I recently took a quick weekend trip, and just wanted to bring my iPad Pro and the other essentials I needed. With my iPad and a few accessories, I was able to get all the work I needed to get done while traveling light and not sacrificing power or convenience or breaking the bank. I wanted to shed some light on these accessories because I think they are really essential.
Which iPad am I using
I am currently using an iPad Pro 12.9 M1 with 128GB of storage and Wi-Fi only. This means that I am using the absolute base form. I wish I had chosen 256GB or 512GB, especially since the iPad is my one and only computer, but I’m using some SSDs to compensate. Although I use an iPad Pro, most of the accessories you mentioned will have a replacement for your iPad unless otherwise noted. I’ll also try not to mention the obvious accessories, but something like the Magic Keyboard is impossible to pass up because it turns the iPad into a laptop.
Major accessories
This category of accessories is for products that are usually always on your iPad. When I travel, I always have five products on my iPad:
- Origrid by TinyRigs – This is a relatively new product that I’ve been using for a few months now. For travel, this thing is a lifesaver. Lets you commute and travel with all your iPad essentials without having to bring along a backpack. Origrid slides onto the back panel of the Magic Keyboard and adds storage space to the back of the iPad. The model I own has two zippered compartments and these tight straps that can be manipulated to fit just about anything! I can easily fit in a charger, cables, AirPods, SSD, Apple Pencils, cleaning kit, and a few other items.
- Paper-Like Screen Protector – I’ve had this on each of my iPads. As an Apple Pencil user, I love it for the resistance it offers, especially when you’re highlighting something or even just taking notes. It protects the most important part of the iPad, the screen, and it also gives you an anti-glare finish so you can use it outdoors. The screen is the most important variable for a resale, so be sure to keep it free of scratches and cracks!
- Penoval A4 Pro Apple Pencil alternative – I could have mentioned the Apple Pencil 2 here, but that would be boring. The Apple Pencil is still $130, five years later! The Penoval Pen gives you 99% of the experience for 1/4 of the cost. It features tilt sensitivity and palm rejection, fully charges in 30 minutes to give you six hours of continuous use, charges via USB-C, still powers through magnets, and works with almost any iPad. The only thing is that it doesn’t charge magnetically and wirelessly, but it does everything else, including a double-tap shortcut.
- Pitaka MagEZ Case – I recently made a post about this case and the Pita ecosystem! Flow. But, in short, what this case does is add some protection to the side rails on the iPad Pro, and it can still work even when using the Magic Keyboard. It also allows you to charge your iPad wirelessly.
- Magic Keyboard – If you’re an iPad Pro or iPad Air user, and you want your iPad to be somewhat of a laptop replacement, you almost have to get this accessory. Yes, it’s pricey, at $350 for a 12.9-inch. version (currently $50 off the white version), but it changes what the iPad really is. The trackpad experience is amazing, the floating design is a conversation starter, and the keyboard is a joy to type on (this article is currently being written there). Some other options to consider for this are:
other essential accessories
Now that I mentioned the always-on accessories for my iPad while traveling, there are a few other products I bring with me to round it all up. You still need items like a USB-C hub, an SSD, and a way to charge. So here is the rest!
USB-C hub
The USB-C hub I’ve been traveling with is a 6-in-1 HyperDrive with media controls. What I like about this is that it’s very compact, familiar, and has all the essential ports I’ll need on the go. It has a USB-C power lane, SD card, Micro SD card, USB A, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and an HDMI port. What’s unique about this, however, are the media controls on the forward-facing portion of the distributor. These work with any of the media the iPad plays, and they work flawlessly.
Power
To charge my iPad, I’m using the new 108W GAN power brick from Satechi. 108w is very overkill because the iPad Pro can only handle 33w at full speed. But I like this one because it has three USB-C PD ports so it can charge up to a 16in MacBook Pro if needed, and it has movable prongs, which is always a plus.
Miscellaneous accessories
For the final accessories, I’d like to bring a few. I always bring my AirPods Pro Gen II with me wherever I go. It’s boring, I know, but those things just work and the new noise-canceling upgrade from Gen 1 to Gen 2 still baffles me. It cuts through airplane noise, subway noise, people noise, and anything else that isn’t a sudden, high-pitched sound. It’s unreal how they do it in such a small format.
I also carry around a 500GB Samsung T7 to offload anything that doesn’t fit on my iPad Pro. Then, finally, I like to bring a small cleaning kit when I travel to make sure my iPad is free of stains and germs. I use a paper cleaning kit, which i love because of the look and function, but there are plenty of other cleaning kits out there too.
Final thoughts
At the end of the day, you should use what works for you. Some people bring a naked iPad wherever they go and others pack enough battery, cables, and chargers to last more than a month, even though they leave for two days. These are items I’ve tested for months or even years, and I stand by them as travel essentials for my iPad. If I had to pick one of these, I’d have to pick the Magic Keyboard because it really changes what the iPad is to me. Let me know what you think! What accessories do you need to bring with you? What is something you can’t travel without? Throw in the comments which iPad is used, and which accessory is recommended to go with it!
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