Tips and tools for smooth business travel with a Mac, iPad or iPhone

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Business travel, particularly during a pandemic, tin beryllium rather stressful. Here are a fewer tips — and time-saving tools and accessories — to marque it easier to question with a Mac, iPad oregon iPhone.

I'm traveling 541 miles-per-hour astatine 35,500 feet, staring astatine 1 of those rotating in-flight representation displays embedded wrong the spot backmost successful beforehand of me, portion penning this dispatch. I'm 2 hours into a full of 12, determination implicit Colorado. And what's my archetypal question? It's not however galore hours to the destination. No. What's worrying maine is my iPhone's artillery level, arsenic the iPhone is indispensable for proving compliance with Hawaii's Safe Travels program. The smartphone besides holds images of my vaccination card, boarding walk and the QR codification issued by the authorities that's my summons to leaving the Honolulu airdrome and being permitted to cheque successful to the hotel.

The Apple Watch artillery is connected my mind, too. The accessory holds my boarding walk and provided a adjuvant alert that the hose was changing the departure gate. Still, its complaint is depleting, arsenic was my iPad Pro's, until I plugged it into an AC outlet connected this Boeing 777.

My luggage, including delicate screens, keyboards and displays, had to beryllium safely transported done TSA checkpoints, and protected from drops, bumps and the jostling communal to traveling. Earlier, this past summer, I completed a akin trip, that 1 to Manhattan. I've learned a fewer things from these experiences that I anticipation volition assistance erstwhile you adjacent embark connected a trip, peculiarly for concern erstwhile you request to enactment connected and successful touch.

Get organized

The days of storing each your chargers, AirPods, adapters and cables successful a azygous pouch are over. Apple hasn't helped the origin by going backmost and distant betwixt MagSafe chargers and USB-C cables, sometimes necessitating that you treble up connected chargers and cables. I'm carrying 4 devices connected this trip, and those 4 devices usage 3 antithetic connectivity standards: Lightning, USB-C and the Apple Watch's magnetic inductive charging disc. That means I request 3 antithetic powerfulness cables and a assortment of powerfulness blocks. Plus, I person 2 pairs of AirPods.

Thankfully, I discovered InCase's $49.95 Nylon Accessory Organizer successful August erstwhile I visited New York. Pick 1 up, oregon a akin specified case, to simplify collecting and organizing each your chargers, cables and accessories. The InCase exemplary adjacent sports a useful abstraction on its spine that I recovered stores Apple's $129 iPad Pencil, which I battalion wrong Decode's $29.95 Magnetic Pencil Sleeve. With each the formation disruptions, wellness worries and mostly longer lines associated with question during the pandemic, your electronics accessories aren't thing you request to interest about, and these cases signifier and coordinate the instrumentality accessories that assistance powerfulness your mission.

SEE: Top 10 iPad tips (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

2. Travel with a backpack

Of course, you request a sturdy container to clasp a Mac, iPad and iPhone, arsenic good arsenic a wallet, your electronics accessories case, a vessel and different necessities. I loved messenger bags erstwhile commuting by bike, but air, obstruction and roadworthy question telephone for a backpack. Timbuk2's $52.24 Parkside backpack (now replaced by the akin $139 Authority model) and Chrome Inustries' $140 Volcan some acceptable the bill. Featuring beingness warranties, these bags are manufactured by folks passionate astir their products. These are pugnacious bags that basal up good to adjacent punishing concern question by including a padded pouch that fits a MacBook Pro oregon iPad and makes accessing physics devices, a spare look disguise and speechmaking worldly easy, adjacent erstwhile the container is crammed beneath the spot successful beforehand of you and you're already juggling a overgarment oregon fleece. Though engineered for rugged sustainability, these bags are ever "in," truthful you request not interest astir looking stylish erstwhile entering league rooms oregon visiting partners and clients. Plus, these backpacks are reliably beardown and beryllium a large worth that makes question little stressful, which is thing we tin each usage close now.

3. Consider a portable dock

If you program connected moving from a edifice room, league halfway oregon entity lounge desk, a fig of third-party docks are disposable that easiness the process. Twelve South's $99.99 StayGo USB-C Hub is simply a compact dock measuring lone astir 5 inches by two-and-a-half inches that permits charging different devices from your Mac, speechmaking oregon penning information to an SD oregon micro SD paper and adjacent networking via a cabled gigabit Ethernet connection, should that beryllium necessary. And if you're moving with a portable display, specified arsenic the $189 Vissles-M portable touchscreen, the dock's HDMI larboard tin thrust that monitor. You did retrieve to battalion the corresponding cablegram successful your electronics accessory bag, right?

4. Choose the iPad Smartkeyboard

In lawsuit you're not sure, the iPad Pro's Magic Keyboard is good worthy what, initially, mightiness look a steep terms ($349 for the 12.9-inch model and $299 for the 11-inch model). But the backlit keyboard besides serves arsenic a screen and carries its ain battery, which provides pass-through charging. If you're traveling with an iPad Pro, beryllium definite to besides prime up the corresponding Magic Keyboard. With a built-in trackpad, Apple has transformed moving with the iPad, which was already a beauteous elegant experience. I can't ideate moving connected the road, utilizing the iPad Pro, without its corresponding sidekick.

SEE: IT hardware procurement policy (TechRepublic Premium)

5. Don't hide the Apple Watch

It should spell without saying, but I'll officially corroborate the Apple Watch's inferior arsenic a standalone tip. Especially if you're traveling for enactment with an iPhone, the Apple Watch is simply a earthy accompaniment. Receiving gate-change alerts without having to excavation my iPhone retired of its snug, unafraid pouch successful my backpack saved maine clip and trouble. Boarding planes by adding the summons to the wearable, again, saves clip and adds convenience. Receiving email alerts, having maps rapidly astatine hand, and adjacent receiving step-by-step walking directions erstwhile navigating a caller metropolis and trying to find an unfamiliar code are each features and advantages I could unrecorded without, but why? If there's 1 happening the pandemic's taught, it's that thoughtful, time-saving products that simplify mundane beingness should beryllium astatine the apical of your list. You request a watch, anyway, and Apple's delivered an innovative instrumentality that simplifies concern question astatine a just price.

6. Simplify instrumentality charging with two-in-one

When packing chargers, see reducing the fig of OEM Apple power blocks you carry, For example, I didn't request to battalion my Mac's charging artifact and those for the iPad and iPhone. Instead, I brought 1 charging artifact — Anker's $39.99 PowerPort Atom III — that offers some a accepted USB-A and a USB-C port. With the corresponding cables, I tin complaint some devices astatine once. I've utilized aggregate Anker power blocks, and cables for that matter, for years and fixed them arsenic gifts. I've ne'er had a complaint.

7. Don't spell without a sleeve

We've taken property tests astatine my time job. I'm a process-oriented idiosyncratic who appreciates readying and preparation. So it should travel arsenic nary astonishment I can't conscionable flip my MacBook Pro — the instrumentality with which I negociate concern operations, coordinate travel, marque reservations, nonstop and person communications, collaborate and different support my beingness — into my question bag's laptop pocket. I mean, that's wherever I've placed my iPad. But adjacent erstwhile traveling without the iPad, I conscionable remainder easier and question with little anxiousness knowing the Mac is safely packed wrong a padded sleeve. I inactive usage the $39.99 Herschel Anchor Sleeve, which does a large occupation protecting the Mac erstwhile moving betwixt offices oregon edifice rooms oregon adjacent erstwhile stowing the laptop erstwhile receiving an in-flight meal. Numerous different likewise protective options are available, of course, including from Chrome Industries and Timbuk2. So wherefore not support your Mac from the travel's well-documented rigors? Ease your caput truthful you tin absorption connected different travel-related worries, similar whether you're really going to marque your connecting flight.

SEE: Why I americium buying Apple's caller MacBook Pro (TechRepublic)

8. Choose much power

Despite the seeming ubiquity of airdrome charging stations and options onboard planes, I've been discouraged, including astatine La Guardia, wherever the outlets I noticed required a recognition paper and outgo to use. Further, galore commuter jets I've flown commonly connection nary powerfulness outlets astatine all. I nary longer instrumentality chances. Anker's $159.99 PowerCore+ 26800 PD 45W, portion a spot heavy, delivers assurance my devices are improbable to tally retired of electricity. With a 26800mAh compartment capacity, the portable charging ceramic tin afloat recharge my Mac erstwhile oregon my iPhone 5 times. Even if I don't person to usage it, I cognize it's there, and erstwhile traveling done the pandemic, I'll instrumentality each the assurances I tin get.

A indispensable task

I won't lie. Business question utilized to beryllium much fun. The pandemic has, understandably, heightened everyone's sensitivity and added unit to an often already vexing experience. In galore cases it's conscionable easier to enactment person to home. But the world, if adjacent successful fits and starts, is trying to reopen. Help instrumentality the borderline off, wherever you can, erstwhile enactment requires you deed the road. Traveling with these accessories doesn't person to interruption the bank, and the convenience and inferior they supply much than warrant the expense.