Kanex iAdapt 6-in-1 USB-C Docking Station REVIEW | Mac Sources

5 min readDec 6, 2019

Kanex iAdapt 6-in-1 USB-C Docking Station

9.7

Turn your iPad Pro into a mobile workstation.

Over the past few years, iPads (and other tablets) have evolved past being a simple way to read through books and interact with people on social media. They are now powerful enough to handle productivity tasks as well as design projects. My tablet of choice is, of course, the iPad Pro. Sadly, it lacks professional level connectivity, but thanks to products like the iAdapt 6-in-1 USB-C Docking Station from Kanex, the iPad Pro is able to join the world of professional mobile workstations.

DETAILS & FEATURES

The iAdapt 6-in-1 USB-C Docking Station is ideal for those who want to turn their iPads into a fully functional workstation. It’s designed to work with the 3rd Gen iPad Pro (11-inch and 12.9-inch versions). It features USB-C power delivery, SD and Micro SD ports, USB 3.0 connection, HDMI 4K port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. This dock connects directly to your iPad via the USB-C port on the iPad.

This dock eliminates the need for users to carry around multiple adapters. It slides onto the corner of the iPad seamlessly. It can rest on the iPad with or without the Apple Smart Keyboard Folio attached. The docking station also features USB-C passthrough charging so you don’t have to worry about the iPad’s battery life when you are connected to the dock. The docking station only comes in one color — Space Gray . The aluminum finish of the dock matches the finish of the iPad perfectly.

SPECS

USB-C Female: USB-C 3.1 (Gen 1) — 3.0 data and PD 3.0 charging (60W)
USB 3.0: Type-A port delivers up to 5 Gbps transfer speeds
SD/Micro SD: Supports up to 2TB SD and Micro SD cards
HDMI: 2K/60Hz on iPad Pro; 4K/30Hz on MacBooks
Supported Systems: Windows 10, Google Chrome OS, macOS Mohave and above
Warranty: 1-year limited warranty

USER IMPRESSIONS

The first thing I noticed about the Kanex docking station was its packaging. Kanex does a nice job with this. Their boxes and packages are adorned in Kanex’s yellow and white brand colors. The front and back of the box show the product in use and there is a diagram on the inside cover that outlines all the main ports of the dock. In addition to the information stamped on the packaging, the dock can be seen through the transparent window on the inside of the box.

Once you get the dock out of the box, you will notice that there is a piece that slides out. This is a pad that helps to create the right ‘fit’ for the iPad. When it’s out, users can slide the docking station on to the iPad while the Apple smart cover is installed. I’ve been incredibly impressed with how well the docking station fits and looks with the iPad. The Space Grey does match perfectly between the two devices.

Ever since the iPad was released, I was waiting for a version that could truly be a replacement for a laptop. The iPad Pro was the closest a device had come to meet that requirement for me. Now, the iPad Pro Gen 3 really is powerful enough to do the work of a laptop. It only lacks connectivity to other devices that the Kanex USB-C docking station is now providing. One of the big benefits of the design of the iAdapt docking station is that it is L-shaped. This means that the pressure is taken off of the USB-C port of the iPad since the docking station attaches to the corner of the tablet.

One thing I want to point out is that this is just a simple multiport adapter. It’s just designed to be attached to an iPad, but you can connect the USB-C cable to a MacBook Pro and use it as a dock for the laptop. The dock actually features 60W power delivery from the USB-C port. So, you could even power some MacBook laptops easily with the iAdapt dock.

When I tested out the dock with the iPad, I found that I was able to read data off of a USB flash drive, listen to music through headphones via the headphone jack on the docking station, and even watch videos streaming from the iPad while it was connected to a monitor via the HDMI connection. The dock does get a little warmed up when in use, but it’s fairly minor in terms of design flaws.

CONCLUSION

The Kanex iAdapt 6-in-1 docking station finally makes it possible to use your iPad as a mobile workstation. You can do everything you can with a laptop and can travel lighter. I love that it was designed to work with or without the Apple Smart Keyboard Folio. I do wish there was a way to clip the cable extension to do dock assembly for storage and transport. Other than that, this is a very functional, slick addition to my iPad accessories.

For more information visit kanex.com, Facebook, and Twitter.

Originally published at https://macsources.com on December 6, 2019.