iPad Cases

The basic iPad is the one that gets handed around. It ends up on kitchen counters, in car seat pockets and in the hands of whoever wanted to watch something. That is the argument for leather rather than a thin plastic shell: it takes the handling and looks better for it.

The 10.2 inch and 10.9 inch bodies are different cases. Use the size row above the grid.

The 10.2 inch iPad has a home button below the screen. The 10.9 inch has flat sides, no home button and the front camera on the long edge. That is the quickest way to tell them apart without looking up a model number.

On a tablet that lives around the house, the screen is what breaks, and it usually breaks face down on a hard floor. A folio that closes is worth more than any amount of shell around the back.

The cover also folds into a stand, which is the other reason people stop using the plain shells.

A leather folio is not a rugged case and does not claim to be. It covers the screen and takes the knocks a tablet gets around the house, but a tablet that gets thrown needs thick rubber instead.

For an adult who wants the iPad to look like a notebook on a table, this is the right end of the range.

Full-grain cowhide with a soft lining, stitched along the edge. It darkens along the spine where the cover bends and around the corner you pick it up by.

Initials can be engraved for 18.90 dollars.

The base iPad is the one that ends up on a kitchen counter, in a school bag and on a plane tray, often in the same week. It gets handled more roughly than any other model.

• The folio covers the screen when it is shut, which is the part that actually breaks.
• Corners are reinforced, because that is where a drop lands.
• The cover doubles as a stand, at a reading angle and a typing angle.

Generations of the standard iPad look alike but are not the same size, and the front camera moved on the most recent one. Check the generation in Settings, then General, then About before ordering. The number listed there is the one our model selector uses.

If the iPad is for a child, order the folio a shade darker than you would pick for yourself. Light leather shows hands, and hands are the main thing a school iPad meets. Dark tan and black both hide it, and both develop the same patina underneath.