Hands on with Apple's new black and silver Magic Keyboard, Trackpad, and Mouse

AppleInsider

Apple has launched new black and silver color Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, and Magic Trackpad options to complement its Apple Studio Display and Mac Studio -- and we've got them in our video studio.

Apple's new black and silver accessories

The new color options bring Apple's accessories in-line with the company's new silver-colored Studio series display and Mac.

Generally, Apple Mac accessories are only available in white color options. One of the exceptions was a Space Gray Magic Keyboard and Trackpad that was sold alongside the iMac Pro.

Additionally, Apple also shipped similar black-and-silver accessories with its Mac Pro.

The black and silver accessories are slightly more expensive than their white counterparts.

Apple's black Mac mouse, for example, retails for $99, higher than the $79 of the white variant. The Black Magic Trackpad costs $149, and the Black Magic Keyboard retails for $199.

Going hands on

We picked up the lot and have been trying them out and are fond of the new look. We'd previously used the black and silver accessories with our Mac Pro so it was nice to see more widely available versions.

The contrasting colors are most noticeable on the Magic Keyboard as the silver is viewable between all of the keys.

Space Gray versus silver and black Magic Keyboard

We think we like it better than the space gray colorway that was available with the iMac Pro. It is brighter on our desk, but still in keeping with the dark, "pro" look Apple was going for.

The new black and silver Magic Trackpad

For the Magic Trackpad, we did notice that the black glass surface on top did collect oil a bit more than it did before. Any oil from your fingertips is more visible and you may want to wipe it down more frequently as you clean your workspace.

Using the new Magic Trackpad

As always, Apple's attention to detail is top-notch. These have all the same touches as the other colored versions. The small metal switches, the precisely cut antenna openings, and the Touch ID integration on the keyboard.

The included black braided Lightning cable

They also come bundled with a braided Lightning to USB-C cable. This black cable is used to charge the accessories but can be used with any device that is powered over Lightning.

All three accessories are available to order. They began arriving on customer doorsteps on Thursday, March 10, and will become available for in-store pickup on Friday, March 11.

Read on AppleInsider

surgefilter

Nope.

PC White on Black is poor choice for aesthetics over function imho.

Nothing beats the contrast of Black text on white / light background. Basic design ethos.

Beats

BLACK, Finally !!

Only took 20 years!! This was one of the biggest announcements. 

StrangeDays

surgefilter said:

Nope.

PC White on Black is poor choice for aesthetics over function imho.

Nothing beats the contrast of Black text on white / light background. Basic design ethos.

If you say so. I like my gray + black keycaps w/ white text. I had an older white Apple keyboard and not surprisingly white keys get grimy after time. 

It's fine.

MplsP

Have they fixed the Bluetooth connectivity issues or the moronic charge port location if the Mouse? 

I have a ‘magic’ keyboard that I use with my MBP in my office and half the time when fhe MNP wakes from sleep the keyboard will have issues randomly repeating keys. Turning it off and on fixes it until the next time but it’s a pain. Resetting the NV RAM and re-pairing the keyboard haven’t helped, either. 

JinTech

$199 For a keyboard? Yikes! Also shocked to see the mouse is packaged with plastic!

macgizmo

How is this a "Hands On"??? All I see is the press release being re-puked into a blog post, which contains not a single bit of information or opinion that can't be arrived at simply by looking at the pictures of them on Apple's website.

Ahhh, I see now. Affiliate links post.

melgross

surgefilter said:

Nope.

PC White on Black is poor choice for aesthetics over function imho.

Nothing beats the contrast of Black text on white / light background. Basic design ethos.

That’s just you. Black keys with white type were standard, and still are for,almost everything. I have no problem with it. My white keys always have to be cleaned, as they get dirty too easily. This will be a nice shift back to past keyboards.

melgross

MplsP said:

Have they fixed the Bluetooth connectivity issues or the moronic charge port location if the Mouse? 

I have a ‘magic’ keyboard that I use with my MBP in my office and half the time when fhe MNP wakes from sleep the keyboard will have issues randomly repeating keys. Turning it off and on fixes it until the next time but it’s a pain. Resetting the NV RAM and re-pairing the keyboard haven’t helped, either. 

I haven’t had a Bluetooth problem with my keyboards for many years. I also haven’t used a mouse since the first Logitech trackballs came out decades ago.

melgross

JinTech said:

$199 For a keyboard? Yikes! Also shocked to see the mouse is packaged with plastic!

You think that’s a lot, do you? The original Apple Pro keyboard cost $289 back in 1992, that’s $580 today. That was a great keyboard. I still have mine, though obviously I don’t use it. The IBM keyboard of the same era cost $329, and that’s $657 today. This isn’t expensive. But it’s one of the better ones out there.

jeffharris

Just upgraded my old Apple USB extended keyboard to a Matias Wired Extended keyboard with RGB backlighting. 

The backlight colors can be changed, too! Purple keys! Very nice!

Not a real fan of laggy, battery reliant Bluetooth keyboards and mice, especially for a real desk setup.

melgross

jeffharris said:

Just upgraded my old Apple USB extended keyboard to a Matias Wired Extended keyboard with RGB backlighting. 

The backlight colors can be changed, too! Purple keys! Very nice!

Not a real fan of laggy, battery reliant Bluetooth keyboards and mice, especially for a real desk setup.

They’re not laggy. And the battery lasts much longer than Apple states, several months before recharge. You can always just use it plugged in if wireless bothers you. On a REAL Desktop.

dewme

melgross said:

jeffharris said:

Just upgraded my old Apple USB extended keyboard to a Matias Wired Extended keyboard with RGB backlighting. 

The backlight colors can be changed, too! Purple keys! Very nice!

Not a real fan of laggy, battery reliant Bluetooth keyboards and mice, especially for a real desk setup.

They’re not laggy. And the battery lasts much longer than Apple states, several months before recharge. You can always just use it plugged in if wireless bothers you. On a REAL Desktop.

Totally agree, I've never found Apple's Bluetooth keyboards to be laggy. It may also come down to what you perceive as "lag." I also have Logitech K380 and K600 keyboards that support both Bluetooth and wireless dongles. The only time that I experience any "lag" with either of these brand keyboards (or mice) is when the device is woke up from a deep sleep. It may take a couple of seconds for a Bluetooth or wireless device, especially one that has the amazing battery life of these devices, to wake up, but once it is awake I cannot detect any lag that interferes with the steady state operation of the device. Perhaps some people see that initial wake-up delay as lag. Whatever.

I do have to agree that the belly mounted charging port on the Apple Magic Mouse is a "what were they thinking?" head scratcher. I do have to remind myself to occasionally roll the little thing over and insert its feeding tube when I'm not planning to use the thing for a while, like overnight or over lunch. My wireless Logitech MX Ergo Trackball has a charging port that allows me to use it while the device is charging, the functional equivalent and technical complexity of being able to walk and chew gum at the same time. Apple makes you choose between walking and chewing - which is kinda dumb. 

lotones

Still no backlight. That means I'd have to keep two keyboards close: the Apple keyboard, and the one I can actually use in low light.

Maybe they should sell the Touch ID button separately.

StrangeDays

Yeah there is no lag. Been using wireless KB and mouse for years. 

MplsP

melgross said:

jeffharris said:

Just upgraded my old Apple USB extended keyboard to a Matias Wired Extended keyboard with RGB backlighting. 

The backlight colors can be changed, too! Purple keys! Very nice!

Not a real fan of laggy, battery reliant Bluetooth keyboards and mice, especially for a real desk setup.

They’re not laggy. And the battery lasts much longer than Apple states, several months before recharge. You can always just use it plugged in if wireless bothers you. On a REAL Desktop.

StrangeDays said:

Yeah there is no lag. Been using wireless KB and mouse for years. 

I wonder if the above poster is experiencing connection issues like I am. Most of the time the keyboard works perfectly but on a regular basis when the computer wakes from sleep the keyboard will be slow to connect, laggy and randomly repeat keys. Turning the keyboard off and back on or connecting it via the lightning cable fixes the problem until the computer goes to sleep again. 

I don't really need BT so I've taken to leaving it plugged in but it's a rather annoying bug. I feel apple forced me to pay for BT since they quit making the wired keyboards and then I got something no better than the cheaper wired keyboard I was happy with in the first place.

neilm

JinTech said:

$199 For a keyboard?

No, it's $199 for a wireless keyboard with built-in secure encrypted fingerprint sensor.

melgross

MplsP said:

melgross said:

jeffharris said:

Just upgraded my old Apple USB extended keyboard to a Matias Wired Extended keyboard with RGB backlighting. 

The backlight colors can be changed, too! Purple keys! Very nice!

Not a real fan of laggy, battery reliant Bluetooth keyboards and mice, especially for a real desk setup.

They’re not laggy. And the battery lasts much longer than Apple states, several months before recharge. You can always just use it plugged in if wireless bothers you. On a REAL Desktop.

StrangeDays said:

Yeah there is no lag. Been using wireless KB and mouse for years. 

I wonder if the above poster is experiencing connection issues like I am. Most of the time the keyboard works perfectly but on a regular basis when the computer wakes from sleep the keyboard will be slow to connect, laggy and randomly repeat keys. Turning the keyboard off and back on or connecting it via the lightning cable fixes the problem until the computer goes to sleep again. 

I don't really need BT so I've taken to leaving it plugged in but it's a rather annoying bug. I feel apple forced me to pay for BT since they quit making the wired keyboards and then I got something no better than the cheaper wired keyboard I was happy with in the first place.

I used to have similar problems, but that was years ago, when it could sometimes be difficult for the computer to even link with the keyboard. But that hasn’t happened for quite some time.

melgross

lotones said:

Still no backlight. That means I'd have to keep two keyboards close: the Apple keyboard, and the one I can actually use in low light.

Maybe they should sell the Touch ID button separately.

I don’t offhand know of any wireless keyboards that have backlighting. That would definitely kill battery life. I suppose Apple could do it and tell people that for the backlighting to function they would have to use the cable. I just don’t believe that Apple wants cabled keyboards, though this could act that way now. But it’s not official.

jwbl

melgross said:

lotones said:

Still no backlight. That means I'd have to keep two keyboards close: the Apple keyboard, and the one I can actually use in low light.

Maybe they should sell the Touch ID button separately.

I don’t offhand know of any wireless keyboards that have backlighting. That would definitely kill battery life. I suppose Apple could do it and tell people that for the backlighting to function they would have to use the cable. I just don’t believe that Apple wants cabled keyboards, though this could act that way now. But it’s not official.

Logitech MX Keys is a great backlit wireless keyboard. It has great battery life, I plug it in Friday before I leave the office and unplug Monday and I never get the low battery warning. It also works with Bluetooth or the included dongle. And the flow software is cool and a great feature, but it is still a tad buggy.