Now that iPadOS supports mice and trackpads, it’s a better time than ever to turn your iPad into a mini iMac. To do that, you need the Slope: a nice-looking stand that props up your iPad at the perfect angle for working. Just slide a keyboard and trackpad underneath, and you have something that resembles Apple’s new Magic Keyboard, but at a fraction of the price.
Made from anodized aluminum, the Slope looks good in the kitchen, on your desk or at bedside. It keeps your iPad out of the muck when cooking, or at the perfect angle for watching videos.
Wiplabs Slope review
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac
Made by Wiplabs, the Slope is a simple aluminum stand that looks like the foot of an iMac. It comes with the same anodized finish as an iMac or MacBook, and a sticky micro-suction pad that holds your iPad firmly in place.
You can mount your iPad either vertically or horizontally. The suction is strong and easily holds your device steady. And yet, when you’re ready to take your tablet off, the iPad easily peels off. As my wife noted, “It really does suck.”
There’s also a micro-suction pad under the Slope to hold the stand firmly to the table or countertop. If the micro-suction pads lose their grip, you can easily clean them with water.
Aluminum stand turns iPad into mini iMac
The Slope comes in two sizes:
- Slope, which works with iPads 10.5 inches and larger.
- Slope Mini, which is compatible with iPhones and iPads up to 8 inches.
The Slope turns my iPad into a mini iMac, which is great for working at the kitchen table. It holds the iPad at a good angle to work, especially when paired with a Bluetooth keyboard and a spare trackpad that sits underneath.
It’s a simple, elegant design that works well.
Price: The Slope is currently on sale at $31.99 (from $39.99) for the mini, and $39.99 (from $49.99) for the large model. Bag yours before the discounts disappear!
Buy from: Cult of Mac Store
Leander Kahney is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac.
Leander is a longtime technology reporter and the author of six acclaimed books about Apple, including two New York Times bestsellers: Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products and Inside Steve’s Brain, a biography of Steve Jobs.
He’s also written a top-selling biography of Apple CEO Tim Cook and authored Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, which both won prestigious design awards. Most recently, he was co-author of Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition.
Leander has been reporting about Apple and technology for nearly 30 years.
Before founding Cult of Mac as an independent publication, Leander was news editor at Wired.com, where he was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Wired.com website. He headed up a team of six section editors, a dozen reporters and a large pool of freelancers. Together the team produced a daily digest of stories about the impact of science and technology, and won several awards, including several Webby Awards, 2X Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism and the 2010 MIN (Magazine Industry Newsletter) award for best blog, among others.
Before being promoted to news editor, Leander was Wired.com’s senior reporter, primarily covering Apple. During that time, Leander published a ton of scoops, including the first in-depth report about the development of the iPod. Leander attended almost every keynote speech and special product launch presented by Steve Jobs, including the historic launches of the iPhone and iPad. He also reported from almost every Macworld Expo in the late ’90s and early ‘2000s, including, sadly, the last shows in Boston, San Francisco and Tokyo. His reporting for Wired.com formed the basis of the first Cult of Mac book, and subsequently this website.
Before joining Wired, Leander was a senior reporter at the legendary MacWeek, the storied and long-running weekly that documented Apple and its community in the 1980s and ’90s.
Leander has written for Wired magazine (including the Issue 16.04 cover story about Steve Jobs’ leadership at Apple, entitled Evil/Genius), Scientific American, The Guardian, The Observer, The San Francisco Chronicle and many other publications.
Leander has a postgrad diploma in artificial intelligence from the University of Aberdeen, and a BSc (Hons) in experimental psychology from the University of Sussex.
He has a diploma in journalism from the UK’s National Council for the Training of Journalists.
Leander lives in San Francisco, California, and is married with four children. He’s an avid biker and has ridden in many long-distance bike events, including California’s legendary Death Ride.
You can find out more about Leander on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can follow him on X at @lkahney or Instagram.
