Finally! I got a new iPad Pro 11. Been wanting one of these for a while. With the release of the 2020 model, the 2018 were going for excellent prices. I got one on Swappa that came with a Smart Keyboard. I decided that I was not going to get the newly released Magic Keyboard.
What I was going to miss most was my Pad & Quill Linen case. But I set forth to make the Smart Keyboard awesome.
Initially, I ordered a SLATE skin from Slickwraps. WARNING: DO NOT ORDER FROM SLICKWRAPS. I’ve gotten successful orders from them as recent as last summer. And was always happy with their products. I even once got a replacement item for the cost of shipping. But something is wrong there and I noticed this is the second time I had to request a refund from my credit card company. Thank goodness for American Express.
After that failure, I ordered a skin from iStyles which was great. The skin fit perfect. It’s essentially a vinyl sticker. But what I really wanted was something with texture. So, I ordered the Swarm design from dBrand — the YouTube favorite.
I’ve ordered a lot of skins in the past and dBrand is the most impressive. Delivery was in great plastic sleeves to protect them. Went on easily with no issues. But they don’t make a skin for the Smart Keyboard! I had to use the a template I made from the iStyles skin and cut the dBrand one myself (one 16” Macbook Pro skin covered an 11” iPad Pro Smart Keyboard). The cutting was not perfect but acceptable and I love it.
Best part is that in order to tip the cost into free shipping, I got a matching $2 camera skin for my iPhone Pro 11.