Here’s something that should surprise absolutely no one: typing on the Apple Vision Pro’s virtual keyboard by glancing at the keys and touching your thumb to your index finger is a slow and painful process. You can do that, but even if you combine fast typing with voice dictation, you won’t be very productive.
Pair the Bluetooth keyboard
Luckily, you can pair a Bluetooth keyboard with the Apple Vision Pro. To do this, go to the Settings app and scroll down to Bluetooth. Put your keyboard into pairing mode and if everything works, you should see this screen:
I’m using MX Keys Mini Keyboardwhich I watched it again last year. Aside from one downside to use with the Vision Pro that I’ll discuss later, it’s a good keyboard.
Also: How to order Apple Vision Pro: Tips, tricks, and my secret to good face scanning
Tap your keyboard’s name to begin the pairing process. You’ll definitely want to be in full forward mode to do this, because otherwise you won’t be able to see the number keys to type them.
Once your keyboard is paired, you’ll see it connected in the My Bluetooth Devices pane.
If you want to switch keyboards, you can press the Info button, at which point you can forget the device.
The big downside to using a non-Apple keyboard is that the Vision Pro won’t open a pass-through port so you can see the keys.
Also: Install VPN on Apple Vision Pro: How to do it and why you should
The solution is simple but painful. If you plan on using a non-Apple keyboard (like me), get used to turning the digital knob to enable passthrough so you can see your physical keyboard.
Also: Apple Vision Pro Tips: How to take perfect screenshots and recordings (and avoid the weirdness)
Mouse graft (not too much)
After going back to the Bluetooth Settings tab on the Vision Pro and enabling pairing on my spare device Logitech LIFT Mouse, I was happy to see it in the available devices compartment. LIFT is a vertical mouse that I sometimes use to help protect my wrist when I write a lot. The other two available devices in my Bluetooth devices list are a TV and an LED light strip. Your available equipment will be different from mine.
When I tap the LIFT name, I get a pairing notification. I tapped Briefcase. As far as possible.
In fact, the mouse connected as a Bluetooth device. Unfortunately, VisionOS does not support mouse input. So close but so far!
Even though Vision Pro doesn’t support mice, my mouse is still in the My Bluetooth Devices pane. I tapped the LIFT name and was taken to the Info dialog box, where I told VisionOS to forget the device.
Luckily, I had better luck with Apple Magic trackpad.
Also: How to select, copy, and paste on Apple Vision Pro using hand gestures
Pair the Apple Trackpad
To put the touchpad into pairing mode, start with the touchpad turned on (shown in green next to the switch). Then turn it off, wait a beat and turn it back on. When my trackpad showed up in the Other Devices pane, I tapped it and it almost immediately showed up as connected.
The trackpad works just like you’d expect, except that it sometimes conflicts with the Vision Pro’s other pointing methods. You may find yourself moving the small circular cursor with the trackpad, only to see the cursor jump because your eyes aren’t looking at the same spot on the screen.
Also: At first I found Apple Vision Pro unusable – but then I fixed it. This is the way
To resolve this issue, follow the instructions in My accessibility guideand turn off other pointing techniques. Now you will be completely dependent on the trackpad but it will work fine.
Do you use a keyboard or trackpad with Vision Pro? What apps do you use with them? Have you considered adding a keyboard or touchpad to your Vision Pro kit bag? What motivates you or holds you back? Let us know in the comments below.
You can follow my daily project updates on social media. Be sure to subscribe My weekly newsletter updateand follow me on Twitter/X at @DavidGewirtzon Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtzon Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtzand on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.
