Alongside today’s expected new iMac updates, Apple has announced a trio of new input devices for desktops: the Magic Trackpad 2, Magic Mouse 2, and Magic Keyboard. The new keyboard and trackpad have an updated design to accommodate improved keys on the keyboard and Force Touch on the trackpad, while the mouse has been redesigned internally. All three devices work on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that juice up via a standard USB Lightning cable:
The all-new Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2 are more comfortable, capable and environmentally friendly. Designed around a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery, all three accessories eliminate the need for disposable batteries and feature a noticeably more solid internal structure and quality feel. The new Magic Keyboard features a full-size keyboard in a sleek new design that takes up 13 percent less space on your desktop. With a new scissor mechanism and lower profile, the Magic Keyboard provides an incredibly stable, precise and comfortable typing experience. The new Magic Mouse 2 is lighter, sturdier and features an optimized foot design for a smoother glide. The new Magic Trackpad 2 features a 29 percent larger surface and brings Force Touch to the desktop for the first time. Force Touch enables a range of new ways to interact with your Mac®, including the new Force click to quickly look up a word, preview a file or bring up a map from an address. The new Magic devices pair instantly with your Mac as soon as they are plugged in via the Lightning®-to-USB charging cable, and can last about a month or more on a full charge.***
The new keyboard includes a new scissor-mechanism similar to that of the keyboard on the latest 12-inch MacBook, while the trackpad’s Force Touch feature is akin to the trackpads on those MacBooks and latest MacBook Pro models. The new features of these products means that the new devices will cost a bit more than their predecessors: the trackpad costs $129 (up from $69), the keyboard costs $99, and the mouse costs $79. The Verge has gone hands on with the new input devices, while Steven Levy has published a profile about the product line’s development on Medium.
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No wired version, I presume?
Here’s what Apple says (from the above article): “The new Magic devices pair instantly with your Mac as soon as they are plugged in via the Lightning®-to-USB charging cable” so that I think that means they work wired or wireless.
Only charging is handled over the wire – keystrokes and pointer/movement data is always going to be over BT, or they wouldn’t be requirements of the host machine.
Not to mention the fact that there is no using the mouse while charging…look at where the port is. No matter though, I have a feeling these will charge completely in under 30 minutes.
The keyboard and the trackpad work over USB while plugged in. This is potentially very useful for people with older Macs that don’t have Bluetooth 4.0.
Are you from the past?
You can still get the standard Apple Mouse, wired, but it is the same one from the past 5 or so years.
Finally! Just ordered all 3. Been counting the days until these were released. Telling myself its justified by not needing to buy so many double A’s. :D
were these rumored? I hadn’t even heard of these until this article :P
Yeah, they were rumored for the past 2 months I believe. Apple only a few months ago was granted the Apple Magic Mouse 2 patent
Will be ordering all but the mouse. I prefer trackpad and mouse is too small for me anyway. Wish they made two sizes.
Interesting. Never thought this mouse was too small. Compared to my Synapse gaming mouse for Windows, I like the low profile and general small and light feel. Having my hand wrapped around the big gaming mouse for any period of a time is not as comfortable to me.
Curiously absent is any mention of backlighting on the keyboard which was previously seen in the information 9to5 obtained from the FCC. The backlight is the only reason I would consider updating from the old keyboard, even though some of my keycaps are a little worn.
Of note in Apple’s product specs is the requirement of BT 4.0 for the Trackpad, but only BT for the keyboard and mouse – and strangely, OSX 10.11 required for all three.
The Verge shit the bed with their poor hands-on, they don’t really cover anything that isn’t in Apple’s tech specs and it makes me seriously question whether they have actually ever put their hands on the old hardware or the new. Their description of the old Trackpad for instance is patently absurd as like many others, I find it to be the best input device Apple has ever made, and it can certainly be clicked across almost its entire surface to physically activate the switches in its front feet, or by software taps anywhere. The tactile movement of the front feet may be sorely missed, something that makes me very apprehensive about switching in the first place.
wow, big price increase for the trackpad.
I really like a numeric keypad and the regular arrow keys, I wish Apple created a regular keyboard, not just a laptop keyboard. (Yes, I know they have a regular wired keyboard, but i mean a wireless version of the regular keyboard)
i think the price jump is really unnecessary… come on apple, stop squeezing out the last drop
they also shrunk the FusionDrive from a 128 GB SSG to a 24 GB SSD AND they still put the 5400rpm HDD in the base model… sooo no, the price increase is not merit at all.
i was always a big supporter of apple and their products till one year ago or something like that. i now think that apple is not going the right way with selling such low standard (5400rpm?!) things at really high prices especially in europe. maybe in short term they will have sucess with this new strategy but what will happen in long term?
i’m really curious where apple will be in 10 – 15 years from now on :)
An integrated battery and Force Touch are not worth an extra $60. Pack in Touch ID and could almost justify the price.
Actually $79 difference trackpad 2 is now $50 while the force touch one is $129
Agreed. I also rely heavily on the 19 function keys percent on the wired keyboard.
No backlight on the keyboard. Meh. No real changes on the Magic Mouse except a built in battery, what makes it a no go for me (I needed to replace them so often during intense jobs, taking a 2 hour charging pause is not really useful). No, thanks.
You don’t have to pause while charging the new devices. Just plug them in and leave them plugged in if you think they’re close to running dry.
Oops, sorry, this doesn’t apply to the mouse, only to the keyboard and trackpad. The mouse’s lightning port is on the underside making it impossible to use with the cable plugged in.
The lightning port is on the Bottom of the mouse. I don’t see how you can charge and keep using. It looks possible on the keyboard and trackpad, though.
I share Kurt’s sentiments. I was looking at the damn thing and thought that is the most foolish place to put the charging port. A wireless charger would have been a nice touch.
It also mentions that a 2 MINUTE charge will give you a full day of use.
I don’t have that much time. ;)
Backlit keys is the ONE thing I wanted from the new keyboard. This ONLY single thing. I’ve been waiting on this for years. Apple, you done fucked up hard. Doubling the cost of your trackpad is just salt in the wound. Stop catering to trendy noobs and remember your power-user ethos, that once made you so legendary. This trash is hardly worth the announcement. 0/10.
Keyboard with numeric keypad?
yes please.
how hard is it to include this?
and knowing Apple they’d even charge another $20-29 for it and people would still buy it
OWC makes a Bluetooth numeric keypad if you really want one …
Hopefully there will be a new “magic wand” that connects these two devices…no backlight for the keyboard though is very lame.
You really probably shouldn’t have your desktop set up in a place where you’d need a backlit keyboard… plus you have all that light out put by your display. Also, who looks at the keys when they type?
apple always come with the new strategy to attract the customers.. read more: http://www.bidnessetc.com/54940-tag-heuer-ceo-believes-apple-watch-is-not-a-timeless-masterpiece/
Isn’t it ironic that we read articles about how Apple prices across the globe have gone up because of the strong dollar, and yet products that are local to the US have also gone up!?
Where’s the number pad?
TheVerge says: “the trackpad is no longer awful” – the old trackpad being awful is certainly some news to me, it’s still far and away the best OS navigational tool I’ve experienced, with the Kensington Orbit I used on the Windows 7 machine at work coming in second. And this is a 2011 piece of gear.
There is no MagicWand as per previous version to keep the magic trackpad and Keyboard as one unit? It looks like they hired designers from Leapfrog company. I will pass this version. Is it just me, or there is no any …ahaa… moment in the apple products in the pass 3-4 years?
I’m pretty sure the MagicWand was a third-party creation…
When I first got a MacBook in 2008, I tried hard to learn how not to click on the Magic Trackpad. I have not been clicking on a trackpad for years now. The Force Touch gesture is basically a simulated strong physical click. I guess the new Magic Trackpad generates a haptic feedback that feels like a physical click – the same way as the new MacBook’s and MacBook Pro’s trackpads acts if one tries to push hard on it. In my opinion, feeling a simulated physical click is going back in time — Apple has changed their initial idea of eliminating a physical click by relegating the dragging without a click gesture to the “accessibility” settings a while back. So, clicking on a trackpad is back in vogue now, and not only regular clicking, but also a much more forceful clicking now.
I’m not sure why I would need to replace my current Magic Trackpads, Magic Mice, and Apple’s Bluetooth Keyboards with these new models.
As a developer I rely on full-size arrow keys and the home/end/pgup/pgdown cluster. It’s really disappointing Apple still doesn’t have these on a wireless keyboard. I appreciate Apple’s thin, minimal designs but less keys on a desktop keyboard is never better.
And the MacMini gets neglected again ! ! !
i really, really really love Apple products for the quality but these price hikes really annoy me
I’ll be picking up the new Trackpad since it’s still a lot cheaper than upgrading my 2010 MacBook to a new one with Force Touch built in.
I really wish they would make a wireless, full-layout extended keyboard. I also wish that they would sell a keyboard+trackpad single unit I could hold in my lap when using my Mac mini connected to my projector screen. (Yes, I know about the twelvesouth accessory.)
I prefer the MeshWe for that purpose. I’ve bought two of them so far and I’ve been quite happy with them. Pretty pricey but worth it for couch surfing. You can even physically click the trackpad on your lap of need be, though I prefer tap rather than physical click both with desktop and laptop usage.
I just bought a logitech mx anywhere 2. Glad I did now because magic mouse 2 has the same uncomfortable design as the magic mouse 1. Track pad 2 looks awesome.
Where is the extended Bluetooth keyboard with black keys and LED backlighting? Looks like I may never get my wish despite the fact that I think it would sell extremely well and the backlit features would be appreciated for photographers, videographers and designers who often work in low light environments for more accurate on-screen color.
Well, I’ll stick with the Logitech K811 backlit MAC keyboard…
Personally, I think all of these are “fails” because they are rechargeable…when any of these devices die, are you going to want to “stop working” so that you can charge the device? No, you are going to wish that you could pop in new batteries and keep going.