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bs0604

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 19, 2014
39
1
Do iPads come with a port in to which you can plug in a thumb drive or external drive? If not, why not? It would seem to me to be very useful.
 

akash.nu

macrumors G4
May 26, 2016
10,853
16,981
The lightning port can be used for this purpose. Even though iOS natively doesn’t support such data transfer method but third party accessory makers are there that provides an external dongle with a companion app.
 

cruisin

macrumors 6502a
Apr 1, 2014
962
223
Canada
You can get the camera connection kit (it has a USB port version), or you can get a flash drive with a lightning port. I believe the kit only supports low power devices like flash drives, so you cannot use a external hard drive (you need a powered hub in-between to supply the needed power).

No one knows why Apple does anything. Like why do you need a adapter to connect your iPhone to a MacBook nowadays. Perhaps you are supposed to be using something like Dropbox instead.
 
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sorcery

macrumors regular
Mar 27, 2016
179
364
Ring of Fire
Wireless hard drive may also be used. (Altho' they are not yet very reliable, in my experience)
IIRC, the USB port was omitted to enhance slim profile, allegedly.
 

Ziggy888

macrumors newbie
Nov 17, 2017
2
3
I use this from ravpower. You can play your videos and music from the drive using the ipad/iphone app or an app you choose on your device (I prefer vlc for videos). Its an easy way for me to play music on different devices (no wifi on the train). So far the only file I cannot put on this drive are epubs. It requires the iPlugmate app on your device. I hope this makes sense. I am new to the ipad world and I love it so far!

https://www.amazon.ca/RAVPower-Ligh...0933741&sr=8-1&keywords=ravpower+iphone+drive
 
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Newtons Apple

Suspended
Mar 12, 2014
22,757
15,254
Jacksonville, Florida
Lightning Jump.png


Amazon carries lightning jump drives.
 

sparksd

macrumors G3
Jun 7, 2015
9,867
33,147
Seattle WA
I use this from ravpower. You can play your videos and music from the drive using the ipad/iphone app or an app you choose on your device (I prefer vlc for videos). Its an easy way for me to play music on different devices (no wifi on the train). So far the only file I cannot put on this drive are epubs. It requires the iPlugmate app on your device. I hope this makes sense. I am new to the ipad world and I love it so far!

https://www.amazon.ca/RAVPower-Ligh...0933741&sr=8-1&keywords=ravpower+iphone+drive

I also been using the RAVPower FileHub for a long time and it is excellent. I generally use it with a 4TB HDD.

I also have the Meenova Dash-i Plus that works quite well:

http://www.meenova.com/st/p/dash_i.html

At $40, both devices are well worth it.
 
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