A Comic Strip Totally Predicted The New iPad Keyboard Years Ago

Didn't the "Smart Keyboard" look familiar?

On Wednesday, Apple announced an updated iPad, called the iPad Pro. Along with a major increase in size, there are a few additions that will likely be familiar to Microsoft fans. Specifically, Apple showed off the new Smart Keyboard, which looks strikingly similar to the keyboard on Microsoft's tablet, the Surface.

Here's the iPad Pro with Apple's new Smart Keyboard:

Apple

And here's the Microsoft Surface:

Microsoft

They look similar. The Surface debuted with this cover-keyboard combination in 2012. Three years later, Apple is seemingly copying its style with both a similar cover-keyboard and a stylus.

Back when the Surface debuted to much derision in 2012, cartoonist and writer Joel Watson drew an incredibly prescient comic, predicting Apple's latest move (the comic contains adult language):

Joel Watson

Incredible, right? Watson completely predicted Wednesday's event. Don't take the comic the wrong way, though. "It’s funny to me how many people think that comic is bashing Apple," Watson told The Huffington Post via email. "I only use Apple products, and made the comic on a Mac. It’s more about how Apple isn’t necessarily a better tech company than MS or Google, but they get the most credit from users and the media for innovation."

Watson makes online comics at www.sharksplode.com and www.hijinksensue.com, and is a writer and voice actor for Cyanide & Happiness.

"Apple is a style brand that happens to make great products, and they’re better than most tech companies at repackaging and polishing existing tech and selling it as a complete experience," Watson said. "The idea that Microsoft or Google would be stamping their feet saying, 'But we… we just… we already did… and nobody even…GAH!' is hilarious to me. It has to be frustrating for every company that isn’t Apple. Apple is that kid in school that effortlessly exudes cool, and MS/Android are the smart, unpopular kids that Apple convinces to do its homework."

He's got a point.

Close

What's Hot