working. All external keyboards work in the same buggy manner, so it’s not just this keyboard case. In every case, the on-screen keyboard has no bugs, but any external keyboard has the same bugs. This points to a fundamental flaw in the keyboard APIs: the app devs need to specifically write code for the external keyboard or it won’t work properly, whereas a proper design would make the code work the same for both external and on-screen keyboard. Also, the keyboard only works in landscape, and a lot of apps (especially games) now force the screen into portrait mode. This isn’t a problem of the keyboard case, but another case where poor handling in iOS makes the keyboard case less appealing. First, Apple shouldn’t allow this perspective-locking to app developers at all. App designers should stop being lazy and come up with a responsive design for both portrait and landscape, even if one orientation is more functional than the other. But if they are going to do it, at least let me choose which end is up. The power cable for iPad is in the center of one edge and the front-facing camera is on the opposite edge. When apps lock orientation, the side with the power cable is down, which means I either unplug the iPad or I have a power cable jabbing my crotch and bending the cable. I’ve tried L-shaped power connectors, but for typical use, the cable is getting bent at a 90º angle, which causes them to wear prematurely. Finally, durability. The interior material is quite good, but the exterior wrinkles wherever your hands touch it for long periods of time. Eventually, the wrinkles become cracks and the case starts to tear at the seams and creases. When I bought a new one, I tried to get in the habit of washing the skin oils off regularly, but the habit never stuck long enough to see if it made a difference, and now it is wrinkling in places where my hands rest. To me, the lack of iOS support doesn’t warrant a $180 price for the keyboard cover, much less the $300 for the Magic keyboard cover. For that price, I’d expect the iOS team to perfect the keyboard support and ensure the APIs are so foolproof to use that app developers are set up for success even if they aren’t routinely testing their apps with external keyboards. When you add the durability issue, then it’s a non-starter. I can’t imagine a $70 keyboard cover with similar specs being half as durable, but my next one will definitely not be an Apple. I can happily fork over a premium for Apple products if it means I don’t need to spend hours or days of my life comparison-shopping and reading reviews. I expect Apple products to just work.