First look: Logi Base is the first device to charge your iPad Pro via Smart Connector

AppleInsider

Apple's magnetic Smart Connector is no longer just for keyboard accessories. The new Logi Base Charging Stand with Smart Connector uses the input capabilities of the new port to recharge both the 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models.

The Logi Base is now available from Logitech for $99.99 and ships this month. Logitech provided AppleInsider with a sample unit ahead of Tuesday's announcement.

The aluminum Base is heavy and sturdy, with a rubber anti-slip pad that satisfyingly holds the accessory in place on a flat surface. This allows you to quickly place or remove the iPad Pro while the Logi Base stays in place.

The use of magnets in the Smart Connector also make it easy to correctly line up the iPad Pro. Simply place it on the dock in the appropriate fashion and the connectors will snap into place accordingly.

On the back, a female Lightning port allows a user to bring their own Lightning cable and power brick. Simply plug into the back of the Base and dock your iPad, and you're good to go.

The Apple-certified accessory is the first to recharge the iPad Pro via the Smart Connector. Previously, it was only used for keyboard attachments, including Logitech's own Create keyboard.

Apple hasn't gone into detail on the technical capabilities of the Smart Connector. Logitech said charging with the Smart Connector takes about one to two hours longer than with a Lightning connector.

The company estimates that with a 12-watt Apple power adaptor, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro takes about 7 hours to charge with the Logi Base. The smaller 9.7-inch iPad Pro is estimated to take about 5 hours to charge.

The Base also continues the close partnership between Logitech and Apple. Last year, the two companies worked together in secret on the Create keyboard, allowing it to ship alongside the 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

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mattinoz

How well does an iPhone 6 sit on this, assuming that the 7 will have the same port on the side and you'll want one dock for your new phone as well?

billepn

Is it Then possible to double charge the iPad Pro?
Please check it out!

grimzahn

What is the blue thing arround the pencil? Does it allow the pencil to stick on the screen as shown on the picture?

nhughes

Grimzahn said:

What is the blue thing arround the pencil? Does it allow the pencil to stick on the screen as shown on the picture?

Yeah, it's a magnetic sleeve for the Pencil from a company called Moxiware, and it makes the pencil stick to the right side of the iPad display. We should have a review soon, but for ~$17 it's a pretty good deal.

nhughes

BillePN said:

Is it Then possible to double charge the iPad Pro?
Please check it out!

Can't double-charge. If you have a 12.9" Pro, you can get the 29W power adapter and a USB-C to Lightning cable to charge much faster. 9.7" Pro does not support USB 3 charging speeds, however. And neither does this dock. We don't know what the limitations of the Smart Connector are, because Apple doesn't like to reveal tech specs, especially on proprietary technology.

efithian@mac.com

Can the 29w adapter be used with this dock and a USB3 to lightning cable? What will be the time to charge with this arrangement?

nhughes

efithian@mac.com said:

Can the 29w adapter be used with this dock and a USB3 to lightning cable? What will be the time to charge with this arrangement?

The tech specs on the dock reveal it is rated at 5.2v/2.4a. It can be used with the 29W adapter and a USB-C to Lightning cable, but with those speeds listed on the dock, you simply won't get the full 29W charging support (it'll downscale accordingly).

As noted in the article, Logitech says a full charge via smart connector takes about 7 hours for the 12.9" Pro, and 5 hours for the 9.7" model. That's a little longer than if you were to charge via Lightning.

grimzahn

nhughes said:

Grimzahn said:

What is the blue thing arround the pencil? Does it allow the pencil to stick on the screen as shown on the picture?

Yeah, it's a magnetic sleeve for the Pencil from a company called Moxiware, and it makes the pencil stick to the right side of the iPad display. We should have a review soon, but for ~$17 it's a pretty good deal.

Thank you for the feedback. Do you happen to know if the sleeve works with Apples own Silicon Case? Edit:Nevermind, just brought it. Front should work.  

edited April 2016

spamsandwich

Seems like a nice stand, but by this time I was really hoping there would be special Smart Connector keyboards for music creation, editing and color correction stations for on-site video production, and other pro and prosumer uses.

There's been virtually no activity whatsoever in response to Apple's innovations. Perhaps they should seed some design competitions or establish some high-profile Kickstarters to get people and companies onboard and excited.

How about have some creative, leading edge audio equipment ideas for the Smart Connector kicked out from the Beats division? Smart Connector mixing boards with flying faders? A station made completely of touch surfaces curved, like the one seen in Minority Report? Do something, for crying out loud.

edited April 2016

nhughes

Grimzahn said:

nhughes said:

Yeah, it's a magnetic sleeve for the Pencil from a company called Moxiware, and it makes the pencil stick to the right side of the iPad display. We should have a review soon, but for ~$17 it's a pretty good deal.

Thank you for the feedback. Do you happen to know if the sleeve works with Apples own Silicon Case? Edit:Nevermind, just brought it. Front should work.  

The magnets attach to the front and side of the iPad. Because it's not an official sanctioned product, and because Apple never really intended for the Pencil to stick magnetically to the iPad, the alignments around the exterior can be a little weird. But it works, and it's an easy way to stow the Pencil if you're holding your iPad and don't have a place to put it down.

nhughes

SpamSandwich said:

Seems like a nice stand, but by this time I was really hoping there would be special Smart Connector keyboards for music creation, editing and color correction stations for on-site video production, and other pro and prosumer uses.

There's been virtually no activity whatsoever in response to Apple's innovations. Perhaps they should seed some design competitions or establish some high-profile Kickstarters to get people and companies onboard and excited.

How about have some creative, leading edge audio equipment ideas for the Smart Connector kicked out from the Beats division? Smart Connector mixing boards with flying faders? A station made completely of touch surfaces curved, like the one seen in Minority Report? Do something, for crying out loud.

It's unclear what the licensing process is for Smart Connector at this point. We haven't heard anything from any accessory makers aside from Logitech, so it's possible that Apple simply has not opened up development capabilities to other companies (yet). Wouldn't be surprised to hear more about a Smart Connector SDK at WWDC.

spamsandwich

nhughes said:

SpamSandwich said:

Seems like a nice stand, but by this time I was really hoping there would be special Smart Connector keyboards for music creation, editing and color correction stations for on-site video production, and other pro and prosumer uses.

There's been virtually no activity whatsoever in response to Apple's innovations. Perhaps they should seed some design competitions or establish some high-profile Kickstarters to get people and companies onboard and excited.

How about have some creative, leading edge audio equipment ideas for the Smart Connector kicked out from the Beats division? Smart Connector mixing boards with flying faders? A station made completely of touch surfaces curved, like the one seen in Minority Report? Do something, for crying out loud.

It's unclear what the licensing process is for Smart Connector at this point. We haven't heard anything from any accessory makers aside from Logitech, so it's possible that Apple simply has not opened up development capabilities to other companies (yet). Wouldn't be surprised to hear more about a Smart Connector SDK at WWDC.

But you must admit, Apple has a miserable record of reaching out to third parties to spur manyfacturing and design innovation in response to their initiatives. They seem to sit completely immobile, waiting for the world to beat a path to their door, instead of  actively reaching out to get companies and innovators on the same page. Just from my perspective, Apple seems absolutely sluggish in this regard.

Also, Apple blew any chance at promoting Smart Connector innovations at NAB, while I understand there were many companies there using iPhones and iPads for other uses.

edited April 2016

mike1

nhughes said:

SpamSandwich said:

Seems like a nice stand, but by this time I was really hoping there would be special Smart Connector keyboards for music creation, editing and color correction stations for on-site video production, and other pro and prosumer uses.

There's been virtually no activity whatsoever in response to Apple's innovations. Perhaps they should seed some design competitions or establish some high-profile Kickstarters to get people and companies onboard and excited.

How about have some creative, leading edge audio equipment ideas for the Smart Connector kicked out from the Beats division? Smart Connector mixing boards with flying faders? A station made completely of touch surfaces curved, like the one seen in Minority Report? Do something, for crying out loud.

It's unclear what the licensing process is for Smart Connector at this point. We haven't heard anything from any accessory makers aside from Logitech, so it's possible that Apple simply has not opened up development capabilities to other companies (yet). Wouldn't be surprised to hear more about a Smart Connector SDK at WWDC.

Not only that. It's only been about 5-6 months since the larger Pro was first sold. The development cycle of all those products takes longer than that. Not talking a case here. You would expect to wait about a year for well thought out accessories to hit the shelf.

nhughes

SpamSandwich said:

nhughes said:

It's unclear what the licensing process is for Smart Connector at this point. We haven't heard anything from any accessory makers aside from Logitech, so it's possible that Apple simply has not opened up development capabilities to other companies (yet). Wouldn't be surprised to hear more about a Smart Connector SDK at WWDC.

But you must admit, Apple has a miserable record of reaching out to third parties to spur manyfacturing and design innovation in response to their initiatives. They seem to sit completely immobile, waiting for the world to beat a path to their door, instead of  actively reaching out to get companies and innovators on the same page. Just from my perspective, Apple seems absolutely sluggish in this regard.

Also, Apple blew any chance at promoting Smart Connector innovations at NAB, while I understand there were many companies there using iPhones and iPads for other uses.

mike1 said:

nhughes said:

It's unclear what the licensing process is for Smart Connector at this point. We haven't heard anything from any accessory makers aside from Logitech, so it's possible that Apple simply has not opened up development capabilities to other companies (yet). Wouldn't be surprised to hear more about a Smart Connector SDK at WWDC.

Not only that. It's only been about 5-6 months since the larger Pro was first sold. The development cycle of all those products takes longer than that. Not talking a case here. You would expect to wait about a year for well thought out accessories to hit the shelf.

I literally have not heard a peep from any other companies about Smart Connector accessories. Apple handpicked Logitech for both of these devices (the Create keyboard was secretly in development before the 12.9" iPad Pro was even announced). I honestly question whether Apple has even begun to allow other, non-Logitech third-party accessory makers to build Smart Connector devices.

Now that we can confirm the Smart Connector is capable of charging, though, that opens up a whole host of new possibilities, especially for the iPhone 7. Stay tuned.

scootercomputer

Couple of questions: is the Smart Connector centered along the side edge of the iPad Pro? If not, is it OFF centered in a manner that might indicate that it is designed so to accommodate a Smart Connector interface on the bottom of the iPhone 7? In other words, is it off-center to the left by ~3mm, which would put it to the one side of a Lightning Port on an iPhone 6s? Does the physical size of the Smart Connector fit between the Lightning port and the edge of an iPhone 6s? How tall is this stand, specifically can an iPhone 6 chassis stand upright in it? (eg if the iPhone 7 has a Smart Connector, does the height of this device project that said connector would necessarily have to be on the bottom vs side)

Given that the iPhone UI doesn't do so hot in Landscape mode vs Portrait, I can't imagine a Smart Connector on the side of an iPhone. OTOH, it doesn't immediately appear that Apple put much thought into how the Smart Connector would integrate into the iPhone bottom, considering it is a symmetric connector and does't account for a symmetric-iPhone centered Lightning port; which wouldn't be very "smart". Although, it would be kinda smart if somehow the ring/bezel around the Lightning port was designed to interface with the center pad of the Smart Connector, or if Apple approved a thin Smart Connector > Lightning bridge for case manufacturers.

spamsandwich

mike1 said:

nhughes said:

It's unclear what the licensing process is for Smart Connector at this point. We haven't heard anything from any accessory makers aside from Logitech, so it's possible that Apple simply has not opened up development capabilities to other companies (yet). Wouldn't be surprised to hear more about a Smart Connector SDK at WWDC.

Not only that. It's only been about 5-6 months since the larger Pro was first sold. The development cycle of all those products takes longer than that. Not talking a case here. You would expect to wait about a year for well thought out accessories to hit the shelf.

That's a fair point. It only seems like it's been like a year since the introduction!

owisscha

Does the USB to Lightning adapter work while charging? This would be great for using GarageBand with a keyboard attached and not having to switch to a charging cable all the time. Can anyone please check this?

nhughes

owisscha said:

Does the USB to Lightning adapter work while charging? This would be great for using GarageBand with a keyboard attached and not having to switch to a charging cable all the time. Can anyone please check this?

The USB adapter doesn't work through the dock (ie, plugged into the Lightning port on the back of the dock). The dock is only for charging. I have no idea if this is a limitation of Smart Connector hardware, or something built into iOS.

You can, however, charge the Apple Pencil through the iPad's Lightning port while using the dock. Or plug in the USB adapter into the iPad's Lightning port while docked and charging.

edited April 2016

owisscha

nhughes said:

owisscha said:

Does the USB to Lightning adapter work while charging? This would be great for using GarageBand with a keyboard attached and not having to switch to a charging cable all the time. Can anyone please check this?

The USB adapter doesn't work through the dock (ie, plugged into the Lightning port on the back of the dock). The dock is only for charging. I have no idea if this is a limitation of Smart Connector hardware, or something built into iOS.

You can, however, charge the Apple Pencil through the iPad's Lightning port while using the dock. Or plug in the USB adapter into the iPad's Lightning port while docked and charging.

That last piece of Information is what I was looking for! So I can connect my digital piano via the USB adapter into the Lightning port (and play piano in GarageBand) and at the same time charge the iPad? That's awesome!

nhughes

owisscha said:

nhughes said:

The USB adapter doesn't work through the dock (ie, plugged into the Lightning port on the back of the dock). The dock is only for charging. I have no idea if this is a limitation of Smart Connector hardware, or something built into iOS.

You can, however, charge the Apple Pencil through the iPad's Lightning port while using the dock. Or plug in the USB adapter into the iPad's Lightning port while docked and charging.

That last piece of Information is what I was looking for! So I can connect my digital piano via the USB adapter into the Lightning port (and play piano in GarageBand) and at the same time charge the iPad? That's awesome!

Well, if you own Apple's new USB 3 adapter, it includes a female Lightning port for charging. So you can plug into the wall and your digital piano at the same time, without the need for the Smart Connector dock, if you so choose.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/03/24/first-look-apples-new-usb-3-lightning-to-usb-c-cable-and-camera-adapter-for-ipad-pro