Apple launched their latest Magic Keyboard in late 2021. There are some information that’s important before you buy one. The first thing to know is that, there are three different versions. A normal keyboard without the numeric keypad with no touch id for $99. Second version, you can get the one with Touch ID for $149 and for the last version comes the one with a numeric keypad and Touch ID for a whopping $179. What a price! But we don’t pay that for nothing! For the most part, it’s pretty similar but there are some key differences you need to know. For starters, Touch ID! it acts as sort of a sleep wake button too, but primarily it’s for unlocking your Mac, authenticating passwords and authenticating purchases.
Now here’s the most important part you need to know! Do not buy this keyboard, if you have an Intel version Mac!. This only works with an M1 Mac in terms of Touch ID. The keyboard will work but there are some key features that won’t be available. So there’s really no point in buying this one. Optionally, you could just buy the last generation one if you have an Intel Mac. So, let’s say if you have an M1 Mac Mini, an M1 Macbook Air, or M1 Macbook Pro or even the new M1 iMac, then you can use Touch ID on your new Magic keyboard! Intel Mac owners can use this keyboard but you’ll just have to completely ignore the touch id key, as it does absolutely nothing. Actually the entire function row is kind of useless on an intel mac. It is better to just getting that older model. But if you really want to get a Magic keyboard for your Intel mac (this new version), then you’ll have to remap some of the keys and not all of them will work.
Lets start with the play, pause, and the volume controls. None of them worked even after you remap on the “do not disturb” and “mission control” side. When we switch over to an M1 Macbook Pro, everything works just fine and you’ll have the ability to control brightness, “do not disturb”, spotlight search,and you can enable dictation from the keyboard. And again playback and volume will also work just fine and on top of all Of course you’ll have touch id. There’s also a new glow button for easier access for different keyboard types, like emojis which is very nice to have too.
But, other than that you’re looking at a very similar experience and design, some users still think these white keys feel different than the black ones. They just feel smoother or maybe more matte.
For those who have an M1 Mac at home and you want to add Touch ID for security when paired with a Magic keyboard, it surely comes with a high price. But it’s probably worth it, for convenience and security. You can get a matching Magic Trackpad and Magic Mouse too. And yes!! it’s also only limited to the silver color option right now. Well, i’d love to know your thoughts on everything about the keyboard in the comments down below!
