Apple's Standalone Keyboard, Trackpad, and Mouse
Apple is updating its standalone keyboard, trackpad, and mouse today in
ways that make them much better than they used to be. The key change
across the line is that they’re all switching from AA battery power to
built-in batteries that charge over a Lightning cable. Their batteries
are expected to last about a month per charge, and they’re supposed to
be able to quickly gain about nine hours of power from just two minutes
of being plugged in.
Beyond the battery change, each device is receiving design changes, with
some being far more dramatic than others. The biggest change is to
Apple’s trackpad: It’s no longer awful; and, in fact, on initial use, it
actually appears to be quite good. The new trackpad has a flat metal
base and a white top, which slopes down from back to front. The
trackpad’s surface is now wider, taking on a rectangular shape, and the
trackpad itself is gaining new tricks: it supports Force Touch, and more
importantly, you can actually click it anywhere. Yeah, the old one didn’t let you do that,
which is something you might still be excessively frustrated with
because you once recommended that someone buy it without realizing it
couldn’t really click. Unfortunately, the new model is far more
expensive, nearly doubling in price to $129.
The
keyboard is seeing the next biggest change. It looks much different:
It’s now a single slab of metal that gently slopes down from top to
bottom — it’ll actually fit perfectly beside the trackpad if you buy
both of them. The keys are made ever-so-slightly wider by reducing the
air gap around them, but their actual placement remains identical. The
function keys are also changing in size, from tiny rectangles to full
square keys. The keys all make a very satisfying tap as you press them.
While
the updated keys are essentially in the same place, they type a lot
differently. For one, they’re a lot shallower than those on the old
standalone keyboard (but not quite as shallow as those on the new
MacBook). That’s not as big of a difference as you might think, but
it’s compounded by the change in the keyboard’s slope. Each row of keys
is now much closer to being level with the rows beside it, which means
you have to move your fingers slightly deeper to reach certain rows.
This is probably something you’ll get used to quickly enough, but be
aware that you won’t be able to move perfectly from the old keyboard to
the new one. It’s available for $99, a price hike of $30.
Apple’s
mouse is seeing the fewest changes. It looks almost identical, with the
same weirdly flat top that seems to question everything we know about
the contours of hands — it is slightly longer, though, which is nice.
The big change is on the bottom, where there’s no longer a thin,
removable plate covering the battery slot. This is a big deal not just
because you no longer need batteries, but because that thing was really
difficult to remove, and you might still be frustrated that the first
time you opened it, the plate flew out of your fingertips and dinged the
screen on your new MacBook Pro. Apple also says that it has redesigned
the “rails” that the mouse slides on. They seem about the same, which is
to say they’ll probably wear down and get weirdly scratchy over time if
you aren’t using a mouse pad. It’s selling for $79, $10 more than the
old model.
Apple
is giving all of these products slightly new names, which may be just a
touch confusing. The new Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad are called the
Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2. But there’s no Magic Keyboard 2,
there’s just a Magic Keyboard, because the old Apple keyboard was called
the Apple Wireless Keyboard. Apparently it was not magical. It would
require some retconning, but I don’t think anyone would have minded if
it were just called the Magic Keyboard 2. All three products are
available starting today.
Along with the updated accessories, Apple is also releasing an improved version of the 27-inch iMac and a 4K version of the 21.5-inch iMac.
Those machines will all ship with a Magic Mouse 2 and a Magic Keyboard.
They can also be configured to include a Magic Trackpad 2, rather than a
Magic Mouse 2, for $50 more.
Photography by Sean O'Kane.
Courtesy: Yahoo!
