Introduction
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What you need
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Check out these smart specs!
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Smart Connector for power and data connection
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64 Key, QWERTY keyboard
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Water and stain-resistant
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The bottom flap is home to all the regular suspects—regulatory markings, country of origin, and a new model number: A1636.
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Hamburger? Hot Dog? With all these folds, the Smart Keyboard definitely breaks the record for the most confusing combination keyboard/case ever.
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Seriously, this thing has so many sections, Apple even included a handy "guide" on how to fold it correctly.
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We finally get the Smart Keyboard to bend to our will and lay mostly flat (not taking into account the 4 mm depth of each individual key). It looks like the perfect symmetry we found in the iPad Pro doesn't carry over to its accessories.
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On the left, an iPad Pro with the Smart Keyboard. On the right, a Surface Pro 4. We're pretty sure anyway, the differences are pretty slight at first glance.
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The most marked difference between the key layouts is of course the Surface's trackpad. iPads just want to watch the world burn...
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The Smart Keyboard features some iOS hallmarks, like the keyboard swapping globe button, and rounder key edges.
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However the iPad Pro also seems to be taking some notes from its notebook cousins, the Smart Keyboard has control, option, and command keys.
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Tool used on this step:Precision Utility Knife$4.99
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Finding no viable entry points, we turn to our Tech Knife for sage wisdom.
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We slice and dice the microfiber lining of the keyboard as we burrow our way towards victory.
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We peel up the top layer of mysterious fabric (we think it's nylon—our teardown engineer notes that it feels like a windbreaker) to find blank keys.
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Moving past the fabric, we begin prying out the individual keys and get our first glance at the dome switches underneath.
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One design choice we like is the placement of a stiffening weight in the spacebar.
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The addition of this bar means the spacebar key can register a push no matter where you tap on it. No wobbly spacebar woes here.
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Tool used on this step:Pro Tech Toolkit$74.95
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We call upon our iOpener to heat the microfiber lining, allowing us to delve further into the multiple layers of the Smart Keyboard cover panel.
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We're starting to feel like archeologists, digging through the ages...
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With this tough plastic layer blocking further keyboard inroads, we're going to need one of those tools...
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Like a plastic opening pick.
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We crack open the clam and the
pearlskeycaps come cascading out. -
We now have the pleasure of viewing the entire underlying circuit board, replete with 64 dome switches.
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But not much else, no LEDs, or batteries or fancy fans needed here!
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Another one bites the dust. We pull the keycap frame away for a closer look.
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There are some interesting intestinal squiggles in this plastic frame, what's up with that?
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Closer inspection shows these channels lead to tiny vents at the top of the keyboard.
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We assume this keeps the Smart Keyboard from becoming a pressurized balloon every time a key is depressed.
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Time to peel up yet another layer! In fact, it's that tough plastic backing we encountered earlier. It's aggressively glued, so we aggressively, well, ripped in in half...
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Finally, the true keyboard is revealed—a plane of switches and chips!
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The brains of the operation is Apple's latest go-to microcontroller for peripheral input devices:
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ST Microelectronics STM32F103VB 72 MHz 32-bit RISC ARM Cortex-M3
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Peeling up the last of the Smart Keyboard's pelt reveals three interesting fabric strips.
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Turns out, these are made of Apple's mysterious "conductive fabric." These connect the keyboard to the Smart Connector and allow for a "two‑way flow of power and data."
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Apple even states "unlike traditional wires, the conductive fabric can withstand a lifetime of folding." Sweet!
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The Apple Smart Keyboard repairability 0 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair):
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While durable, the keyboard is impossible to open without damaging, meaning no internal components can be replaced without destroying the device.
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