Brydge Debuts New Air MAX+ Keyboard With Trackpad for iPad Air and iPad Pro - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Brydge Debuts New Air MAX+ Keyboard With Trackpad for iPad Air and iPad Pro

Brydge, known for its range of keyboards designed for Apple's iPads, today introduced its latest keyboard offering, the Brydge Air MAX+, which is compatible with 10.9-inch iPad Air and 11-inch iPad Pro models.

brydge keyboard ipad air
Priced at $149.99, the Brydge Air MAX+ features a full keyboard along with a large multi-touch trackpad that's designed to turn an ‌iPad Air‌ or ‌iPad Pro‌ into a more laptop-like machine. The Brydge Air MAX+ features a row of shortcut keys for controlling screen brightness, accessing media controls and emoji, and more.

There's a detachable Magnetic SnapFit Case that the iPad fits into to keep it safe from scratches and other damage, with the case offering 4-foot drop protection. Brydge added an antimicrobial agent to the case to protect against bacteria and viruses.

Unlike Apple's own Magic Keyboards, the Brydge Air MAX+ connects to an ‌iPad‌ over Bluetooth, so it does need to be charged now and then. Brydge offers an "Instant-On" feature that's designed to allow the ‌iPad‌ to connect to the Max+ seamlessly when active.

Brydge also recently introduced the Brydge 12.9 Max+, which is compatible with the 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ models and offers all of the same features as the Brydge Air MAX+. We reviewed that model earlier this month and were impressed with its design and functionality.

The Brydge Air MAX+ can be preordered from the Brydge website for $149.99, and it will ship out in June.

Tag: Brydge

Popular Stories

American Express Gold Apple Pay Feature

American Express Announces New Apple Pay Feature

Tuesday June 30, 2026 10:27 am PDT by
American Express today announced that you can now redeem Membership Rewards points when checking out with Apple Pay on the web and in apps on the iPhone and iPad. When checking out with Apple Pay on iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 or later, tap on your eligible American Express card (Platinum, Gold, Green, and others) and select the Membership Rewards points option. You can use points to cover all or...
Apple Acquires Award Winning App Play Feature

Apple Acquires Award-Winning App 'Play'

Monday June 29, 2026 7:39 am PDT by
In February, Apple notified the European Commission that it would be acquiring certain assets from and have the right to hire certain employees from Rabbit 3 Times, the company behind the award-winning app design tool Play. The notification was published on the European Commission's website this week, following a four-month waiting period. Play was a Mac and iPhone app that allowed designers ...
series 10 apple watch titanium digital crown

Report: Apple Watch Redesign Coming Next Year With New Band System

Tuesday June 30, 2026 8:45 am PDT by
A "major overhaul" of the Apple Watch's design is due to arrive next year with a new system for connecting bands, according to a known Weibo leaker. In a set of recent posts, the leaker known as "Instant Digital" linked the new claim to older rumors about an "Apple Watch X" model, which was said to introduce a fresh design and break compatibility with the existing watch band system. Citing...

Top Rated Comments

67 months ago
Bluetooth? I'll pass.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mrat93 Avatar
67 months ago
Let me chime in real quick before this gets busy…

Brydge and some reviews make it seem like the trackpad experience is nearly equivalent to the Magic Keyboard. This is not true. Scrolling is choppy and janky even with the new firmware, and Brydge has said nothing to say they’ve improved it on these new models other than making the trackpad bigger. Early hands-ons demonstrate this as well. this is especially noticeable on iPad Pro with its 120hz refresh rate.

I’ve been a brydge user for a while. I love the function keys and viewing angles. But I think for my 2021 iPad Pro, i’m gonna stick with the Magic Keyboard.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zimmy68 Avatar
67 months ago
connects to an iPad over Bluetooth
Ugggh, still?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Darth Tulhu Avatar
67 months ago

Given the cost of a magic keyboard I don't see the use case for an iPad Pro except for people who draw on it, or really really prefer to edit video on an 11" screen. Most people would be much better off buying a MBA and a basic iPad or mini. Touchscreens are long overdue on MacBooks. Maybe now that the M1's can run iOS apps and the Touch Bar is going the way of the AAUI connector on PowerBooks, we'll finally get a touchscreen upgrade option.
Most people that buy iPads do so because they LIKE iPadOS.

An MBA CANNOT replace an iPad.

I see that this is hard to accept for Mac/"real computer" snobs in these forums.

Only Mac/PC fans want to turn the iPad into something it is not.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
67 months ago
I recently bought the Logitech Folio Touch and it's fantastic. Smart Connector makes things incredibly smooth with no lag and there's no need to recharge it separately. Excellent product: multi-touch gesture controls on the trackpad, iPadOS shortcut keys, backlit keys that automatically adjust to your lighting

$130 on Amazon, which is just a killer deal
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HRQV5V8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DoubleFlyaway Avatar
67 months ago

I don't really get the keyboard and trackpad for iPads. It turns it into a laptop that's thicker and heavier than a MacBook Air and a lot less useful and easy to use. If you want that get a MacBook Air!
What if 80-90 percent of the time you want you use your iPad as a tablet and only 10-20% of the time want to use a keyboard. This is me. A MacBook Air would be a huge waste of money and would have to come in addition to an iPad, not instead of one.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)