iPad Pro running iPadOS: External USB 3.1 Storage Testing

October 4th, 2019 by rob-ART morgan, mad scientist

We connected various bus-powered USB 3.1 Gen 2 storage devices with USB-C connectors to see if they were compatible with our 2018 iPad Pro 12.9-inch running iPadOS. Then we measured the data transfer speeds.

USB TEST DRIVES

OWC Envoy Pro EX = OWC Envoy Pro EX 1TB USB-3.1 Gen 2 NVMe M.2 bus-powered flash drive
Angelbird PKT XT = Angelbird SSD2GO PKT XT 2TB USB 3.1 Gen 2 bus-powered flash drive
MyDigitalSSD M2X = MyDigitalSSD M2X USB 3.1 Gen 2 bus-powered enclosure with Phison E12 480GB PCIe-based NVMe flash module installed
Angelbird PKT = Angelbird SSD2GO PKT 512G USB 3.1 Gen 2 bus-powered flash drive

TEST PROCEDURE: Used a stopwatch to time the transfer. Divided the total size of the document (times 2 for read and write capacity) by the time in seconds.

TRANSFER 1GB MOVIE FROM USB DRIVE TO IPAD PRO
(HIGHER Megabytes per Second = FASTER)

TRANSFER 1GB MOVIE FROM IPAD PRO TO USB DRIVE
(HIGHER Megabytes per Second = FASTER)

 

WHAT DID WE LEARN?

Though the bus-powered USB 3.1 Gen 2 flash drives tested are capable of transfer speeds as high as 980MB/s, we did not see those speeds with our transfer. It may be due to the bandwidth of the iPad Pro's USB-C port. As for the storage speed of the iPad Pro, it tested at 883MB/s when we ran the PerformanceTest benchmark app, so that can't be blamed.

When the drive mounts, it appears in the Files App under Locations. You can move documents between your drive and On My iPad, iCloud Drive, or Recently Deleted. Pressing down on any document brings up a floating window with eleven options.

We were able to mount APFS, HFS+, and xFAT formatted drives. But encrypted volumes will NOT mount.

Caveats aside, the ability to connect an external USB drive (with USB-C connector or adapter) to the iPad Pro running iPadOS is a welcome new feature.

Comments? Suggestions? Feel free to email me, Follow me on Twitter @barefeats.

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copyright 2019 Rob Art Morgan
"BARE facts on Macintosh speed FEATS"
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