At CES this week, Kensington unveiled what looks like one of the most appealing Apple accessories we’ve seen so far – the StudioDock for iPad Air and iPad Pro. The product aims to combine a whole lot of functionality with the aesthetic from Apple’s Pro Display XDR standard.
Kensington designed StudioDock to work via a magnetic connection to the iPad Air 2020 and the 11-inch iPad Pro and 12.9-inch iPad Pro of 2018 or later – a good nod to the beloved functionality of the iPad Magic Keyboard . The connection works in both portrait and landscape modes.
As mentioned above, the StudioDock has the same design as the Pro Display XDR standard, a minimalist aluminum socket and at the bottom of it, two Qi wire ladders are embedded (one up to 7.5 W the other up to 5 W). Kensington will also sell an optional Apple Watch charger that is being attacked for StudioDock.
In terms of connectivity, the back of StudioDock 3 has USB-A ports, Gigabit Ethernet and HDMI 2.0. One side of StudioDock has a USB-C port for 18W charging. The other side has 1 headphone port (3.5mm) and a fast UHS-II SD card reader.
Kensington has not yet shared specific pricing or availability details, but there’s a hint. In the middle of the product sheet, Kensington says, the Apple Watch charging accessory will arrive mid-2021. So StudioDock will be cross-fingered by the summer or maybe sooner.
You can learn more about StudioDock on Kensington’s website here and also sign up to learn when it launches – check out the “Be the first to know when StudioDock is available” links at the top and bottom of the landing page).
We’ll also be reviewing StudioDock as soon as we can get our hands on the sharp new iPad accessory, so keep an eye out for the coming weeks.
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