Do I Need An iPad Keyboard Cover?
Pragmatically, Apple's Smart Keyboard Folio gets the job done. While it does offer some protection for the screen and back panel, it's not the best iPad case. Edge protection and protection for the Apple Pencil in the charging position is nonexistent. Moreover the depressing, gray industrial aesthetic does little to inspire and feels very downmarket.
Enter our new Keyboard Cover. It warps over the exterior of the Apple Keyboard superseding the depressing gray plastic with the sensual warmth and richness of our ethically sourced, Premium Leather hides. Moreover, our offset design provides protection for the edges as well as the Apple Pencil. If you're someone who needs the functionality of the Apple keyboard but wants it in a much more upscale package, our new Cover is for you.
What Problem Does This iPad Keyboard Cover Solve?
- Raises the downmarket, gloom and doom look and feel of the Apple Keyboard Folio to an elegant, professional level
- Feel good knowing you're choosing a product made from ethically sourced leather
- Seamlessly wraps over Apple Keyboard Folio to create one holistic case
- Provides excellent protection for the Apple Pencil in the charging position
- Sits flat on your work surface for maximum comfort while working
- Allows you to be set up and working in seconds
- Meets your need for a well made, durable, protective and aesthetically pleasing cover that works with Apple's Keyboard Folio sold separately)
- Options allow you to customize the case to meet your needs
- This case does not include the keyboard. It works with the Apple Smart Keyboard Folio, sold separately
iPad Keyboard Cover - Behind the Design
Since it's release in October of 2018, the 3rd generation of Apple's largest tablet has signaled a design resurgence from MacCase. The innovative Folio designs with their industry-leading Magnetic Accessory System have been a huge success with customers and critics.
In all this time, one piece of the MaCase iPad Pro case portfolio was missing: An iPad Keyboard Cover for the 3rd generation 12.9.
In the latest in a series of interviews about the story behind the design of MacCase products, we are speaking to MacCase President and Chief Creative Officer Michael Santoro about the company's long awaited iPad Pro Keyboard Cover.
An iPad Pro Keyboard Folio
JKD: Let's get one thing out of the way to start. Does the cover include the keyboard?
MS: No. Our product is a cover that wraps over the Apple Smart Keyboard Folio which is sold separately. We do not make or sell the keyboard. If you want to use this cover, you need to own the Apple keyboard. Otherwise. this product will not work for you. We have other Folio models that work with the iPad alone.
JKD: I see you've chosen to call this a cover and not a folio or a case. Why is that?
MS: My feeling is that a case or a folio holds the iPad in place in some manner. Whether it's ensconced in our polymer tray like in our Folio models or the tablet slides into a bag like our Flight Jacket, a folio or a case needs to hold the tablet.
This new product is more of a wrap than a case. There are some real benefits to using it but it's not a case in the sense that it holds the Apple tablet. It's because of this reason we went with the term cover, versus folio or case.
The problem were going to have, and this gets back to your first question, is that the term "keyboard cover" implies to many people that this product is a keyboard that covers the iPad. What it is is a cover for the keyboard. Fun huh?
We're going to make sure to mention this many, many times on the product page. We want people to understand what the product is, what they are ordering. It's important.
An iPad Pro Keyboard Cover, Not a Case
JKD: Tell us about this new model then. It's different than the other Folios in the line. How so?
MS: For the iPad Pro keyboard cover, the challenge was steep: How to integrate a leather cover into Apple's Smart Keyboard Folio which it itself, is a stand alone case.
Earlier keyboard covers from Apple did not have a back on them. They were literally just a front cover. This gave us an opportunity to mount the tablet into our case then integrate the keyboard.
When we were finished we had an all-in-one solution that perfectly integrated the iPad, the Apple keyboard and our exterior Folio into one holistic case. Customers loved it and it works very well.
Unfortunately, unlike the 1st and 2nd generation 12.9 keyboards, the 3rd generation model is, as mentioned, a complete case with a back on it. This negated our previous solution.
The back cover of the keyboard prevented us from mounting the iPad to our case. There was no way in. Without that, we had to literally go back to the drawing board and find another solution.
Building the Best Leather iPad Keyboard Cover
JKD: It seems like a formidable problem. What was process that ultimately lead to the solution?
MS: One thing to remember is that functionally, the Apple keyboard works well. It does everything you want it to do with the exception of look good and feel good. I believe customers like how the keyboard functions. Our goal was not to interfere with that in any way. Only to enhance the overall ownership experience.
What we were designing then was something different from what we have spent the last 25+ years doing. This product was essentially, not a protective case but a decorative one. This leather iPad keyboard cover would be designed to improve the appearance of the cover that was already on the tablet.
Of course, it does offer an additional layer of protection. Given all the reports of the tablets bending, anything that provides additional protection is a benefit. Moreover, our proven offset Folio design absorbs any impacts along the edges before the shock gets to the screen or rear aluminum shell. There is a real benefit there.
Making the Case for a Seamless Experience
JKD: So there is no way to attach what you want to do to what Apple has done, yet customers are asking for this product. How did you get there from here?
MS: Very slowly. There were several very pragmatic problems to solve. It's funny because we have had many highly function-oriented designs over the last 25 years that were much easier to create than this cover!
The first problem to solve was how we were going to attach our cover to the Apple product. We looked at adhesives which we did not think was the best solution. Ultimately, we settled on magnets. They're part of the iPad DNA and Apple uses them extensively in their keyboard.
We used the same method to attach our cover to the keyboard as Apple used to attach the keyboard to the tablet. And it worked, with one exception.
JKD: Which was?
MS: A very important one as far as I was concerned. Say you've just taken the tablet out of your briefcase, lay it on a table and it's facing up. When you go to open it and set it up, the strength of the magnets holding the keyboard to the screen were stronger than the magnets holding our cover to the keyboard.
JKD: So?
MS: This caused our cover to separate from the keyboard facilitating a repetitive motion to set it up. The first one lifted our leather cover from the keyboard. Then a repeating of that motion a second time to lift the Apple product off the surface of the screen to set it up.
I know it seems trivial but it bothered me. Maybe the customers who were waiting for our iPad keyboard cover wouldn't mind. Maybe they would. I minded. It wasn't elegant. It wasn't clean and it wasn't representative of the MacCase experience. It really bothered me.
We looked at adding more magnets. The problem is they cost a fortune and they add a lot of weight. The 12.9 is already a beast of a thing so making it heavier was not in our best interest. If the additional magnets raised the cost to make the product to the point where the customer doesn't see a value, then you don't have a product.
JKD: So what was the solution?
MS: A simple piece of elastic. When you first slide our leather cover on, you pass the keyboard under an elastic strip that securely connects our cover to the Apple case. And it works. Brilliantly. No extra magnets No extra cost. No extra weight.
Once we had the prototype and tested it we knew we had a winner. It was a very good feeling.
Protecting the Apple Pencil When Charging
JKD: You mentioned your iPad Keyboard Cover providing protection for the Apple Pencil. Can you tell us how?
MS: With Apple Keyboard Folio, the edge of the tablet and the edge of their cover are the same. The tablet is flush with the keyboard. There is very little protection for the edges of the iPad itself. But the worst part is if you have the Apple Pencil in the charging position.
It's literally hanging out in space held there by some very weak magnets. The slightest tap to the Pencil and off it goes, lost forever. If there is one area of functionality our new iPad keyboard cover excels at providing, it's protection for the Apple Pencil when in the charging position.
Our cover sticks out 10mm past the edge of the tablet/ keyboard combination. This provides excellent protection for the Pencil when in the charging position. If the case is bumped of interfered with, say when putting the tablet back in a briefcase, the Pencil again, is protected. If you're someone who us using the Pencil, it's far superior to Apple's Folio alone.
iPad Pro Keyboard Folio Accessories
JKD: I know how proud you are of the Magnetic Accessory System you introduced on all the current generation MacCase Premium Leather Folios. Does this new iPad Pro Keyboard Folio include that system as well?
MS: Absolutely. There is no way our accessory system would not be part of this new design. The system has been in the field for almost a year and a half now and I am so happy to state that we have not had a single report of a customer losing an Apple Pencil, papers, their charger or their business cards. The accessory system works.
I made sure that this radical accessory system would deliver on the promise of the concept. Our customers are insanely demanding. If there was the slightest issue with any of the 4 options, we would have heard about it a long time ago.
So yes, if you choose our leather iPad Keyboard Cover, you can choose to add our matching Apple Pencil Case, a document holder, a pouch for the charging cable and a place to store business cards.
Getting back to the functionality of this product, having the accessory system as part of the design, makes the cover much more than just a pretty face for Apple's keyboard folio.
JKD: As always, thank you for your time.
MS: My pleasure.
