Leather iPad Folio Cases - Find Your 2020, Older Models Here

Guide: How to Measure and iPad for a Case

Confused or concerned about what size iPad you own? Not sure about which size case you need? Do you know if you need an iPad 12.9 leather case or an 11 inch? Read the blog that explains how to measure your iPad for a case. 

The Best iPad Folio Leather Cases

There are plenty of companies claiming to use "genuine leather" to make their covers. If you know anything about leather, you know there are different grades.

We call our Premium Leather collection "premium" because the hides we use are some of the best available. Supple, buttery soft yet tough as nails. So tough in fact, our Folios will probably outlive the tablet you're going to put in them. 

With millions of Apple tablets sold since their introduction, the market for cases and covers to protect them has exploded. Fortunately for MacCase, the vast majority of these "protection" products are nothing more than pieces of plastic and fake leather on their way to your local landfill.

The problem is, if you have purchased one of these poorly engineered, poorly executed cases in the past, is just that. You paid money for a product that either didn't last very long, didn't protect or both, on it's way to your local landfill.

At MacCase, we feel that protecting the world's most expensive and best tablet computers encompasses something much more than moving widgets off the shelves. Building the world's best iPad Folio leather case for 11 inch and 12.9 inch Apple tablets is a passion for us. It's what gets us out of bed in the morning and pushes us to make each successive design better than the last. 

Leather iPad Folio: A Brief History

When the original Apple tablet was launched MacCase began working on several cases and bags to transport and protect the new tablet. The result of this effort was several new designs.

These included our original Apple tablet Sleeve, a smaller tablet-scaled version of the critically acclaimed, customer lauded Premium Leather Flight Jacket and what was to become the jewel in the crown, the Premium Leather Folio.

The Folio was an all new design, unlike anything that MacCase had ever produced before: Much more complex, requiring more attention to detail, more inherent structure and precise engineering to make these covers work. It took a long time to develop and each piece was going to take a long time to create. 

It was wrapped in a stitch perfect exterior that felt more like an heirloom book. The handmade quality of our original covers was perfectly juxtaposed to the cold, clinical feel of the Apple tablet. Customers loved them and we were on our way. 

It's been more then 10 years since that first model. As Apple tablets became more ubiquitous, customers started wanting more and more features. The problem was that if these features were added the way the customers thought they wanted them, what they loved about our Folio designs would be ruined. 

There in lied the challenge. How do you add features like a place to put papers, hold the Apple Pencil, business cards and the charging cable without destroying our simple, elegant, professional, and timeless Folio design?

The answer was the MacCase Magnetic Accessory System. The system elegantly integrates all 4 of these features if you need them, but doesn't make you pay for them or use them if you don't. 

Leather iPad Pro Keyboard Cover

While we have been making an iPad Pro Keyboard Compatible case for several years, one of our newest models is our leather keyboard cover for the 12.9-inch. The cover is basically a leather wrap that magnetically adheres to the exterior of Apple's Smart Keyboard Folio. 

We looked at several methods of adhering the cover to the keyboard including glues and straps but all seemed substandard. MacCase products are built to a higher standard. They need to offer a superior user experience as well.

Glue and straps did not allow for this. While the magnets were much more expensive to use, the user experience is the superior and in keeping with the executive, professional aesthetic MacCase's are so famous for. 

The Keyboard Cover transforms Apple's industrial (depressing!) cheap, gray plastic exterior into a luxurious, sensual experience complete with a wonderful leather aroma. Be warned, once our Leather iPad Pro Keyboard Cover is added to your Apple Keyboard, you're never going to want to go without it.  

The Best iPad Business Case

Handcrafted from warm, richly inviting hides that smelled wonderful, our Folios could not have been more opposite of the digital precision that Apple's tablets represented. 

The appeal of these new designs could not have been predicted. Users and critics alike were calling the MacCase Folio the best iPad business case available. This relationship of opposites, between the warmth of our leather covers and the coolness of the Apple tablets still exists to this day. 

The business professionals are looking for a quality design, a precise and functional interior and an unsurpassed user experience. This allowed the MacCase solution to become a favorite among industry leaders and executives. A long list of celebrities, power brokers and mover and shakers all walk into their meetings, take out their MacCase Folio, set them on the desk and get to work.

We got a call the other day here at MacCase World Headquarters from a customer asking what made our Apple tablet cases so expensive. He said he had seen several articles online saying that, though our Folio was expensive, it was the best leather case with Pencil holder you could buy. Seeing that his question was genuine, I took some time to supply an answer. 

While the internet opens up a world of possibilities to shop a broad variety of items from the comfort of your home or office, there is no taking the place of picking up an item and holding it your hand. Our leather covers for the 12.9-inch, 11-inch, 10.5-inch, 10.2-inch and 9.7-inch are a product that you want to hold.  

In a review of our leather Foilo (and matching Flight Jacket),  SF(re)views stated, "It’s beautiful to behold and if you’re not careful, you may catch yourself or others staring. Think carefully selected beautiful hides, all hand-stitched individually around a classic, elegant and functional design. This is hand down, one of the best iPad Folio cases you can find."

The first thing the author mentions is the beauty. Typically, beautiful things are more expensive than, let's say, less attractive things. In the words of Ray Davies, "Art takes time, time is money…". If you're someone who can appreciate the beauty of things and in things, you're used to paying a bit more for them. It's the price you pay for having excellent taste. 

An iPad 12.9 Leather Folio Case of the Finest Materials

Then there is the materials. The hides we use are vegetable dyed (much more expensive and much more environmentally friendly then chemically dyed hides). Our hides are sourced from ex-dairy cows and when their milk giving days are done they are put out to pasture to live out the rest of their natural lives. Once they pass, the hides become available.

While this process is the most humane way we could find to source our leather, there are sometime delays in availability which can delay production. We feel it's a risk worth taking. After the hides are tanned and cut, the panels are assembled very slowly, by hand, one at a time.

And if that was not enough, we use contrasting white thread on the curved panels that highlights our obsessive level of quality in every stitch. You cannot put a white stitch on a brown or black panel unless every stitch is perfect. This practice is done on the interiors of the world's most prestigious luxury cars and furniture for the same reason. 

As the bezels around the screens of Apple's tablets have gotten thinner and thinner, a secure, protective and elegant solution was required for holding the device in the case. The MacCase polymer tray does this job brilliantly. 

Soft and pliable yet strong and shock absorbing, the polymer trays used in all of our Folios ( except the 9.7) are state of the art. It's a key factor in what makes our iPad 12.9 leather folio the choice of professionals the world over. 

Combine this with our Magnetic Accessory System, the world's best solution for adding accessories to your Folio and you can start to see why our designs are head and shoulder above all others. 

The MacCase Premium Leather iPad Folio cases  have all the requisite functionality that top line cases should have: Smart cover technology auto on/off, 70 degrees of viewing angle adjustability, a cover that stays closed without unsightly elastic bands wrapping around the corners or hanging off the case when opened, the list goes on. 

A Professional Leather iPad Folio Case

But when speaking to users of our leather 9.7, 10.5, 11 or 12.9 Folio cases, whether from the BBC, MTV, Paramount Pictures or a host of other industry leading companies, the feedback is always the same. They love how the case feels and how it makes them feel.

Words like passion, craftsmanship and commitment to quality are mentioned often. With our Premium Apple tablet covers, you feel them. You feel those words made real when you hold our one of the Folio in your hands.

The hides, the quality of the sewing, the materials chosen, the fit of the Apple tablet, the protection provided, all coalesce into something greater than the individual parts. This is the essence of product design done right. 

We could easily have hid poor quality construction and used a cheap material for the interior. We could have done all these things and cut our costs a great deal. What would be be left with? Basically, something that looks, feels and functions like most of the other Apple tablet cases out there.

So how did the call end with the potential customer? I asked him if he had purchased the cheapest tablet computer he could find or even a cheap tablet computer? He reminded me that the Apple tablet was basically the most expensive tablet computer out there.

So do you really want to put the most expensive tablet in a cheap case? He bought our iPad 12.9 leather case and said he was coming back to order another for his wife once her new 11 arrived.

In the end, what we wanted for our handmade iFolios is the same thing we want for all our models, to be the pinnacle of Apple portable protection. 

The quality and world class design and engineering that our brand and products are famous for will remain. What innovations and breakthroughs will we add to our illustrious story of building the world's best cases? Stay tuned. 

Talking 'Bout My 2020 iPad Pro 12.9 4th Generation Case

One of the confusing things about Apple's tablet assortment is which generation is which. The iPad Pro 12.9 is now in it's 4th generation.

The changes to this 4th generation 12.9 model are subtle and nothing like the wholesale changes that occurred when going from Gen 2 to Gen 3. 

Those changes included the virtual elimination of the bezel around the screen. This is combined with the total elimination of the home button which was a staple iPad feature since the first Apple tablet was released in 2010. If your 12.9 doesn't have a home button and you purchased it before March 2020, you have a 3rd generation model. 

The 4th generation model continues this trend with a new, complex camera system. All MacCase product listings clearly list which Apple tablet each case is designed for. 

For example, if you have a Gen 4 12.9, you'll need to look for a 4th generation 12.9-inch leather iPad folio. Somewhere in the tittle and description, look for a call out stating this leather Folio is for a iPad Pro 12.9 4th Generation.

Sometimes the year the tablet was released is also used as an identifier. The 3rd generation 12.9 cases are sometimes called 2018 to differentiate them from their 1st and 2nd generation counterparts. The new 4th generation 12.9-inch cases will include "2020" as an identifier. 

FAQ - 

What is a folio case for iPad? 

A folio case for iPad is a protective, book-like cover made from either plastic or leather. Folios protect the rear panel, the edge along the long axis of the screen and the screen itself. Some have a feature that will turn the tablet on and off as the cover is opened and closed.

Do iPads needs cases? 

iPads need cases if the user plans on moving the tablet in any way. Even if the iPad never leaves your home or office environment, it can still be damaged from carrying it from room to room. Considering their fragility, it’s recommended to get a case to protect your iPad.

What case should I get for my iPad?

The case you get for your iPad should depend on the level of protection needed, how you need the case to function, your budget and your sense of design. A student will have different needs for their case vs. an attorney. Choose the case that best fits your needs.

Are all iPads the same size for cases? 

No, all iPads are not the same size for cases. iPads have had several generations, models and various sizes since their debut in 2010. To find which case fits your iPad, do a search using the serial number on the back of the tablet and then find a case to match.

What is a smart Folio?

A smart folio is a type of iPad case that turns the iPad on when the cover is lifted off the screen, and turns it off again when the cover is closed. The term “smart” in relation to iPad cases was originally used by Apple for their original 2010 iPad Folio.

What is a smart case for iPad?

A smart case for iPad is a case or cover that turns on the Apple tablet on when the front cover is opened and turns the tablet off when the cover is closed. Because this happens automatically, the user experiences the case as being intelligent, hence the term, “smart”.