I wrote earlier about trying to find a mechanical keyboard setup for an iPad. After finally retrieving my iPad Pro 9.7 from the trunk of a car that’s been in the shop since June (sigh…), I can now attest: This solution rocks. MakerMade3D’s one-off (so far?) 3D-printed “bezel” holds the iPad perfectly (with one caveat, if the feet on the K2 aren’t flipped down, small or large, the setup will rock a little bit on a flat surface. Flip those down and it’s rock solid.
The setup is a Keychron K2 with Kailh Box Navy switches, which are heavy … Pondering swapping them out for Boba U4 “silent tactile” switches. (Update: Ordered from Ali Express with a delivery date about 6 weeks out, no one had the RGB 62g in stock, but I may have a line on them through reddit…)
Meanwhile, two three new contenders have come to my attention:
NT68
The
Epomaker NT86 seems to be the perfect iPad mechanical keyboard. I’m told they’ll be shipping in December, after the Kickstarter backers’ units have shipped, and I’m anxious to try one. They have low profile and standard versions, Mac and Windows layouts, and they come with a cover that can be origami-folded to support an iPad or other tablet (or iPhone, etc). I’m looking at a standard height model with the Chocolate Rose Brown switches (but will likely swap to Boba U4s). Fingers crossed this is the GOAT.
Air75
The
Nuphy Air75 is shipping now; only available in a low profile version, they’ve designed it to sit atop MacBook keyboards. A 75% keyboard (vs. the NT68’s, uh, 68% layout), it has a row of function/media keys that aren’t all that necessary on an iPad, but would be very useful hacking code on a MacBook Air. In stock and ready to ship now, and with a 30% off Black Friday sale, I’m tempted to try it out (though as I generally have fat fingers,
maybe not...). The Gateron Low Profile switches are hot swappable, but as of now the only options you have are Blue, Brown, and Red. The folio cover is a $19 option.
LOFREE Wanderfree
This one’s trying a bit too hard (the legends on the right side of the keyboard especially), and is kind of a clunky solution, but the
LOFREE Wanderfree board comes with a cover that doubles as a tablet stand.
I wrote earlier about trying to find a mechanical keyboard setup for an iPad. After finally retrieving my iPad Pro 9.7 from the trunk of a car that’s been in the shop since June (sigh…), I can now attest: This solution rocks. MakerMade3D’s one-off (so far?) 3D-printed “bezel” holds the iPad perfectly (with one caveat, if the feet on the K2 aren’t flipped down, small or large, the setup will rock a little bit on a flat surface. Flip those down and it’s rock solid.
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