Dhruv Shan's Laser-Cut iPad Mini Keyboard Case Is the Magic Keyboard Apple Won't Make
Faced with a terrible on-screen keyboard, Shan took matters into his own hands — and laser cutter.
Maker Dhruv Shan, tired of Apple's unwillingness to provide a keyboard case accessory for the iPad Mini tablet, has put together one of his own — holding the tablet in place with magnets.
"Tired of having to type on the iPad Mini's on-screen keyboard, using poor third party keyboards, and not seeing Apple release any 'Magic Keyboard' option, I decided to take up matters into my own hands and built a DIY iPad Mini Magic Keyboard," Shan writes of the project. "Sort of."
Inspired by earlier work by Scott Yu-Jan, Shan's build is relatively simple. Where Yu-Jan's original design used an additive 3D printer, Shan opted to cut the mounting hardware from acrylic via a laser cutter. The three-piece bracket is assembled using friction hinges, then magnetic mounts retrieved from a cheap Apple Smart Folio case clone are added to mount the iPad Mini itself.
Electronically, the hardware offers a USB Type-C hub and an ultra-compact mechanical keyboard — chosen so as not to be massively larger than the iPad Mini to which it's connected, as a traditional 104-key keyboard would be. Finally, a packing-foam wrist rest is added below the keyboard.
"Now, I can connect my peripherals and my iPad to an external monitor," Shan writes. "Does that make it better than Apple's Magic Keyboard? Yes (hehehe). Is it cheaper than what Apple would make? Definitely!"
The full build video is available on Shan's YouTube channel.