The new iPad Air 4 has a lot going for it. It has a redesigned ipad pro like design,
a larger screen with smaller bezels, and a new power button with touch ID. This iPad is fantastic
as it is but there are a few accessories you can add to get even more out of it.
Hey, my name is Jerry and the new iPad Air is a great iPad. Well,
All iPads are great in my opinion, but over the last few years
their utility has increased, and you can do so much more with them…No
longer are these devices built just for playing some basic ipad games and watching netflix.
One of the first things you may want is a case of some kind and I have this Apple Smart Folio case
for the iPad Air 4. This just happens to be the pink Citrus case and I think it looks
pretty nice with the Green iPad Air. ……..And you may be wondering, but no, this iPad is
not mine. I just get to review and test it a little bit before it goes to the real owner.
Unlike the smart cases which I believe were just a magnetic flap that snapped to the
side, this Smart Folio snaps to the back so it can now protect the front and back of the iPad
air. It can of course do the 3-fold thing and be a stand for watching videos or
whatever, or you can flip it around to type on.
But if you really want to type using an iPad you have a couple of better options.
The one I would recommend is the Apple Magic Keyboard………..I
have plenty of videos explaining all the benefits of the Magic Keybaord for iPad and I love this
thing. This device transforms an iPad Pro, and now an iPad Air into a real productivity device.
I don’t have an 11” version but if this were my iPad the magic keyboard would be the first
thing I would buy for it. It has the cool floating design, backlit scissor switch keys
and a glass trackpad that you can click anywhere……And
that is awesome because of the mouse support that was added to iPad OS early this year…The
downside to the iPad Magic Keybaord of course is the cost at $300 for the 11” version.
If $300 is hard to swallow for a keybaord case Apple also has the Smart Keyboard folio
which they introduced with the 2018 iPads Pro and is not compatible with the Air 4.
This keyboard case has the same foot print but instead of the cool floating design
you have 2 set positions to use………….This case is lighter than the Magic Keyboard and has kind of
this fabric covering on the keys, which are not backlit. I really liked this case until the Magic
Keyboard was announced but it is still a very good typing experience but of course no trackpad…..
So you could save the difference by going with the Smart Keyboard folio and use some of that
toward a Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad for those times you want a more desktop like experience………I
like both of these devices a lot. The Magic Trackpad 2 is a huge trackpad with plenty of
room to swipe, scroll and gesture. This is a force touch trackpad so you can press anywhere
on the trackpad and it will give you haptic feedback to simulate a click………….I think the
Magic Trackpad is a great way to navigate around the iPad because you can use 2 fingers to swipe
down on the home screen to search, 3 fingers to go home, 3 fingers to bring up multitasking,
and a few more. Using a trackpad is great way to interact with the iPad.
You can also use the Magic Mouse 2 which I find better when doing a lot of text editing.
I have always preferred a mouse to a trackpad when editing text because I find it more precise
and I do not need to work as hard to make sure the cursor is in the exact right spot………just
like on the Mac, the Magic Mouse has the touch surface for scrolling and swiping….
And, I think that Apple’s inertial scrolling on iOS is better than on
a Mac and I mean there is no comparison to a windows device, but I digress……… My only
issue with the Magic Mouse on iPad is that you cant do as much as you can with the trackpad.
There is no gesture to get home or get to multitasking.
These are just 2 options of external mice or mice like things that you can add to iPad, you can also
get almost any other Bluetooth mouse and even customize the buttons to do different things. I
made a. Video about that which you can see up here and I will leave a link in the description below.
Next is something I have been adding to all of my devices over the last year and that is
an iCarez Matte screen protector. These films are anti-glare and help protect against fingerprints.
The install process is pretty simple. First you clean the screen with the included wipes
then You align the protector and hold onto it so it doesn’t move.
Place stickers at the faceID end to act as hinges and wrap them around the edge.
Use a lift sticker to use as a handle to raise the film.
remove the back plastic and carefully apply to the screen…………
There will be some bubbles but if you are happy with the alignment you can then remove
the hinge stickers and remove the top layer of plastic……………Use the microfiber and squeezy to
push bubbles out to the sides. You may see some specs of dust underneath the screen.
If you have some specs of dust, use a sticker to raise an edge and then you can use one of
the dust stickers to remove specs of dust. When done it should look like this…………..
The anti-glare benefit is that I can now use the iPad in very bright locations like
outside or in a bright room, and not just see my own reflection staring back at me,
or have the screen drowned out by bright light.
I also find that the iCarez matte film is easier to clean than the glass on the iPhone.
One of the big benefits of the new iPad Air 4 is the addition of a USB-C port. This
allows for many other accessories that can increase the usability of the iPad Air….
Now you can connect things directly to the iPad like Cameras for transferring photos and video
using a USB-C cable from a camera or a USB-A to USB-C adapter.
For an even faster transfer from a camera
you can use a USB-C SD card reader like this Cococka reader that has a built in USB-C port.
You can even use a USB-C hub like this that has all the ports you may need for
USB drives, SD cards, etehrnet, and video out to use an external monitor with your ipad.
If you are a creative person who uses the iPad for things like CAD drawings, photoshop,
or even video editing you probably know how it can be a pain in the butt
to move very large files to or from the iPad. Sure there is AirDrop which works great for smaller
files but is not always 100% reliable. Now you can connect a solid state drive directly to the iPad.
I have this 1TB Samsung T7 drive formatted with APFS. Copying a 1.11 GB file to the iPad Air
took about 5 seconds or around 220MBps…..Copying the same file
from the iPad to the SSD took between 7 and 8 seconds and was about 150MBps.
Next up for the creative types is the Apple Pencil 2. Unlike the original Apple pencil this
one snaps to the side magnetically to charge and pair. I am not a huge apple pencil user but I do
fidget and play with it from time to time and take drawings for work notes. With Scribble in iOS 14
you can now use the Apple pencil to write in any text field so if you are a pencil user who draws a
lot or takes handwritten notes you no longer need to put the pencil down to do something else in the
system. You can just search in safari using the pencil and it will convert to text.
If you like to play games you will want to get a game pad.
Pretty much all of apple arcade games have gamepad support and many third parties have been adding
them. I am not a big gamer any more but when I do play games I prefer to have a
physical controller and now you can pair an XBOX or PlayStation controller directly to iOS devices.
Last on my list is AirPod. Ever since I got my first pair in 2017
they are always in my pocket. They are incredibly small and lightweight and so convenient to always
have with you. No matter what I am doing from Work Zoom calls, to watching a movie to playing games,
these fit the bill. iOS14 added fast switching for airpods so now moving from one device to another
is instant. So if you are listening to a podcast on your phone but you pull up
your ipad to watch youtube the airpods will automatically switch to the ipad……like this……
So these are some of my favorite accessories for iPad.
You can get so much more done from an ipad by adding a keyboard and mouse.
The USB-C port adds expansion possibilities and faster ways to transfer files. AirPods and
gamepads can bump up the level of entertainment you get from and iPad while the iCarez screen
protector will keep your screen mint and make it easier to see in bright environments.
I would love to hear what accessories you use with iPad or what you think about the iPad air 4 so
let me know below. If you are interested in seeing how you can make iPad more like a laptop
you should check out this video over here…………Hit the thumbs up if you liked it,
hit subscribe if you want and Ill see you next time.