Introduction
Apple has launched the next phase in their master plan to replace all personal computers with iPads. Apple's Smart Keyboard is an iPad Pro accessory designed to bring even more functionality to the table(t). But does it bring repairability? With teardown on our minds, we decide to find out just how smart this keyboard really is.
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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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