Apple has just released several new accessories, including the Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2, but what makes those devices work? The folks at iFixit, who are known for their teardowns of popular devices, decided to find out.
A common design among Apple’s new devices
The website reported that there were many commonalities in the design of these three new accessories. They all had the same chips, batteries that were similar, and paired and charged using Lightning connectors.
They also discovered that both the Magic Keyboard and the Magic Mouse 2 need a “Bluetooth-enabled Mac,” and the Magic Trackpad 2 needs a “Bluetooth 4.0-enabled Mac.” All three of the accessories run on the BCM20733 Bluetooth 3.0 chip from Broadcom, interestingly enough.
Magic Trackpad 2
iFixit noted that by now, they’ve seen multiple incarnations of Apple’s Force Touch technology but called the implementation of it in the Magic Trackpad 2 “by far the largest and most impressive” one they have seen so far. Nonetheless, they said it still works using the same “principles” the previous implementations of the technology use.
They found four “springy” tabs which all have strain gauges to support the trackpad. All of those tabs measure deflections when users press on the trackpad. Next, the Taptic Engine simulates the feel of a click and vibrates the trackpad to simulate sound.
Magic Keyboard
The website discovered that the Magic Keyboard is currently the closest thing to bringing the keyboard of the Retina MacBook to desktop computers. It has a layout that’s only been slightly modified, and the keys are very low profile.
However, there are no butterfly switches but rather, Apple has incorporated a “reengineered scissor mechanism” for stability.
Magic Mouse 2
According to iFixit, the Magic Mouse 2 wasn’t redesigned much from the first model of the mouse. It looks the same, and the only change they found was the elimination of the battery that could be replaced by users and the inclusion of a rechargeable battery that remains inside the mouse. Also Apple has added a Lightning port to pair and charge the Magic Mouse 2.
