Right now, if you have a model in Apple’s entry-level iPad line then you won’t be able to use it with a true Magic Keyboard, with the most recent – the iPad 10.9 (2022) – only supporting a lower-end Magic Keyboard Folio.
While this still has Magic Keyboard in the name, it’s a rather different product, with a different design that makes it more awkward to use on your lap, as you can see in the images below. But now a true Magic Keyboard could be in the works for this line.
This is according to reputable leaker Mark Gurman, who, writing in his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg (via Apple Insider), claimed that Apple suppliers are working on a new Magic Keyboard, and that it's likely to launch by the middle of next year.
This new model is apparently a low-end version of the accessory, which could be designed for either the entry-level iPad or the iPad Air line (or perhaps both). The iPad Air line already has access to a Magic Keyboard, but not to the revamped version that Apple so far exclusively offers for the iPad Pro series.
Function keys and other changes
Of course, no low-end version would match the iPad Pro’s Magic Keyboard with its aluminum palm rest, but according to Gurman this model will have some new features, which he speculates might include a row of function keys. That row of keys is already present on the iPad Pro’s Magic Keyboard, but not on the iPad Air's.
It would also most likely have a similar stand design to true Magic Keyboards, rather than the flimsier design of the Magic Keyboard Folio.
We’d take all of this with a pinch of salt for now of course, but Gurman has a good track record for leaks, so there’s a good chance that this information is accurate. And if so, we’d speculate that there’s a chance this new Magic Keyboard could land alongside the iPad 11 – after all, the current latest model came out in 2022, so a new version is due.
If so, then based on this leak the iPad 11 could arrive by June – but before that that we're expecting to see the iPhone 16 series, among other devices, at Apple's September 9 'It's Glowtime' launch event.
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