If you’re one of the folks who’ve traded in your laptop for an iPad Pro, chances are, you use a keyboard to make typing on a tablet feel a lot more natural. It’s a great way to optimize your productivity when you’re working on the go. As great as the laptop form factor is, there are tasks that just flow easier when you can work on them from an elevated monitor just like you do on a desktop. That’s exactly how the Kensington StudioDock lets you work on your iPad Pro.
Designed to give your iPad Pro a desktop-like feel, the accessory mounts your tablet on an elevated stand, essentially turning it into a mini-monitor that will set up nicely on any work desk. Pair it with a compatible keyboard and mouse to get yourself working as if you’re in a proper desktop setup, albeit with an undersized monitor as your primary display.
The Kensington StudioDock is, basically, a stand with a magnetic dock on top that lets you easily snap your iPad Pro on and off in both landscape and portrait orientations. That way, you can go from using your tablet in your hand one moment and dock it like a monitor the next, allowing you to use your tablet any way you need it in the most convenient way possible. Need to do some precision illustration for a prototype design you’re making? Take it out of the dock, lay it down on the desk, and work your Apple Pencil magic. Want to go over some spreadsheets for a report you’re preparing later? Put it on the dock and pair it with a mouse, so you can scroll through your documents.
It works with both sizes of iPad Pro (11 and 12.9 inches), so you should be able to use it regardless of which one you’re using. According to the outfit, it should also work with the iPad Air, in case you’re using Apple’s ultra-slim tablet for whatever reason.
The Kensington StudioDock has a USB-C cable allows you to plug in your iPad Pro while it’s docked on the stand, so you can juice it up at a whopping 37.5W while you work, while the base doubles as a wireless charger that you can use to juice up your iPhone (up to 7.5W) and AirPods (up to 5W), along with (most likely) whatever other Qi-compatible devices you’ve got. According to the outfit, they will also be offering a version that will charge the Apple Watch down the line, so you may want to wait for that if smartwatch charging is an important part of your daily desk routine.
You know how your iPad Pro has nothing but a single USB-C port? Once you plug in the stand’s cable to the tablet, it gives the iPad Pro access to its collection of ports, namely a 3.5mm audio jack, a Gigabit Ethernet slot, an SD card reader, and four USB ports, so you can hook up a bunch of accessories to really complete your workflow.
The Kensington StudioDock comes out later in the year.