Apple Magic Keyboard (2015, Lightning) vs Apple Magic Keyboard with Touch ID (USB-C)

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Magic Keyboard (2015, Lightning) compared with Magic Keyboard with Touch ID (USB-C)

	AppleMagic Keyboard (2015, Lightning)	AppleMagic Keyboard with Touch ID (USB-C)
Overview
Released
Released	October 2015	October 2024
Typing
Layout
Layout	Compact	Compact
Switches
Switches	Scissor	Scissor
Backlight
Backlight	None	None
Keys labelled for
Keys labelled for	Mac	Mac
Touch ID
Touch ID	No	Yes
Layouts
Layouts	–	Arabic, British English, Chinese (Pinyin), Danish, Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, International English, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swiss, Swedish, Turkish Q, Ukrainian, US English (UK store)
Switches
Switches	Revised scissor mechanism; Apple's launch announcement describes a lower profile and increased key stability	–
Special keys
Special keys	Multimedia function keys; half-height up and down arrows beside full-height left and right arrows, described by AppleInsider	Touch ID (a quick press locks the Mac); function keys for display brightness, Mission Control, Spotlight, Dictation/Siri, Do Not Disturb, media playback, mute and volume; fn/Globe key for switching keyboards or showing emoji
Connections and battery
Connects by
Connects by	Bluetooth	Bluetooth
Devices it switches between
Devices it switches between	1	1
Power
Power	Rechargeable	Rechargeable
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	About a month or more between charges, according to Apple; tested in September 2015 with preproduction keyboards and shipping iMacs. Not an upper-bound battery-life claim.	About a month or more between charges in Apple's tests with an M4 iMac; sleeps when not in use
Charging
Charging	Built-in rechargeable battery; Lightning-to-USB cable charges and automatically pairs with a Mac. Macworld confirms the keyboard can remain in use while plugged in.	USB-C port; charges from a Mac or USB-C power adapter, and plugging it into a Mac also pairs it
Works with
Works with	Bluetooth-enabled Mac with OS X 10.11 or later; iOS devices running iOS 9.1 or later, according to the retained original specification	Mac with Apple silicon running macOS 15.1 or later; Apple also lists recent iPad and iPhone models
Design
Weight
Weight	231 g (better)	243 g
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	279 × 114.9 × 10.9 mm	278.9 × 114.9 × 10.9 mm
Size
Size	Height 0.41–1.09 cm, width 27.9 cm and depth 11.49 cm; Apple's 0.231 kg weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process	Height 0.41–1.09 cm, width 27.89 cm, depth 11.49 cm
Materials
Materials	Aluminium body, plastic keys and underside, described by AppleInsider	–
Colours
Colours	Silver body with white keys	–
In the box
In the box	Magic Keyboard and Lightning-to-USB cable. This entry covers the original 2015 model, distinct from later Lock-key, Touch ID and USB-C models.	Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, woven USB-C charging cable
Warranty
Warranty	–	1 year (Apple One Year Limited Warranty)