Apple has destroyed the potential of the Smart Connector on the new iPad Pro

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 89
    It was was truly a "Smart" connector, they would have two of them... one in the old location and one in the new, and the first one to make contact wins out. That way they would not be alienating existing accessories.

    Considering they’re aren’t many such accessories, why should they? And why is it you believe Apple designs for loyalty to legacy? Are you new to Apple?
    randominternetperson
  • Reply 22 of 89
    This is a non issue for a huge % of Apple's customer base. I get the sentiment but it is not that big of a deal. I happen to love the new keyboard/case much better than previous. To each his own I guess.
  • Reply 23 of 89
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    I knew the connector was dead when I saw it--at least dead to me. (1) Apple's iOS keyboards suck. (2) The Logitech keyboardS I have for previous iPads won't work. (3) It will be a long time before an attractive add-on arrives that uses the new connector, and it will be pricey.
    Being a dead connector, I just completely removed it from further consideration.
    It doesn't exist.
    lorin schultzwilliamlondon
  • Reply 24 of 89
    anomeanome Posts: 1,533member
    If this were the only shortcoming of the new iPads there would be reason to get upset. As it stands, Apple's walled garden has shut out the iPad Pro from the pro market. iOS is seen as a toy operating system. It makes it impossible to do so many things that pros need to do like manage thousands of files or compile code or manage a network or ...

    Isn't there a MacBook Pro thread to beat this horse on? Different professionals do different things, some of them use traditional computers, others use tablets. Many of the latter group use iPads. (I fully expect the next argument to be "Pros can't use the iPad Pro, because it needs a dongle to connect to...")

    Just after the iPhone came out, a colleague went to great lengths to explain to me how a sysadmin friend of his could now manage an entire data centre from his phone. Hell, most networks are managed via webpages these days, and they work fine on iOS.

    And managing "thousands of files" is a pain, generally. I have to look after about 60TB of data in my day job. My clients don't know what crap they've dumped there, so I don't know how they expect me to.

    It was was truly a "Smart" connector, they would have two of them... one in the old location and one in the new, and the first one to make contact wins out. That way they would not be alienating existing accessories.

    And no-one would ever complain about the space the two connectors, only one of which could be used at any time, were taking up, and how that should be used to give more battery life, or put the headphone jack back, or some other nonsense.

    Look, I don't like them moving the Smart Connector. The placement seems less beneficial than it was, and doesn't look especially good, either. I was the one dismissing renders of iPhones on the basis that Apple wouldn't put the Smart Connector exactly where they have put it on the new iPad Pro. But, the truth is that it's not being used to its full potential (if at all) anyway. Maybe they should just give up on it. The fact they haven't means they still have a use for it beyond keyboard cases, but they just aren't ready to tell us about it. Maybe they never will, and it will quietly go away from a future version.

    randominternetpersonStrangeDayswilliamlondon
  • Reply 25 of 89
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    "If you wanted to remove the keyboard but keep the back, sorry, that's too bad." - why would you want to do this? Keeping a cover on the *backside only* has got to be a fringe case. Nobody is going to not improve something for a fringe case. And based on what I've heard on The Talk Show podcast w/ Gruber and Merlin, it's much improved. 
    I have the Logitech keyboard for my 12” iPad Pro. It allows you to snap the keyboard off, leaving the case back in place along with a kickstand, something I regularly do if I’m using it to watch video content or do other tasks where I don’t need the keyboard or the keyboard would get in the way.

    I gotta admit, I've never seen the purpose of the smart connector anyway -- or anywhere...

    The Bluetooth Logitech keyboard Apple sells for the 6th Gen iPad works fine.   Its thick and bulky, but that's just its design, not the fault of being bluetooth.

    Yes, the smart connector can supply power.  But, to what purpose?  The Logitech BT lasts several years on a single battery as it is...

    Apple is not known for adding unnecessary ports and connectors (quite the opposite actually, they seem to be committing port & connector genocide.

    So, what am I missing?  Aside from (unnecessary) power, what does the smart connector add?
    The beauty of the smart connector for a keyboard is you never have to worry about charging the keyboard, and never have to worry about connectivity issues. You also don’t have the environmental cost of another Li battery. My wife has a Bluetooth keyboard for her iPad Air 2. It works fine and doesn’t need to be charged that often, but she does have occasional issues with the Bluetooth connection and it invariably needs to be charged at an inopportune time.

    As a keyboard connector, I agree with ANdrew that the old location made a whole lot more sense. 
  • Reply 26 of 89
    Sigh. I really liked the Smart Connector… I actually kind of wish the iPhones had gone with it instead of wireless charging. Smart Connector charging could be much faster and less fiddly. I know wireless is better for the mass market, but selfishly… oh well.

    Anyway the new location on the iPad Pro blows ass, and the new Smart Keyboard with the mandatory back cover can eff right off.
    cornchipwilliamlondon
  • Reply 27 of 89
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Feh! I never liked the old keyboard that Apple made. I want protection all around. I also never bought a Logitech because it adds too much weight. If I want a notebook, in size and weight, I would buy one.

    there is too much nonsense about this. Unlike the notebooks, there is nothing to protect it when putting it down. You need a case for that. Now, with the protrusion from the better camera, and the thinner case itself, you need a case to protect that, and have it sit flat. That’s the reason why Apple’s folio protects the back. In addition, the folio is just much better than previous one.

    i don’t know why Apple moved this, unless with the new folio it would have been triggered all of the time when closed. If anyone want to make a keyboard case using the contractors where they are, they will, if they think there’s a market for it. If they don’t think there’s a market, they won’t, no matter where the connector is.

    please, let’s ralk about something that matters, such as why they didn’t fully implement the USB C connector. Because this is trivial.
    edited November 2018 pscooter63StrangeDaysbancho
  • Reply 28 of 89
    kpomkpom Posts: 660member
    I prefer having a back cover for the protection. Also the old keyboard got a bit unwieldy with the keyboard folded in back. It isn’t as if the connector got much traction outside Apple and Logitech, so the change is no big deal for me. 
  • Reply 29 of 89
    I disagree with this article completely. a) There was not a burgeoning third party accessory market with the old Smart Connector. The few keyboard cases other than the Smart Keyboard that were made to work with the Smart Keyboard were terrible. Yes, I'm including that Logitech abomination for the 2nd gen iPad Pros in that group too. b) Third parties can't make keyboard cases for the new connector? News to me! and c) in my opinion, the only viable 3rd party keyboard cases made for the old iPad Pros were bluetooth keyboards. I actually switched to one after getting fed up with the old Apple one that had the "hump" in the middle when folded up. It was not as convenient as the Smart Connector one, but it was more streamlined design-wise. (Incidentally, I'm back on the Apple keyboard folio for my 11" Pro. It addressed all the things I hated about the old Smart Keyboard.)
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 30 of 89
    BaconFace McGeeBaconFace McGee Posts: 1unconfirmed, member
    And I’m still using the 16 Gig iPad Mini 2... I feel so old...
    GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 31 of 89
    "Apple has destroyed" - heavens! 

    "isn't a great call" - if only Apple had someone to warn them they were about to make a bad call. ("It was a bad call, Ripley.")

    "If you wanted to remove the keyboard but keep the back, sorry, that's too bad." - why would you want to do this? Keeping a cover on the *backside only* has got to be a fringe case. Nobody is going to not improve something for a fringe case. And based on what I've heard on The Talk Show podcast w/ Gruber and Merlin, it's much improved. 
    Got to appreciate a less common Aliens quote.  Well done.
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 32 of 89
    melgross said:
    please, let’s ralk about something that matters, such as why they didn’t fully implement the USB C connector. Because this is trivial.
    Huh? What isn’t implemented? First I’ve heard of any incompatibility with the iPad Pro USB-C connector. 
  • Reply 33 of 89
    Rayz2016 said:
    If this were the only shortcoming of the new iPads there would be reason to get upset. As it stands, Apple's walled garden has shut out the iPad Pro from the pro market. iOS is seen as a toy operating system. It makes it impossible to do so many things that pros need to do like manage thousands of files or compile code or manage a network or ...
    I see. 

    If only there was some other profession outside network management, it might have a chance. 

    What we need are alternative professions, like people who make other people better when they get sick, or people who help other people with legal problems, or people who make pictures move to entertain or inform other people, or people who collect words on a page to entertain or inform other people. 

    🙄
    Ha! Awesome post. Always cracks me up when people cry about Apple’s Pro products. Inevitably it’s some network manager complaining about how the device isn’t built specifically for their needs/use case. As if they are the only “pro” market. Medical, aviation, sales, etc all use iPads and they work fantastically. 
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 34 of 89

    Apple most certainly had its own reason for this change, but it's bound to be a thorn in my side. We saw some of the ramifications of this when we examined the redesigned Smart Keyboard Folio. The biggest criticism of the case was the requirement of having a full back cover that added unnecessary bulk and weight on an otherwise slim device. I'd have preferred a two-piece design that allows for a removable keyboard with an optional back cover.
    That back cover is necessary. You probably know how the previous smart covers ended up with the magnetic hinge detached upon usage. I don't want to post the photo of my trash to the forum but this is just it, being detached and irreparable. Warranty? I didn't even ask because this is a mechanical piece and the detachment is the result of a continuous usage, not a manufacturing defect.

    So without that back support you can't even hold a front cover yet hold a keyboard?
  • Reply 35 of 89
    And I’m still using the 16 Gig iPad Mini 2... I feel so old...
    Get a bit rejuvenated with the performance of iOS 12...
  • Reply 36 of 89
    Rayz2016 said:
    If this were the only shortcoming of the new iPads there would be reason to get upset. As it stands, Apple's walled garden has shut out the iPad Pro from the pro market. iOS is seen as a toy operating system. It makes it impossible to do so many things that pros need to do like manage thousands of files or compile code or manage a network or ...
    I see. 

    If only there was some other profession outside network management, it might have a chance. 

    What we need are alternative professions, like people who make other people better when they get sick, or people who help other people with legal problems, or people who make pictures move to entertain or inform other people, or people who collect words on a page to entertain or inform other people. 

    🙄
    True but those things require apps coded by professional software developers that can't use the iPad Pro to do that. They run on networks you can't manage with an iPad Pro. You have no idea of what else you could be doing with the iPad Pro if you were not living under Apple's restrictions.
    williamlondon
  • Reply 37 of 89
    If this were the only shortcoming of the new iPads there would be reason to get upset. As it stands, Apple's walled garden has shut out the iPad Pro from the pro market. iOS is seen as a toy operating system. It makes it impossible to do so many things that pros need to do like manage thousands of files or compile code or manage a network or ...
    Huh.

    https://venturebeat.com/2018/09/24/salesforce-brings-mobile-sdk-to-ios-for-iphone-and-ipad-enterprise-apps/
    https://www.ibm.com/mobile/mobilefirst-for-ios

    Not one line of that code was developed on an iPad. Sure there are people that can use an iPad Pro for their work but it is a tiny fraction of what would be possible if Apple took the cuffs off.
    williamlondon
  • Reply 38 of 89
    Nobody used the smart connector because it offers limited functionality and the iPad Pro market is not very large compared to the non-pro iPad market or the iPhone market. If you are a company that makes accessories for iOS devices, are you going to dedicate your time and attention to a niche market or the mass market? Moving the connector is Apple's acknowledgement that the port is primarily just for Apple.
    This is exactly how I took it when the first version appeared on the market, with my 1st generation iPad Pro. There may be ergonomic issues with the new one, but I don’t see that much has really been changed here. It’s an Apple connector for Apple’s keyboard.
    williamlondon
  • Reply 39 of 89
    Rayz2016 said:
    If this were the only shortcoming of the new iPads there would be reason to get upset. As it stands, Apple's walled garden has shut out the iPad Pro from the pro market. iOS is seen as a toy operating system. It makes it impossible to do so many things that pros need to do like manage thousands of files or compile code or manage a network or ...
    I see. 

    If only there was some other profession outside network management, it might have a chance. 

    What we need are alternative professions, like people who make other people better when they get sick, or people who help other people with legal problems, or people who make pictures move to entertain or inform other people, or people who collect words on a page to entertain or inform other people. 

    ߙ䦬t;/div>
    True but those things require apps coded by professional software developers that can't use the iPad Pro to do that. They run on networks you can't manage with an iPad Pro. You have no idea of what else you could be doing with the iPad Pro if you were not living under Apple's restrictions.
    What else could you do then? With 6 GB of RAM max, most iPads with 1 to 4 GB, and no swappable virtual memory? The minimum RAM in the most crappy PC today is 8 GB. With 4 GB of RAM the iPad shouldn't even exist, and the one with 1GB RAM is blasphemy !!! The iPad is necessarily restricted because of its portability, Apple puts no additional restrictions in it. Instead of denying them try to understand those new devices that are like a computer but unlike any computer...
    edited November 2018 williamlondon
  • Reply 40 of 89
    MplsP said:
    "If you wanted to remove the keyboard but keep the back, sorry, that's too bad." - why would you want to do this? Keeping a cover on the *backside only* has got to be a fringe case. Nobody is going to not improve something for a fringe case. And based on what I've heard on The Talk Show podcast w/ Gruber and Merlin, it's much improved. 
    I have the Logitech keyboard for my 12” iPad Pro. It allows you to snap the keyboard off, leaving the case back in place along with a kickstand, something I regularly do if I’m using it to watch video content or do other tasks where I don’t need the keyboard or the keyboard would get in the way.
    Are you trying to say with a straight face that maintaining independent kickstand support is *not* a fringe use case? And that it is indeed a “bad call” that they eliminated support for such a use case?

    Because here IRL, that’s the definition of a fringe case. 
    edited November 2018 elijahg
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