What is going on, everyone?
I am Mike, welcome back to Tech 24/7 TV.
I am glad you are with me today because we are checking out the
iPad dock to end all iPad docks.
Really, this is the creme de la creme.
This dock is just a cornucopia of connectivity.
Now priced at three hundred and ninety-nine dollars ($399),
this is the Kensington StudioDock.
This is designed to work with an iPad, a twelve-point
nine-inch iPad Pro, 11 inch iPad Air, and iPad Pro.
It's really a way to integrate all of your accessories,
all of your workflows, onto a single dock that rotates both
in portrait and landscape.
But really, who's going to buy this at three hundred dollars?
Let's get into it.
This dock is magnetic, so it'll hold your iPad using
the magnets, the magnets on the back of the iPad.
Now, this is a way to use your iPad, whether it's in
portrait mode or landscape mode,
it rotates very, very easily and has a nice fluid
motion to it.
So let's talk about the specs: on the back of the dock.
You're going to have a few different options here.
You're going to have three high-speed USB-A ports.
You're going to have one video out.
It's going to be 4K60.
You're going to have a gigabit Ethernet port,
which is gigabit.
There's going to be a USB-C port on the side,
which is five gigabits.
And on the other side, there's an SDHC UHS type II
port (and 3.5mm jack).
Now, unfortunately, that USB-C port won't drive
a video display.
I tried to connect this dock to my LG Ultrafine Monitor via a
Thunderbolt 3 breakout or USB-C breakout, and it
did not work.
And through some searching, it just doesn't work that way.
So that is unfortunate.
If you want to use this dock with a display, you're going to
need to make sure that you have an HDMI breakout, or the
display itself will need to support HDMI because it doesn't
work with Thunderball three.
It closely resembles the stand for the Pro XDR display though
It's not made entirely of aluminum.
The back is made of plastic, and on the front,
it is plastic, but it probably can manufacture plastic to give
it a nice, cool touch.
It has a USB port on the bottom of the dock, which will connect
to your iPad.
And that's actually how it transfers data as well as
charges the iPad.
There's a power button that controls powering on or
off the iPad.
So when it's in this dock, it is charging all the time,
which is nice, you know, if you depend on how you use
your iPad.
Now, it does have a fast charger, does charge your
iPad at thirty-seven and a half watts.
So it's very quick.
It's designed to maybe sit on your desk as an accessory.
Maybe it sits on your desk in conjunction with your computer
with another display, and that's how I'm using
it right now.
But it is really meant to augment and offer flexibility
to individuals that are using the iPad.
Maybe you are in a creative position.
Maybe you are a designer, maybe you're an artist, or I
don't know, maybe you just do something else.
Now, what I like about it here is that it's very heavy,
it's very hefty, it feels significant,
it feels well-made, and I think the price tag
will command that.
If it didn't feel well made and wanted to pay three hundred
ninety-nine dollars for this.
On the back, it has two Kensington Locks making
it really, really secure.
So if you don't want to worry about this dog walking off
because of three hundred million dollars, you can lock
it down twice.
I like the ability to rotate my iPad in this dock here.
It rotates very smoothly.
It's very easy to use, and it's I would say
it's almost effortless.
What is also nice is that once you have the iPad, say,
in vertical or horizontal Potente orientation, it's maybe
one finger to lift up or down the iPad.
Look at this: one finger.
Right, and you see it goes down very smoothly.
I mean, I like that.
it just rotates very smoothly.
You could tell that the mechanism that's in there
is very nice.
Now, you would use this if you wanted to, maybe like I'm doing
right now, maybe you want to extend your
desktop using Sidecar.
I
f you want to use your iPad strictly as a
laptop replacement, maybe you'd connect a keyboard to like I've
done in the past with a mouse is really full-fledged.
Now, I don't know how much future-proofing is in this
because if Apple is changing the size of the twelve-point
nine-inch iPad Pro or the thickness, this may or
may not work.
I guess we'll know in a few weeks whenever Apple does
announce those new iPads.
Many people are balking at the price of three
hundred ninety-nine dollars,
saying, "Hey, I can buy something for 80 bucks."
And I think that the answer to that question is: This is
probably not made for you.
This is really made for people who are "one,"
not price sensitive.
"Two" Businesses that are not price-sensitive, though.
They're going to buy this for someone in their
creative department, someone who works with Max,
work with iPads.
This is an investment, has a three-year warranty, which is
actually really, really nice.
It is made by Kensington, which is a company that has a
lot of good accessories and their accessories are generally
well-received in the consumer Apple ecosystem.
Now, for me, I actually found just in a little bit of
using it, I really like it.
I think I like it a lot for face-timing.
That was probably the primary excuse is that I have.
Now, truth be told, I don't know ifI will keep on my desk.
I love having this on my desk.
I love having my iPad in this orientation.
But honestly, I probably have about 12 different iPad stands
that are not the same, but they fulfill a very
similar function.
So that said, I may keep it or I might not.
Let me know what kind of questions you have about this
down in the comments below.
I've got a ton of further testing to do.
I am Mike,; this is tech 24/7 TV folks.
I'll talk to the next one.
Who?
I said, fine, I think I'm an iPad.
Now, my ear itches, but that really doesn't have anything to
do with you.