The very best iPad equipment for 2022

Equipment might be key whether or not you’re turning your new Apple iPad right into a laptop computer substitute or simply making an attempt to guard it towards daily-life hazards. It’s tempting to show to Apple’s personal equipment — and in some instances, you need to — however there’s a slew of options that work simply as effectively and are sometimes extra inexpensive. We examined out a bunch of instances, keyboards, styli and different miscellany to see which iPad equipment are price shopping for and that may enable you get essentially the most out of your iPad, from the iPad Air to the iPad Mini or a unique iPad mannequin.

Engadget’s picks

Otterbox Symmetry 360 case

Otterbox is an professional on the subject of safety, as seen with their cellphone instances, however its Symmetry Series 360 series reveals that it has design chops, too. Symmetry instances look much like the Apple’s Good Cowl, however the clear, scratch-resistant again is sturdy with out including a whole lot of weight to the iPad. Plus, the sting safety is substantial, so that you gained’t have to fret about harm from the inevitable, unintended bumps your pill takes. I additionally like the additional flap Otterbox added that retains the iPad display cowl closed and holds the second-generation Apple Pencil to the facet of the iPad Execs. Symmetry Collection 360 instances can be found for many iPad fashions, and whereas they’re costlier than some no-name iPad case you may discover on Amazon, they’re price it if you’d like an amazing steadiness of safety and elegance.

Talking of cheaper instances that refill Amazon’s search consequence pages, some which can be really worthwhile are from Moko and ProCase. For those who like the feel and appear of Apple’s Good Cowl, however don’t wish to drop $50-plus on one, each of those manufacturers have dupes that offer you that model at a fraction of the price of the first-party possibility.

Shop Otterbox Symmetry cases at Amazon
Shop Moko cases at Amazon
Shop ProCase cases at Amazon

Twelve South HoverBar Duo

Of the plethora of iPad stands I’ve used, Twelve South’s HoverBar Duo is the one which has come closest to good. The “duo” within the identify refers to the truth that the gadget can both prop your iPad up utilizing an arm hooked up to a weighted base, or the identical arm simply hooked up to a desk or desk utilizing its included clamp. It comes totally assembled on the weighted base, however it’s fairly simple to modify to the clamp because of the included directions and primary instruments within the field. For those who spring for the latest model, it’ll be even simpler because of a brand new quick-switch tab that permits you to swap between the weighted base and the clamp attachment with any additional instruments.

It wasn’t arduous to safe my 11-inch iPad Professional within the vice-grip that’s the HoverBar Duo’s pill clip, though it did take some power to maneuver the arm into the suitable place. That’s in all probability for the perfect as a result of it confirmed how sturdy the arm is; it stayed in place with out buckling, sliding down or in any other case breaking a sweat. I largely used the HoverBar Duo with the clamp attachment, which allowed me to make use of my iPad as a secondary display whereas working. The included clamp ought to match most desks and tables too, as it could possibly accommodate floor thickness from 0.4 inch to 1.4 inches.

For those who’re keen to sacrifice flexibility for one thing extra elegant, Elago’s P2 stand for iPad could also be a very good match. It’s manufactured from a single piece of aluminum with a ledge on your iPad and some well-placed cutouts that you could snake a charging cable by way of. The ledge can also be vast sufficient to accommodate most iPad instances. It might not be foldable or adjustable, however its minimalist design will make it a pretty addition to your desk.

Buy HoverBar Duo at Amazon starting at $80
Buy Elago P2 stand at Amazon – $20

Logitech MX Keys Mini

The most effective Bluetooth keyboards I’ve used lately is the Logitech MX Keys Mini. It’s not designed particularly for the iPad, however it works fairly effectively with it. It combines a whole lot of the ergonomics and the final appear and feel of the MX lineup right into a compact and moveable keyboard. The Keys Mini has a slim profile that’s barely raised because of its prime bar, plus comfy backlit keys which can be a dream to kind on. The backlight is considered one of my favourite options as a result of it robotically comes on when it senses your palms getting near the keyboard. That manner it solely stays illuminated if you’re typing, conserving battery life in the long term. Logitech estimates the Keys Mini will last as long as 10 days, relying on backlight use, or as much as 5 months with none backlight use.

Logitech’s $100 MX Keys Mini could also be on the costly facet, however it’s one which may very well be each your iPad keyboard and your foremost desk typing machine. It may possibly connect with as much as three gadgets on the identical time, permitting you to swap between them rapidly with only a press of a key, and it has a number of different useful keys too like one which brings up the emoji picker and one other that mutes your microphone (fairly helpful on Zoom calls). However if you’d like one thing much more inexpensive, and even thinner, we nonetheless just like the Logitech Keys to Go, which we’ve really helpful previously and you’ll often discover for between $50 and $70.

Buy Logitech MX Keys Mini at Amazon – $100
Buy Logitech Keys to Go at Amazon – $60

Apple Magic Keyboard for iPad

For those who actually wish to indulge, Apple’s personal Magic Keyboard is the best way to go. The $300 case magnetically attaches to the newest iPad Execs and retains them “floating” above the keyboard and trackpad. We praised the Magic Keyboard for its typing consolation and exact trackpad, however dinged it for its restricted vary of movement. It’s simply the fanciest keyboard obtainable for the iPad and it’s one to think about if cash is not any object — or if you’d like essentially the most trendy iPad keyboard cash should purchase.

Buy Magic Keyboard at Amazon – $300

Apple Pencil

This seemingly gained’t come as a shock, however the Apple Pencil is the perfect stylus you will get for the iPad. Each the first- and second-generation Pencils are designed to work particularly with iPads and it reveals of their easy writing efficiency. The second-gen stylus has a double-tap function that you could customise to a sure diploma, and pressure-sensitivity lets you add as a lot or as little element as you wish to digital art work. I extremely suggest shelling out $100 or $130 for the Apple Pencil in case you’re an artist — you gained’t be disenchanted.

Buy Apple Pencil (2nd gen) at Amazon – $129
Buy Apple Pencil (1st gen) at Amazon – $99

Logitech Crayon

There are different choices which can be extra inexpensive than the Apple Pencil, although, like Logitech’s $70 Crayon. It’s simply nearly as good by way of latency and accuracy — drawing in Procreate was a lag-free expertise and my strokes all the time ended up precisely the place I wished them to be – and it’s much more grippy by default because of its oval-shaped design. However as somebody who primarily makes use of an Apple Pencil for digital artwork, I missed stress sensitivity when utilizing the Crayon.

Apart from that, the opposite largest annoyance is that it’s a must to use a Lightning or USB-C cable to cost it. (Even the latest mannequin for the iPad Execs doesn’t magnetically connect to the pill for charging.) Whereas I wouldn’t counsel the Crayon for critical artists, I might suggest it for anybody who’s on a strict price range, particularly digital journal-keepers, dedicated note-takers and the like.

Buy Logitech Crayon at Amazon – $70

Paperlike display protector

For those who’re a heavy consumer of the Apple Pencil or another stylus, you need to take into account getting a display protector on your iPad. They pull double-duty: Not solely do they act as a primary line of protection in case your iPad goes careening onto the concrete, however they’ll additionally improve the digital drawing and writing expertise. Utilizing a stylus on an iPad is unusual at first as a result of gliding the stylus nib over a glass floor feels nothing like “regular” writing. Matte display protectors can get nearer to replicating the pen-on-paper expertise, and so they additionally forestall the stylus nib from carrying down so rapidly. Paperlike is the most well-liked on this house, however Bersem’s screen protectors are an amazing worth at $11 for a pack of two. Not solely does the matte end assist if you’re drawing or taking digital notes, however it additionally reduces display glare and doesn’t intervene with FaceID on the latest iPads.

Buy Paperlike screen protector at Amazon – $40
Buy Bersem screen protector (2 pack) at Amazon – $11

Satechi Aluminum Stand and Hub

For those who plan on pushing your iPad Professional to its limits as a every day driver, you’ll in all probability want greater than the pill’s single USB-C port. Apple has supplied little steerage to which USB-C hubs and adapters work greatest with the iPad Execs — there’s no MFi certification for equipment like this but. Some hubs particularly promote that they work with the latest iPad Execs, and if you wish to be additional protected, I like to recommend shopping for a kind of that comes from a good model.

Satechi’s $100 Aluminum Stand and Hub is a favourite for its foldable design and the way it packs ports and charging capabilities right into a compact accent. The holder itself rotates outward, revealing a hidden, hooked up USB-C cable and a rubber bumper that retains the stand in place in your desk. On the again edge are a 4K HDMI socket, one USB-A port, a headphone jack, each SD and microSD card slots and a 60W USB-C connection for charging.

I appreciated the flexibility of Satechi’s hub. I may simply use it once I wanted to prop my iPad as much as watch a YouTube video, and by simply plugging within the hooked up cable, I may change to utilizing my iPad as extra of a piece machine with the entire crucial connectors in place. It’s additionally surprisingly mild at 10 ounces. Mix that with its foldable design and you’ve got a full-featured hub that may simply be stuffed in a bag.

Buy Satechi stand and hub at Amazon – $100

Anker 7-in-1 USB-C hub

Not everybody wants, or desires, to spend $100 on a dock for his or her iPad. (For those who’re utilizing it as a laptop computer substitute, it’s well worth the funding.) For those who’d quite spend much less, or simply need one thing a bit extra light-weight, Anker’s 7-in-1 USB-C hub is an efficient alternative. It has most ports that you can ever need, with the one exception being an Ethernet jack. The slim dongle homes two USB-A ports, two USB-C connections, SD and microSD card slots and a 4K/30Hz HDMI port. We additionally like that it offers as much as 85W of pass-through charging, which suggests you’ll be able to energy up your iPad whereas utilizing Anker’s hub as the primary connector between the pill and its charging cable. Anker makes a few variations of this hub, together with one that does have that coveted Ethernet port, however it’s arduous to beat $35 for the usual 7-in-1 mannequin.

Buy Anker 7-in-1 hub at Amazon – $35
Buy Anker 8-in-1 hub at Amazon – $80

Samsung T7 SSD

It may be arduous to anticipate how a lot storage you’ll want in your iPad. Perhaps you picked up the bottom mannequin, however over time the machine has was your foremost gadget, holding most of your necessary paperwork, pictures, apps and extra. When you have one of many newest iPad fashions with USB-C, you should use that port to attach the machine to an exterior drive, offloading recordsdata and releasing up onboard house in your machine. We like Samsung’s T7 sequence of moveable SSDs for his or her slick designs, quick speeds and varied modes of safety. The T7, the T7 Touch and the T7 Shield all help learn/write speeds of as much as 1,050/1,000 MB/s, and their palm-sized designs make them simple to toss in a bag earlier than you allow for the day. All three additionally help AES 256-bit {hardware} encryption and elective password safety, however you’ll get the added bonus of a fingerprint reader on the T7 Contact. As for the T7 Defend, it’s the latest within the lineup and has a extra sturdy design with a rubberized exterior and an IP65 ranking for water and mud resistance.

Buy Samsung T7 (1TB) at Amazon – $140
Buy Samsung T7 Touch (1TB) at Amazon – $160
Buy Samsung T7 Shield (1TB) at Amazon – $160

Anker Nano II 45W GaN charger

Apple and different tech firms are more and more leaving wall adapters out of their gadgets’ bins, so it’s price choosing up a pair that may deal with charging a few items of tech as rapidly as doable. Anker’s 45W Nano II GaN adapter is an efficient one as a result of it could possibly fast-charge iPhones and iPads, plus the gallium nitride technology constructed into it helps forestall overheating. In only a half hour of charging, I received a couple of 33 p.c enhance in battery life on my 11-inch iPad Professional when utilizing this accent. Gallium nitride can also be an enormous cause why the 45W adapter is smaller than a whole lot of competing adapters obtainable now, together with Apple’s. We additionally like its foldable design, which is able to enable it to suit higher in cramped areas and in journey baggage.

Buy Anker Nano II 45W at Amazon – $40

Anker PowerCore 26,800

It’s sensible to have a transportable battery with you if you’re utilizing your iPad on the go – no matter if it’s your every day driver otherwise you’re solely utilizing it for a number of choose duties. Anker’s PowerCore 26,800 has a excessive sufficient capability to cost up most tablets virtually two instances over, making it impossible that you just’ll completely run out of energy earlier than you get to your subsequent vacation spot. Whereas it gained’t cost laptops, it’s going to work for many cell gadgets, and it has three USB-A ports so you’ll be able to energy as much as three gadgets concurrently. And for the reason that brick itself weighs simply over one pound, it gained’t crush your bag all day lengthy, both.

Buy Anker PowerCore 26,800 at Amazon – $70