New to the growing iPad cooling case category are models from Wombat Ware. The Australian company was founded in 2021 by Julian Chua, who grew the hardware design that originated to keep iPads cool for team sporting events to cockpit use. And if you’ve ever had an iPad overheat in flight, you recognize the need.
Not unlike the MyGoFlight and X-Naut models (see the roundup in the September 2022 Aviation Consumer), the Wombat Ware cases—which for now are only available for iPad Mini models—are extremely lightweight (101 grams) and equipped with 650- mAh batteries that power two cooling fans for roughly five hours.
Starting at $179, we think the Wombat Ware cases are priced fairly. For comparison, the 163-gram MyGoFlight cooling case is $329, the 221-gram X-Naut case is $200 and the Qore model starts at $145.
There are three Wombat Ware models to choose from, depending on whether you have an iPad Mini Gen 4, Gen 5 or Gen 6. All function the same.
Construction, use
The cooling case is made from high-quality plastic with an interesting texture, is exceptionally slim at only 22 mm thick and weighs 101 grams. Recharging the onboard battery takes roughly two hours and uses a standard USB-C charging cable. The battery should last between two and four years, depending upon usage. If the battery is charged every day, it will typically degrade to approximately 80 percent of its original capacity after a year, meaning you might get about four hours of cooling from a full charge instead of five hours. But if you charge it every other day, that becomes two years before it degrades to 80 percent of its original capacity, and subsequently two to four years of useful life.
The battery is soldered onto the main electronics board and is not user replaceable (unless you have soldering skills). If the case’s internal battery is depleted in flight, you can still plug the case into a USB port.
The iPad Mini case will also accommodate Apple’s Pencil 2. The case has a slot that the Pencil sits in and the design of the slot makes it easy to remove the Pencil from the case.
To conserve battery life and use the lightest (smallest) battery possible, the case utilizes a temperature sensor to enable the cooling fans (when it senses the heat on the back of the iPad rising to over 30 degrees C).
Using the case is pretty easy and snapping the iPad into the case takes little effort. I have found that some of the competitors’ cases require more effort to get the iPad out of the case, and sometimes I feel like I’m going to break the iPad when removing it. Not so with Wombat Wear, although if you have a dedicated iPad for aviating—with the iPad living full-time in the cooling case—then this may not be an issue with any of the units.
Wombat Ware does not ship the units with leg straps or mounts and is completely agnostic to the ergonomic solution required to affix the case to either your leg or cockpit. Instead, the case uses an industry standard four-screw AMP hole pattern (the case ships with the screws), allowing the owner to use the mount or leg strap of their choice. Chua recommends MyGoFlight’s mounting system or X-Naut adapter (both at www.mygoflight.com). The company suggests the MyClip leg straps (www.myclipforipad.com) for using the case as a kneeboard. The X-Grip and Ram round plate with ball mount also work with the Wombat case.
How cool?
In testing the Wombat Ware case, I was surprised to not see the fans spinning when I turned it on. After reading the manual (yes, that was the last thing I did), it was clear that the fans are controlled by the electronics package of the cooling case. The case can create a 10-degree C cooling gap, which is enough to keep the iPad running when it reaches overheating temperatures in flight.
Typically, when the iPad’s temperature is over 45 degrees C, it initiates a thermal shutdown. Based on tests run by Wombat Ware, the temperature probe at the back of the iPad Mini was close to 49 degrees C. Switching on the cooling case and the temperature came down to just below 38 degrees C. Apple support suggests using iPads and iPhones where the ambient temperature is between 0 and 35 degrees C (or 32 degrees F to 95 degrees F). It also says that low- or high-temperature conditions may cause the device to change its behavior to regulate its temperature.
Wrap it up
The Wombat Ware kit (shipped from Australia via mail) includes the case and a USB-A to USB-C cable that’s 3.3 feet long. The case has a one-year warranty and has a 30-day refund policy. Shipped to Canada, I got my evaluation case in seven days. I hope that the company will eventually set up North America distributors to help reduce shipping costs and logistics. After all, Wombat Ware is the David to MyGoFlight’s and X-Naut’s Goliath. A Wombat Ware case for the larger iPads is said to be coming in early 2024.
Wombat Ware’s website (www.getwombatware.com) represents the products well, and I really like the explanation of what the products won’t do. They aren’t drop proof, aren’t waterproof, they can’t charge the iPad and they only fit specific iPad Mini models.
I’ll add my own summary after using one: While these cases have limited battery life and can’t power the iPad (I also think the device’s power switch could be more hefty), the textured case design allows for easy iPad removal/installation and it has logical and flexible universal mounting.
