As the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro starts getting to customers, the looming questions around the accessory are being now resolved.
One of the big questions about the product was how much does it weigh, as Apple declined to reveal weight information earlier. People expected it to be heavy, and it is. A MacRumors reader weighed theirs, and it comes in at 710 grams. This is heavier than the 641 grams of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro on its own. Combined, the weight of the iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard is more than the MacBook Air, and close to 13-inch MacBook Pro territory.
The Magic Keyboard is Apple’s first-party accessory which combines a clever counterbalancing stand, a backlit keyboard and a multitouch trackpad in one integrated laptop-like package. This keyboard/trackpad case takes advantage of the new mouse cursor features introduced in iPadOS 13.4, which any iPad users can experience using a Bluetooth mouse or trackpad.
The question is whether it is worth it to carry around a laptop-convertible iPad versus a standard MacBook. The design of the Magic Keyboard requires it to be heavy; a counterbalancing stand needs enough of its own mass to support the iPad securely in place.
The combined weight of 12.9-inch iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard is 1351 grams. A 13-inch MacBook Air actually weighs less, coming in at 1290 grams. Plus, the Air would feature a full size Force Touch trackpad compared to the smaller physical version on the iPad’s Magic Keyboard. The iPad Pro configuration actually closes in on the weight of a 13-inch MacBook Pro (1370 grams).
The 701 gram figure is right inline with our 700 gram estimate from earlier this month. For those interested in the 11-inch model, its Magic Keyboard weighs 601 grams for a combined machine weight of 1072 grams.
Obviously, you can’t cross compare the experiences of using an iPad and a MacBook. The respective iPadOS and macOS operating systems enable very different things, with different pros and cons. One nice thing about the iPad of course is you can quickly detach it from the stand and use it as a pure tablet.
However, if a keyboard and trackpad is seen as essential to making the iPad Pro a productivity computer, the fact that it weights more than its MacBook sibling does deserve questioning. It’s not just weight either. The base model 12.9-inch iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard costs substantially more than a MacBook Air; $1349 vs $999.
