iPad Air 13-inch (M3) Cases

They do different jobs, so for most people yes. A screen protector handles scratches and spreads the force of a point impact across its surface. A case absorbs the energy of a drop before it reaches the display at all, and it covers the corners and edges that a protector can't.

The common failure is a phone dropped on a corner: the case is what stops that becoming a crack across the panel. If you're only going to buy one, buy the case — but the two together cost less than one screen repair.

Most will, eventually. Clear TPU discolours under UV as the polymer breaks down, and heat accelerates it. Cheaper cases can show a visible tint within a few months; better ones use UV-stabilised material and hold out considerably longer.

Nothing cleans it off, because the change is in the material instead of on it. Treat a clear case as a consumable with a life of roughly a year, or choose a frosted or coloured case if that irritates you.

It depends far more on where you use it than on the device. On a building site, in a workshop, or with a child in the house, a rugged case with reinforced corners is proportionate. In an office and a coat pocket, it's bulk you'll resent daily.

Be sceptical of drop-height claims. There's no consumer standard behind most of them, and a case tested onto plywood tells you nothing about a paving slab. Reinforced corners and a raised lip around the screen are better signals than any number in the listing.

If you write more than a few sentences at a time, yes. It changes what the tablet is for. Models with a trackpad are close to a laptop for everyday work.

The cost is weight. A keyboard case can roughly double what you carry, and at that point a light laptop is worth comparing against. If you mostly read and watch, a plain folio is lighter, cheaper and better.

Between about £12 and £35 covers nearly everyone. Below roughly £10 the materials are thin and the fit is a lottery, cases that stretch, buttons that stop clicking properly, cutouts a millimetre out.

Above £35 you're paying for a specific material, a mounting ecosystem, or a genuine engineering claim. Those can be worth it, but the step from no case to a competent £15 one is far larger than the step from £15 to £50.