The Apple Magic Keyboard is Apple’s standard wireless keyboard for the Mac, updated in October 2024 with a USB-C charging port replacing the older Lightning connector. The keyboard connects to a Mac via Bluetooth or a wired USB-C connection, with automatic pairing when plugged into any current Mac. Battery life runs about a month between charges. The compact layout skips the numeric keypad and Touch ID button, keeping the keyboard footprint smaller than the extended versions Apple sells at higher price points.
A tactile keyboard that you can attach to your keyboard
This is the compact model in Apple’s Magic Keyboard lineup, without the numeric keypad or Touch ID button of the higher-priced versions. The keyboard measures about 11 inches wide and weighs about half a pound, sliding into your laptop bag or desk drawer without much bulk. The low-profile scissor mechanism under each key has been Apple’s standard since 2015, with the same shallow key travel that most Mac buyers know from a MacBook.
The Magic Keyboard weighs half a pound and stretches about eleven inches from end to end. A hairline seam runs around an aluminum shell that keeps flex out of the deck, no matter how hard you press. Wireless mode kicks in the moment the USB-C cable comes out. The keys are quiet under a normal typing rhythm and slightly louder on the space bar, edge, and function rows. Anyone used to the sound of a mechanical board will find this closer to silent, which is why the Magic Keyboard shows up in shared offices, coffee shops, and libraries as often as it does on a desk at home.
The 78-key layout runs edge to edge in a slim aluminum body about 11 inches wide and half an inch thick at the tallest point. Function shortcuts along the top row cover the essentials for a Mac: volume, brightness, Mission Control, Spotlight, dictation, and Do Not Disturb. Every arrow key in the bottom-right corner is now full-sized, dropping the older layout that squished the up and down keys to half-height. The typing action is quiet and quick, with little give under a finger.
Some Windows PCs support the Magic Keyboard as a standard Bluetooth input device, though the Command key remaps to Windows, and a few of the top-row shortcuts stop working. On Linux distributions with Bluetooth support, the keyboard pairs as a generic HID device, with none of the media keys functioning. Chromebook users can also pair it and use the QWERTY block, though the Launchpad and Spotlight shortcuts have no equivalents.
At $80, down from $99, the compact white Magic Keyboard is at one of the deepest discounts Apple’s base keyboard sees at retail, with the USB-C charge cable included in the woven fabric style Apple uses across its accessory lineup.