iPad Pro (or Air 3) with external storage?

iOS 13.1 will be released for the iPad on Sep 24. It much improves the handling of external storage devices. At the moment only people running the beta version of iOS 13 could provide you with a relevant answer. Some of the reviews of iOS 13 (that basically are based on the beta versions) might answer your question. But in a couple of days many more people will be able to answer your question.

iMovie in iOS 13 on iPhone only seems to know about iCloud and the Photos library. However, if you can locate a file with the Files app, you have an option to copy it to iMovie.

If you use a 3rd party app like FileExplorer, you can access a shared folder on your Mac from the Files app.

It's a bit of a cludge (well, a really big cludge), but seems the best one can do atm.

Thanks for the answers. I didnt realise 13 and iPad OS is imminent. I suppose I'll have to wait and see.

I hope they dont lock it down but then why would someone buy the 1TB if they could just carry a case of 512gb micro SD cards.

It's a big spend to save carrying heavy books. A used surface pro is also on the shortlist but I just think ease of use and daily experience will trump the expense.

kierenlon said:

Thanks for the answers. I didnt realise 13 and iPad OS is imminent. I suppose I'll have to wait and see.

I hope they dont lock it down but then why would someone buy the 1TB if they could just carry a case of 512gb micro SD cards.

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• lean traveling
• 6 GB RAM instead of only 4 GB
• only one device
• external SSD plus internal space possible
• faster access to internal flash compare to only 5 Gbit externally maximum
• excessive tethering while traveling - you only have one connection - that might be consumed by other things like power or projector / monitor ...

kierenlon said:

It's a big spend to save carrying heavy books. A used surface pro is also on the shortlist but I just think ease of use and daily experience will trump the expense.

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The iPad AIR 10.5" only has USB 2.0 - but even with USB-C 3.1 on the iPad PRO you hardly get more than 500 MB/s while you have internally > 1000 MB/s - for video editing and image processing IMHO a huge benefit.

The GPU in the iPad AIR is also massively weaker and the multicore performance as well.

I'd ONLY go for the the maxed out iPad PRO 11" or 12.9" - but I guess the compromises made with the 11" are more suitable for mobile traveling. (depends on your willingness to carry extra weight)

File sizes get only bigger with the latest cameras - e.g. 120 MB/image at the Sony A7R IV.

I keep reading that the files sizes are simply too big - I guess that's the guys that bought the base line LapTops and tablets

Even my new iPhone has 512 GB storage space and I only bought it because there is no 1 TB iPhone available.

It is wisely invested money IMHO

iPad OS 13.1, released today, offers (according to release notes):

Files
- External drives supported in Files to access and manage files on a USB drive, SD card, or hard drive
- SMB support to connect to a server at work or a home PC

Don't know quite how it works, but it sounds like it does what you want.

The question that is outstanding is can imovie / editors use external storage or is it limited to the Files app? Hope to find out soon, although over a month before I can buy (at airport/ duty free)

The imovie changelog supports external storage!


That's great news for me. I can buy the 11 inch pro base. Thanks all for the help.

kierenlon said:

The imovie changelog supports external storage!

https://www.idownloadblog.com/2019/09/24/apple-imovie-clips-dark-mode-updates/

That's great news for me. I can buy the 11 inch pro base. Thanks all for the help.

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just some food for thought

the price difference between a 64 GB base line iPad PRO and the 1 TB maxed out version is 600 EUR

A 1 TB SSD costs you probably 250 EUR - and it's significantly slower - I am also not sure you could store Netflix films or any other DRM protected things externally for offline usage.

In fact the difference in price is so low that it is IMHO almost a no-brainer to get the maxed out version after the nice price drop.

Hmmm.. I downloaded ios 13.1 today but it does not do what I need just yet..

I can now browse though my folders on external HD just fine but

in folder app, it does not show thumbnail of raw files, at least not A7r IV or GFX100.

LR on my iPad Pro can edit raw file from both A7r IV and GFX100 well enough when I travel but I don't want to import all pictures from my cards into iPad since I don't have enough room on iPad to store all the pictures if I go on a week long trip.

Unfortunately, LR can only browse photo that is on iPad but not on external HD at this time and only folder app can. I hope LR will do something about importing from external HD or Apple will support thumbnail from more cameras soon. If that is the case, I can leave my laptop at home and just bring ipad and external HD for back up and light editing while on a trip.

Thanks.

600EUR for 1TB is unreasonable to me.

My workflow is to only store working files on the compute device, everything else is archived.

I'm not pro, so bus speed between internal and external are not a problem. If I need to import some raw photos to edit, I'll probably make something to eat whilst that runs.

That said, I am nervous about the 64gb not being enough as apps get bigger and I may have a need for offline content, be that work documents or recreational caches Netflix/ prime video so I might go with the 256GB. I assume this will endure longer than my current iPad (6 years) so it may be prudent. Thanks for a different opinion and giving me pause for thought.

USA price right now saves me a lot over buying local, so i might wait until i can get over there later in the year (so long as Brexit doesn't crash the value of the £ further)

kierenlon said:

Thanks.

600EUR for 1TB is unreasonable to me.

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Of course that's something only you can decide - for me 600 EUR is nothing in case I can avoid stress and things connected to my device. In the field ( these devices are only used in the field under all possible circumstances ) an external device can make your iPad break or loose connection . . . I've had in the past tons of problems with external devices - internal soldered stuff keeps most of the time working.

For me 600 EUR is less stressful than loosing precious images on a 5 k EUR journey - lately most of my travel was in the area and I regularly trust my gear.

When I was younger I lost data and marked it as life experiences - I never lost a file ever since ;-)

kierenlon said:

My workflow is to only store working files on the compute device, everything else is archived.

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The iPad is for field usage - I'd not use it at home - at home I have a really large NAS with currently 50 TB but that's also a very stable setup and not something that's directly connected to the device I cary around - I either use 802.11ac WiFi or 10 GbE - but nothing that's plugged in any mobile device.

kierenlon said:

I'm not pro, so bus speed between internal and external are not a problem. If I need to import some raw photos to edit, I'll probably make something to eat whilst that runs.

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Supersize myself is not an option for me - I'd need to eat several BBQs a day ;-)

( just kidding )

kierenlon said:

That said, I am nervous about the 64gb not being enough as apps get bigger and I may have a need for offline content, be that work documents or recreational caches Netflix/ prime video so I might go with the 256GB. I assume this will endure longer than my current iPad (6 years) so it may be prudent. Thanks for a different opinion and giving me pause for thought.

Click to expand...

Just installed my new iPhone 11 PRO and the APPs alone took 45 GB - Musix is another 300 GB and still have some space for Netflix offline - when flying the data pass costs probably more than the one time fee of the flash storage - I am not even sure music would play from an external device.

kierenlon said:

USA price right now saves me a lot over buying local, so i might wait until i can get over there later in the year (so long as Brexit doesn't crash the value of the £ further)

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It will - your Thomas Cook will be probably not the last victim of the decision to leave us.

I have deep sympathy for the people in your country and the problems the crash you're about to have. Good luck!

This is one of the worst decisions that an EU country could have made.

Suteetat said:

Hmmm.. I downloaded ios 13.1 today but it does not do what I need just yet..

I can now browse though my folders on external HD just fine but

in folder app, it does not show thumbnail of raw files, at least not A7r IV or GFX100.

LR on my iPad Pro can edit raw file from both A7r IV and GFX100 well enough when I travel but I don't want to import all pictures from my cards into iPad since I don't have enough room on iPad to store all the pictures if I go on a week long trip.

Click to expand...

And the OP is about to buy a low flash size configuration. The question is how many images do you shoot a week?

The 1 TB version is probably good for 7500 A7R IV files. Maybe someone will bring out a DNG converter for the iPad OS. That would up the amount of possible images to some 12 - 14 k => that's normally more than one week's work for me.

Suteetat said:

Unfortunately, LR can only browse photo that is on iPad but not on external HD at this time and only folder app can. I hope LR will do something about importing from external HD or Apple will support thumbnail from more cameras soon. If that is the case, I can leave my laptop at home and just bring ipad and external HD for back up and light editing while on a trip.

Click to expand...

One idea is to work on the jpgs and simply transfer the RAW files to a SSD for backup purposes.

joger said:

Suteetat said:

Hmmm.. I downloaded ios 13.1 today but it does not do what I need just yet..

I can now browse though my folders on external HD just fine but

in folder app, it does not show thumbnail of raw files, at least not A7r IV or GFX100.

LR on my iPad Pro can edit raw file from both A7r IV and GFX100 well enough when I travel but I don't want to import all pictures from my cards into iPad since I don't have enough room on iPad to store all the pictures if I go on a week long trip.

Click to expand...

And the OP is about to buy a low flash size configuration. The question is how many images do you shoot a week?

The 1 TB version is probably good for 7500 A7R IV files. Maybe someone will bring out a DNG converter for the iPad OS. That would up the amount of possible images to some 12 - 14 k => that's normally more than one week's work for me.

joger said:

Unfortunately, LR can only browse photo that is on iPad but not on external HD at this time and only folder app can. I hope LR will do something about importing from external HD or Apple will support thumbnail from more cameras soon. If that is the case, I can leave my laptop at home and just bring ipad and external HD for back up and light editing while on a trip.

Click to expand...

One idea is to work on the jpgs and simply transfer the RAW files to a SSD for backup purposes.

Click to expand...

True. I could get a 1TB iPad Pro which probably will be enough except I have 2 trips next year, 13 days in Costa Rica and 12 days Botswana/Cape Town that may need more than 1 TB. Unfortunately, I already have a 256 gb version. When I bought iPad Pro earlier this year, I thought storage eventually will not be a big deal with the new iOS so I did not bother with a larger version. My bad... Also I already have an XferMax unit so back up is not really a big issue and I can add a second external HD to XferMax if my 1TB internal drive is not enough.

Usually I just shoot raw only but I guess for now, as you suggested, I need to shoot raw+ jpg in the mean time. I really hope eventually LR will be able to import from external HD on iPad as well. That would really works well for me.

With iPadOS I am able to select an image on a hard drive and open it in Lightroom. Isn’t that what you want?

Boomanbb said:

With iPadOS I am able to select an image on a hard drive and open it in Lightroom. Isn’t that what you want?

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Not for raw file though as iPad folder app only shows raw file as an icon and not thumbnail at least for A7r IV and GFX100.

LR on iPad does not see external HD so I need to import raw files into iPad via folder app first. If there is a way for LR to see files on external drive directly, that would be great but I am not able to find one so far.

Boomanbb said:

With iPadOS I am able to select an image on a hard drive and open it in Lightroom. Isn’t that what you want?

Click to expand...

Maybe not exactly. This probably needs to be tested, but...

When you "open" a file in Lightroom iPad, aren't you actually importing/copying it into the proprietary LR storage area so it can be uploaded to the Lightroom Cloud? Normally, any edits you do to an image in LR will not be applied to the original file outside LR, because the edits were applied to the copy imported into LR; to see the edits outside LR you must export an edited copy.

That proprietary LR storage area is on the iPad, not on the external. If many GB of photos on the external are brought into LR even just to be looked at on the iPad on the road, LR will copy them all into its area on the iPad and at some point you will find yourself out of room on the ΩiPad, not achieving the goal of keeping photos out of internal storage.

Like I said, we need to try this out to be sure, but unless LR has been updated with some wonderful form of "import by reference" so that it can edit photos without importing them, I don't think that works yet.

Suteetat said:

Suteetat wrote:

LR on iPad does not see external HD so I need to import raw files into iPad via folder app first. If there is a way for LR to see files on external drive directly, that would be great but I am not able to find one so far.

Click to expand...

Now that iOS can do external storage, I think we still have to wait for all our favorite iPad apps to be updated to do what we want with external storage. Desktop-level functionality does not seem to be automatic.

graybalanced said:

Boomanbb said:

With iPadOS I am able to select an image on a hard drive and open it in Lightroom. Isn’t that what you want?

Click to expand...

Maybe not exactly. This probably needs to be tested, but...

When you "open" a file in Lightroom iPad, aren't you actually importing/copying it into the proprietary LR storage area so it can be uploaded to the Lightroom Cloud? Normally, any edits you do to an image in LR will not be applied to the original file outside LR, because the edits were applied to the copy imported into LR; to see the edits outside LR you must export an edited copy.

That proprietary LR storage area is on the iPad, not on the external. If many GB of photos on the external are brought into LR even just to be looked at on the iPad on the road, LR will copy them all into its area on the iPad and at some point you will find yourself out of room on the ΩiPad, not achieving the goal of keeping photos out of internal storage.

Like I said, we need to try this out to be sure, but unless LR has been updated with some wonderful form of "import by reference" so that it can edit photos without importing them, I don't think that works yet.

Click to expand...

Just tested an ultra fast USB-C SSD - 178 MB/s - not too fast for online media - acceptable for import nonetheless.

I expect this data rate to get better over time - not even close to an internal media transfer speed.

edit - just tested the internal speed - write 1200 MB/s and read 1600 MB/s - thus the transfer speed via the USB-C port is roughly 1/10 of the internal speed

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joger said:

Just tested an ultra fast USB-C SSD - 178 MB/s - not too fast for online media - acceptable for import nonetheless.

I expect this data rate to get better over time - not even close to an internal media transfer speed.

edit - just tested the internal speed - write 1200 MB/s and read 1600 MB/s - thus the transfer speed via the USB-C port is roughly 1/10 of the internal speed

Click to expand...

That's pretty useful, thanks.

What did you test the speed with? large files, lots of files or some bench mark app app like blackmagic?

Also have you tested the external SSD on another machine, to see if the limit might be the case / cable etc. 178MB/s is pretty good