Our favorite accessories for the new iPad Air
You just got your new iPad Air recently and you're looking for the best accessories, but don't know where to start. This guide will give you an idea of what to pick up next for your brand new iPad Air.
iPad Air 3
Everyone uses their iPads differently, so you may need different accessories than we do, but many of these are useful enough to appeal to a large audience.
One of the first things that we bought for the new iPad Air is the Apple Pencil. We aren't great artists by any means, we can barely draw stick figures. But Apple Pencil is a great tool to have even if you're not an artist. If you're a student and you rely heavily on your iPad to jot down notes there are several apps you can use to take advantage of Apple's Pencil, and you can also use it to navigate through the iPad, as well as a tool to help you edit photos on the go to get those precise tweaks.
The second thing we'd recommend is a screen protector. We picked up a glass screen protector from Amazon, by amFilm. Nothing special about this other than the fact that it can save you a trip to the Apple Store and setting up a genius appointment because you shattered your screen.
The Apple Pencil also works great with this screen protector, we haven't noticed anything unusual, although we found that the Apple Pencil was a lot smoother with this screen protector on which could be a good thing or a bad thing if you use the Apple Pencil every day.
It comes with two screen protectors in case you mess up on your first application, or shattered the first one in a bad tumble. It's also incredibly affordable at just $10. There are other brands you can buy from Amazon, but we think this is the best bang for your buck.
iPad Air with the KOHMO Companion Case
Next up is a case that can protect your iPad from small bumps or scratches, and this is the Kohmo Companion Cover. This was actually built for the 2017 10.5-inch iPad Pro as you can see from the camera cutout, and the speaker cutouts. Instead of having two speaker cutouts, there are four, and on the back, there's a pill-shaped cutout for the camera and flash found on the 10.5-inch Pro model from 2017. Also, given the name Companion Cover, this pairs well with our next recommendation -- Apple's Smart Keyboard.
iPad Air with Smart Keyboard
We've talked about how great this keyboard is in our full review, but to reiterate what we said in the review, this is the best keyboard you can buy for the new iPad Air. It connects using the Smart Connector, so you don't have to pair it via Bluetooth, or ever charge it, and with the KOHMO Companion Cover, you've got protection for both the front and back which is really neat.
iPad Air in Poetic TPU case
If the Kohmo Companion Cover and Smart Keyboard isn't your thing, and you want something that'll just protect your device, we'd recommend picking up the Poetic TPU case with a built-in Apple Pencil holder. It covers both the front and back of the iPad, and there's a built-in pencil holder which is incredibly useful since there's really no other way to store the pencil other than leaving it next to the iPad, or on top of it.
One thing we're not fans of though are the magnets on this case, they're not super strong so the tri-fold mechanism you can usually do with Apple's own smart cover is a little bit tough to do. Otherwise, a great, simple case.
Anker USB-C Lightning cable
Last thing that we recommend is a USB-C to Lightning cable from Anker, as well as their 18W USB-C charging brick to charge your iPad extra fast. This exact same setup, if you were to purchase from Apple, would cost you around $60, whereas this Anker combo from Amazon set us back around $38.
The iPad Air is very new and we will undoubtedly see more and more accessories flood the market to deal with the slight tweaks in its design from previous iterations. These happen to be the ones we've picked up but there are many other options out there. Hopefully, this guide at a minimum pointed you in the right direction.
Accessory deals
iPad Air 3
Everyone uses their iPads differently, so you may need different accessories than we do, but many of these are useful enough to appeal to a large audience.
One of the first things that we bought for the new iPad Air is the Apple Pencil. We aren't great artists by any means, we can barely draw stick figures. But Apple Pencil is a great tool to have even if you're not an artist. If you're a student and you rely heavily on your iPad to jot down notes there are several apps you can use to take advantage of Apple's Pencil, and you can also use it to navigate through the iPad, as well as a tool to help you edit photos on the go to get those precise tweaks.
The second thing we'd recommend is a screen protector. We picked up a glass screen protector from Amazon, by amFilm. Nothing special about this other than the fact that it can save you a trip to the Apple Store and setting up a genius appointment because you shattered your screen.
The Apple Pencil also works great with this screen protector, we haven't noticed anything unusual, although we found that the Apple Pencil was a lot smoother with this screen protector on which could be a good thing or a bad thing if you use the Apple Pencil every day.
It comes with two screen protectors in case you mess up on your first application, or shattered the first one in a bad tumble. It's also incredibly affordable at just $10. There are other brands you can buy from Amazon, but we think this is the best bang for your buck.
iPad Air with the KOHMO Companion Case
Next up is a case that can protect your iPad from small bumps or scratches, and this is the Kohmo Companion Cover. This was actually built for the 2017 10.5-inch iPad Pro as you can see from the camera cutout, and the speaker cutouts. Instead of having two speaker cutouts, there are four, and on the back, there's a pill-shaped cutout for the camera and flash found on the 10.5-inch Pro model from 2017. Also, given the name Companion Cover, this pairs well with our next recommendation -- Apple's Smart Keyboard.
iPad Air with Smart Keyboard
We've talked about how great this keyboard is in our full review, but to reiterate what we said in the review, this is the best keyboard you can buy for the new iPad Air. It connects using the Smart Connector, so you don't have to pair it via Bluetooth, or ever charge it, and with the KOHMO Companion Cover, you've got protection for both the front and back which is really neat.
iPad Air in Poetic TPU case
If the Kohmo Companion Cover and Smart Keyboard isn't your thing, and you want something that'll just protect your device, we'd recommend picking up the Poetic TPU case with a built-in Apple Pencil holder. It covers both the front and back of the iPad, and there's a built-in pencil holder which is incredibly useful since there's really no other way to store the pencil other than leaving it next to the iPad, or on top of it.
One thing we're not fans of though are the magnets on this case, they're not super strong so the tri-fold mechanism you can usually do with Apple's own smart cover is a little bit tough to do. Otherwise, a great, simple case.
Anker USB-C Lightning cable
Last thing that we recommend is a USB-C to Lightning cable from Anker, as well as their 18W USB-C charging brick to charge your iPad extra fast. This exact same setup, if you were to purchase from Apple, would cost you around $60, whereas this Anker combo from Amazon set us back around $38.
The iPad Air is very new and we will undoubtedly see more and more accessories flood the market to deal with the slight tweaks in its design from previous iterations. These happen to be the ones we've picked up but there are many other options out there. Hopefully, this guide at a minimum pointed you in the right direction.
Where to buy
The iPad accessories featured in this piece can be ordered on Amazon right now, with prices starting at $11.99.Accessory deals
- Anker USB-C to Lightning Cable: $17.99 (Free shipping on $25)
- amFilm Glass Screen Protector: $11.99 (Free shipping on $25)
- KHOMO Companion Cover: $12.95 ($2.41 off)
- Anker USB-C 18W Power Delivery Charger: $19.99 ($2 off)
- Poetic Smart Cover w/ Apple Pencil Holder: $16.95 (Free shipping on $25)
- Apple Pencil: $94.88 ($5 off)
Comments
Apple offers an 18W charger separately--that is included w/the 12.9 iPad Pro (3rd Gen)--though it costs $26 vs. Anker's $19 and the Apple prongs do not fold like the Anker ones. I have both and they work well.
https://www.apple.com/us_epp_225857/shop/product/MU7T2LL/A/18w-usb-c-power-adapter?fnode=32aa49acebd806448ba68f01aa186e746e14678eeb7a1393cb078cb5d2addb38da5e531ec6e84affb585f8ba54e9c20060673bce0fb791ac4aa0217be2aaaaa41f2b49b493434eef3220c0271bfeebd0dbec3a21a8ec72a0194ff6c345c17064
The Anker wall charger you want is the Anker 18W Power Delivery USB C Charger not the 15W USB C Wall Charger.
https://www.anker.com/products/variant/anker-18w-power-delivery-usb-c-charger/A2019121
Lastly, the article referenced the Anker USB-C to Lightning cable. Unfortunately, they have not released the 2'/6M version yet.
If like me you have an 12.9 iPad Pro (3rd Gen) you will want to purchase the Apple USB-C to USB-C cable over the Anker versions. Though the Anker versions can support PD charging they are not Thunderbolt compatible and therefore do not support high throughput data transfers should you also use the same cable with say a MacBook Pro.