Keyboard for Apple Vision Pro
I have tested a few keyboards so you don’t have to.
Apple Vision Pro (AVP) is a great device for consuming content in 2D and 3D. But if you want to do real work, you still need a keyboard. I wrote this article on the AVP, and I hope it can help you decide what keyboard you should use with it.
A light and portable keyboard might be something you should start with.
This is the first keyboard I bought for my AVP. I would need a small portable keyboard that I could carry together in my AVP case. It is very compact because it can be folded across the center. However, it is hard to find a compact portable keyboard that has the keys in the right positions for your fingers. They tend to squeeze inwards, and some keys then become positioned at an inconvenient position relative to your fingers. For example, in this keyboard, the numbers 1, 2, and 3 are little set towards the right of their normal positions. Another issue with this keyboard is that when you are in the fully immersed mode in your chosen “Environment”, the keyboard would not show up when you look at them when compared with the Apple keyboard. More on this keyboard later.
The next keyboard I chose to use with my AVP is the usual one I have at my desk, a Logitech mechanical keyboard that has multiple pairings. This is the keyboard that has been set up with my monitor (via Logitech USB Unifying Receiver) which can then be linked to a Mac (via HDMI), a Windows PC (via Display Port), and any laptop that can be connected via a USB-C connection (for display and power). This is more for use with my AVP when I’m at home, but again it suffers from the lack of visibility when in full “Environment” mode.
Next is another keyboard I thought would be able to overcome the weakness of the compact mobile keyboard. So I use another lightweight Logitech keyboard that has multiple Bluetooth pairing. This was the one that I would bring with my AVP in my backpack. However, it still has a visibility issue with the Environment mode. So, in the end, I bought the ultimate keyboard for my AVP.
This is the Apple compact Bluetooth keyboard with USB-C charging. It is an officially supported keyboard for Apple Vision Pro. From a typing perspective, it feels quite flat, and the key travel is rather short. It is quite compact and light, and hence portable. Most importantly, it solves the “Environment” issue.
From the photo above, you can see that while in full “Environment” mode, your Apple keyboard will suddenly appear when you are in text entry mode. This makes it easy for you to type while you are in a fully immersive environment. So, my recommendation is, since you can afford an Apple Vision Pro, I see no reason why you cannot afford to buy the Apple Bluetooth keyboard to use with the Vision Pro. That’s probably why this feature is available. I believe Apple could easily train its computer vision machine learning module to recognize any typical keyboard. But I guess, it is supposed to be a premium experience that Apple wants to keep for its “premium” products.
Hope you enjoy this article.
