Q: Why can't I airdrop things into my ipad air from my macbook pro retina?

iOS AirDrop works only with other iOS devices, not Macs.

Here is the documentation:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5887

What about this approach:

Simply load the PDF file into iBooks on your MacBook Pro.  (If you're using Mavericks, iBooks is a standalone app on your Mac, otherwise, it's in iTunes.)

Then sync your iPad to the computer, and find the PDF in iBooks on the iPad!

Are you running Mavericks and iTunes 11.1.3 on your MacBook Pro?

It's especially important to be running the current iTunes.  If you're in doubt, get it here:

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

... and by the way, my iPad Air connects just fine to my Mac (MacBook Air).

See if this helps.  Mainly, make sure you are plugging your iPad Air into a good USB port directly on your Mac:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1591

Howard Oh wrote:

 

So you were able to connect the devices through bluetooth and USB?

USB, yes.  Bluetooth, no, as that is not allowed by the way the Bluetooth on the devices is set up.

But I take it you cannot connect even by USB, which is not normal.

Oh, you see your iPad Air in iTunes!  Excellent!  So yours behaves the same as mine - it's visible in iTunes (but not in Finder, but that doesn't matter, as ITunes can direct everything you need).

When your iPad Air is visible in iTunes, you can go to its "Books" tab in iTunes and do what you need to do there regarding sync rules.

1. Open iBooks on your Mac.
2. Drag the book(s) (PDF files) into iBooks.
3. Attach your iPad to the Mac using USB.
4. Click on the iPad's "Books" tab in the iTunes display.  To get there, first click on the iPad button in iTunes.
5. Make sure the sync rules are as you would like (probably indicating sync all books).
6. Perform the sync.

That's it!  The PDFs will appear in your iPad's iBooks.  (You will probably have to click Books > PDFs in iBooks on your iPad).