Underwhelmed By Apple's New iPad Smart Case

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Amongst Apple’s WWDC announcements and product releases, a smaller ticket tablet accessory was introduced. The iPad Smart Case ($49) builds on Apple’s Smart Cover ($39) by kindly adding protection to the rear of your iPad 2 or New iPad 3. And, at first blush, it looks pretty sharp. Which just goes to show, one shouldn’t judge an iPad case by it’s cover.

ipad-smart-case8The Smart Case is sleeker than Apple’s first attempt at an official iPad case, but it retains that model’s pointy side seams – making it somewhat uncomfortable to hold as a book or magazine. Conversely, when folding the cover into a triangle as a stand, the iPad angle is too steep for comfortable usage and better suited for passive viewing. Further, and more importantly, the iPad is unstable in this upright position. While the iPad certainly is secure within the case, it can slide around a bit and reveal gaps between tablet and the polyurethane which makes it all seem a bit unrefined and cheapy.

So my hunt for the best iPad case resumes. In the interim, I’ve reverted back to the less elegant but more functional Belkin Cinema Dot Folio ($25 via Costco).

23 thoughts on “Underwhelmed By Apple's New iPad Smart Case”

  1. Even though the gear isn’t all that impressive, it’s worth noting Apple’s exceptional customer experience. The case was personalized with a free inscription and shipped free from China in 48 hours. I figured I’d be eating the $49 given the customization, but Apple will accept the return no questions asked (even though they’ll presumably destroy the case). Guess that Apple tax has some practical benefits…

  2. Speaking of iOS:

    Over the past week, I’ve been occasionally getting unreadable pages on your site, with a big black box, and the message: “JavaScript for Mobile Safari is currently turned off.”

    Of course, I’m not using Mobile Safari to browse. I’m using OmniWeb on OS X with JavaScript disabled. Given that your site normally perfectly works fine sans JS, I assume you’ve tweaked something in your settings very recently that is intermittently accidentally sniffing mobile browsers where none actually exist.

    Thought you might want to know.

    (Hell, even Twitter finally gave up on their attempts to deny readable pages to non-JS browsers. Nick Denton’s dwarf-empire is the only place I’m aware of that hasn’t capitulated to the no-JS masses.)

    —–

    “it’s worth noting Apple’s exceptional customer experience”

    The new hardware customer experience is indeed excellent. Of course, the fact that the actual goods are often problematic, as troubled you here, is also worthy of note.

    “And, at first blush, it looks pretty sharp.”

    Given that 99% of buyers won’t bother with the return, that’s all that matters, no? And given the humongous margin, I think they could destroy a hell of a lot of returned smart cases and still make money, even if they shipped them overnight from Mars.

    All the gear looks great. All the gear demos great. Unfortunately, those seem to be the only real concerns at the mothership these days.

    I still can’t wait for the $2,000 42″ Apple HDTV. It’s gonna look and demo off the charts…

  3. Given that 99% of buyers won’t bother with the return, that’s all that matters, no? And given the humongous margin, I think they could destroy a hell of a lot of returned smart cases and still make money, even if they shipped them overnight from Mars.

    I’m sure many folks will be satisfied and will prefer the “official” case. Also, it’ll be the only case sold in the Apple Store if recent visits (with NO third party cases or covers) are any indication. So, yeah, they’ll sell a ton and it’s safe to assume the margins are high. In fact, I’ve been percolating a post for a few years – I don’t want to give it away, even though the moment may have passed. Hmm.

    Regarding the site, I’ve upgraded a few plugins and added a pseudo-CDN service recently that could be related to what you’re seeing (and I’ve seen it once myself). But not sure where exactly the problem is or how to track it down efficiently. Perhaps these plugins will see further updates and clear it up. Also, I hope to unveil a new responsive theme this fall that does away with my mobile plugin altogether.

  4. Thanks for the review. I was going to get one but can now save my money for something better. I would Defintely have been disappointed.

  5. “Thanks for the review. I was going to get one but can now save my money for something better.”

    Padded manila envelopes work quite well.

    —–

    “In fact, I’ve been percolating a post for a few years – I don’t want to give it away”

    The super-secret fact that Apple loses money on every computer and tablet they ship, while making up that money and more on cases, proprietary cables, and other accessories?

    (That they’re now pushing customers to buy factory undercoating on the new ‘retina’ MacBook ‘pro’ should be a dead giveaway…)

  6. “I have been using this (Targus case) w/ an IPad 2 for a couple of months.”

    The only problem is that the new Plausibly Deniable Marginator feature in iOS 6 will be able to detect 3rd party cases by checking the magnets for Apple RFID signals. And if a 3rd party case is detected, the iPad will continually malfunction until you walk into an Apple Store, at which point the malfunctions will instantly stop for the time that you’re in the store.

  7. Thanks for the review of the new Apple iPad Smart Case. I think adding a back cover is nice but there are better cases overall than this.

    It’s really hard to pick the best iPad case but our favorite is DODOcase. It disguises your iPad like a book cover and it also offers customization.

  8. One, I’ve been looking at a few Targus models as a possibility and checked out the Slim in-store yesterday. I think some of the haterade is related to Targus’ initial production run of iPad 3 cases which didn’t fit quite right and didn’t have the correct polarization or placement of the on/off magnet.

    Pat, The DODO seems to get a lot of echochamber hipster love, but it’s blocky and also doesn’t stand so well… I’ve ruled it out. Not to mention that I worry about repeatedly taking it in and out of that bamboo frame over time.

  9. Take a look at The Joy Factory cases. I personally have the “Connect-the-dots” case and have enjoyed owning it. I like the leather feel it has. I also like the folding “smart cover” style it has.
    If you are concerned with weight then it may not be an option for you. It is a little bit on the heavier side for a case.

  10. Damn.

    I ordered one for the same reason you did: the demo lookd really good and the magnets on the original case don’t hold as well as I’d like them to: the cover always manages to slip off at inconvenient moments.

    It has not arrived yet, but good to know that the customized version is returnable.

  11. I have a Happy Owl “The Wallet for iPad” as a day-to-day. I really like it.

    I also have an Otterbox Defender and a Griffin iPad Cinema Seat Car Headrest case that I use depending on the situation.

    Granted, I still have a 1st Gen. iPad, I assume these cases would all be as great for all, in the corresponding version.

  12. Dave:

    Just came today and I cannot believe how right you are.

    The sharp edge thing is the killer. WTF were they thinking? Dave was not exaggerating. It’s like holding a dull-edge knife in your hands. Could not not be any more uncomfortable if they tried.

    Baffling if for no other reason you’d think that someone somewhere would have pointed out “hey, this case is hella uncomfortable to hold.”

  13. Well, I haven’t tried the new iPad case, but wasn’t a fan of the previous one (too tippy, wrong angles, etc). Also the “leather” versions were particulate leather on plastic or something. Really crap feeling for the price. I also rejected the DoDo case–way too thick, though it shares that with a lot of other cases. I was actually quite happy with Apple’s original iPad case EXCEPT for the material they used, which soaked up grease and dust like a sieve so became horrid to be around over time. After looking around, and I think a post on gdgt before it gave up being that kind of site, I picked up an Ayl leather case on Amazon that was just like the original but in a better material. But it looks like they’ve stopped selling those…

    Oh well, I’m probably not biting on the “new iPad” for now anyway. I’ll wait it out another generation.

  14. BTW, it looks like Microsoft is doing some really interesting stuff with the new covers for the Surface tablets–touch keyboard or actual keyboard but very thin. Will be interesting to see reviews once these things actually come out. I think Apple is going to wish they’d put the dock on the long side…

  15. “One thing about Apple is they have Amazon-like return policies”

    No doubt. I picked up 3 Microsoft Surface gizmos at the special Woot! overnight sale, and I think I’m going to want to return one of them when they get here tomorrow, which won’t be as convenient as Apple or Amazon returns.

  16. “Speaking of Woot, wonder when my TiVo Premiere Elite will be arriving?”

    They managed to get me my 3 Microsoft Surface gizmos in the promised time. 2 Intel, and 1 ARM. I figure I’ll use the ARM one for travel, one of the Intels for W8, and one of the Intels to run a Hackintosh. (The Hackintosh folks already have a version up that allows touch screen control of OS X. Excellent response time from the community.)

    The Surface unboxing is a delicious experience. Everything opens like a flower.

    —–

    Back in this branch of the multiverse, I’ve never bought anything from Woot, and can’t imagine ever doing so. If I can’t get a piece of gear from Amazon, Newegg, Powermax, or the manufacturer at a reasonable price, I just don’t bother.

  17. I agree with much of what you say. The edge doesn’t bother me. But the wobbliness of standing it upright is an issue. Also, I wish they’d added a few more magnets. When you fold the case back, you can fold it in half (so the camera and speaker are able to function) but then that part just flops around. Better would be to have that folded half stick to the back of the case with a magnet. Better would be to stiffen the “hinge” so that the flap could be used in multiple configurations to change the height of the slant when it’s sitting on the table. I also wish they’d added a dark black. I settled for the gray. I also do not like the huge white Apple logo silk-screened on the back. I wish they’d picked a more subtle effect. I wish the flap (cover) was slightly longer so it would be easier to grab to open. I wish the’d considered a change to funnel some of the sound from the speaker forward, much like iPhone docks channel the sound from the bottom of the iPhone forward through a channel. I understand the impulse to make the inside of the cover (that covers the glass) out of a softer material. But they should make it out of grippier material so it could hold on to a surface better. But it’s far better than the other covers I’ve seen. Most third-party covers don’t fit well.

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