8 ms·

Apple's new iPad Pro is not compatible with any external storage devices

28 points by miles 8y ago

miles 8y ago
Two clarifying quotes from Nilay Patel's review[0] on which this shorter article is based: 1. "Apple says third parties can write apps to talk to external storage, but out of the box, this $1,899 tablet simply won’t talk to a flash drive." 2. "I tried a handful of USB-C hubs with an assortment of USB-A, HDMI, card readers, and Ethernet ports, and everything worked as intended." [0] https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/5/18062612/apple-ipad-pro-review-2018-screen-usb-c-pencil-price-features https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/5/18062612/apple-ipad-pro-r...
- tinus_hn 8y ago
  Clearly, Apple doesn’t want a solution where you keep a usb stick attached to your iPad as external storage. Not very surprising.
- zaroth 8y ago
  So it does work with card readers (as in SD cards?) but not with USB sticks or external drives? I don’t really get the distinction. Is it that the card reader only used in photo apps for photo/video storage and an external “drive” should store apps?
  - dpkonofa 8y ago
    SD cards only work to download. I doubt you can manage folders and whatnot on them.
    - zaroth 8y ago
      If you plug in USB storage, does it work just like a card then? Or are SD cards specifically a special case? So weird when their business model depends on limiting external storage functionality.
      - dpkonofa 8y ago
        I doubt it's the business model. I would bet that they just haven't figured out a good way to deal with external storage on a device like that. The best approximation I've seen is storage cards on Android devices and even those aren't great.
- TillE 8y ago
  It's odd not to support them natively when they finally added the Files app in iOS 11 to support a kind of generic file interface. An external drive would fit very easily into that UI.
  - dpkonofa 8y ago
    I think that might be true on the surface but, when you actually think about how most people use an iPad, it kinda falls apart. Most applications on the iPad function through the use of some kind of Library system where the app handles its own files and shares them in common pools of apps that use the same filetypes. Throwing external storage into that mix natively would allow for the possibility of situations where multiple libraries exist, one external and one internal, for example, and where libraries could become inaccessible. I think that would complicate things enough for the majority of people who use iPads that it would disrupt the experience. People who really need external storage aren't going to be relying on an iPad until the devices really catch up more with full personal computers.
    - dpkonofa 8y ago
      Glad to see the powerful arguments against my statement from those voting me down.
writepub 8y ago
Why oh why should I drop a cool ~$2000 for Apple to take away some fundamental computing freedoms? How long before the public starts seeing through the "Apple knows best" philosophy of taking away your computing freedom? Anyone who's owned a general purpose computing device prior to the iPhone should be complaining about these freedoms, or lack thereof: 1. Full lockdown on app install - only app store blessed apps can run 2. Purposeful crippling of the browser's W3C compliance to retain control over apps on iDevices (long, long list of web APIs that don't work on iDevices) 3. Further on #2, devs are forbidden from running their own browser engines on iDevices. Puts to shame the anti-trust suit against Microsoft regarding IE on Windows. Imagine if MSFT policy were to disallow non IE/Edge/Chakra browser engines 4. All Apple accessories need to go through the Made For Ipod (MFI) certification process, which is why off the shelf storage devices won't work on the iPad. Apple ends up imposing a $7 surcharge on every lightning accessory, because they very fucking well can, to bless your accessory as Apple certified. 5. Blatant, retroactive policy modifications to stifle competition (Steam was pulled from app store, Android watches aren't allowed the same deep notifications access, ....) Apple might be the most evil corp. to ever succeed at scale in computing.
- vondur 8y ago
  If those are your concerns, then this device is not for you.
  - dTal 8y ago
    Well, yeah. I think the point was they ought to be your concerns.
    - dpkonofa 8y ago
      Don't you tell me my business, devil woman!
- gumby 8y ago
  I believe they have a majority in tablets but they certainly are far from a majority in phones or computers, so I don't feel like they are any risk to your computing freedoms in practice. Some people consider the restriction on running arbitrary code a benefit (BTW I agree with you on this) and complaining about that is like complaining that it's terrible that people who buy a Mercedes or Tesla have exorbitant repair costs. If you think they are the thin edge of a wedge that others will follow you might have a point. But I think Android and Windows (much less BSD and linux!) specifically are not following this approach. BTW things are better on the Mac side -- most well defined (i.e. supported by a standard) devices work without additional drivers which is a huge improvement over the old Windows approach. And until the T2 machines you could boot whatever you want on their hardware (and I believe, though with little evidence, that this restriction will go away).
dzhiurgis 8y ago
Has anyone benchmarked it yet? Frustration I have with latest iPhones is that they still run on USB2.0 speeds. Sure, USB-C cable supposed to do up to 10Gb/s, yet you are pumping 512GB of data at 20MB/s...

28 points by miles 8y ago

Two clarifying quotes from Nilay Patel's review[0] on which this shorter article is based: 1. "Apple says third parties can write apps to talk to external storage, but out of the box, this $1,899 tablet simply won’t talk to a flash drive." 2. "I tried a handful of USB-C hubs with an assortment of USB-A, HDMI, card readers, and Ethernet ports, and everything worked as intended." [0] https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/5/18062612/apple-ipad-pro-review-2018-screen-usb-c-pencil-price-features https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/5/18062612/apple-ipad-pro-r...

tinus_hn 8y ago
Clearly, Apple doesn’t want a solution where you keep a usb stick attached to your iPad as external storage. Not very surprising.
zaroth 8y ago
So it does work with card readers (as in SD cards?) but not with USB sticks or external drives? I don’t really get the distinction. Is it that the card reader only used in photo apps for photo/video storage and an external “drive” should store apps?
- dpkonofa 8y ago
  SD cards only work to download. I doubt you can manage folders and whatnot on them.
  - zaroth 8y ago
    If you plug in USB storage, does it work just like a card then? Or are SD cards specifically a special case? So weird when their business model depends on limiting external storage functionality.
    - dpkonofa 8y ago
      I doubt it's the business model. I would bet that they just haven't figured out a good way to deal with external storage on a device like that. The best approximation I've seen is storage cards on Android devices and even those aren't great.
TillE 8y ago
It's odd not to support them natively when they finally added the Files app in iOS 11 to support a kind of generic file interface. An external drive would fit very easily into that UI.
- dpkonofa 8y ago
  I think that might be true on the surface but, when you actually think about how most people use an iPad, it kinda falls apart. Most applications on the iPad function through the use of some kind of Library system where the app handles its own files and shares them in common pools of apps that use the same filetypes. Throwing external storage into that mix natively would allow for the possibility of situations where multiple libraries exist, one external and one internal, for example, and where libraries could become inaccessible. I think that would complicate things enough for the majority of people who use iPads that it would disrupt the experience. People who really need external storage aren't going to be relying on an iPad until the devices really catch up more with full personal computers.
  - dpkonofa 8y ago
    Glad to see the powerful arguments against my statement from those voting me down.

writepub 8y ago

Why oh why should I drop a cool ~$2000 for Apple to take away some fundamental computing freedoms? How long before the public starts seeing through the "Apple knows best" philosophy of taking away your computing freedom? Anyone who's owned a general purpose computing device prior to the iPhone should be complaining about these freedoms, or lack thereof: 1. Full lockdown on app install - only app store blessed apps can run 2. Purposeful crippling of the browser's W3C compliance to retain control over apps on iDevices (long, long list of web APIs that don't work on iDevices) 3. Further on #2, devs are forbidden from running their own browser engines on iDevices. Puts to shame the anti-trust suit against Microsoft regarding IE on Windows. Imagine if MSFT policy were to disallow non IE/Edge/Chakra browser engines 4. All Apple accessories need to go through the Made For Ipod (MFI) certification process, which is why off the shelf storage devices won't work on the iPad. Apple ends up imposing a $7 surcharge on every lightning accessory, because they very fucking well can, to bless your accessory as Apple certified. 5. Blatant, retroactive policy modifications to stifle competition (Steam was pulled from app store, Android watches aren't allowed the same deep notifications access, ....) Apple might be the most evil corp. to ever succeed at scale in computing.

vondur 8y ago
If those are your concerns, then this device is not for you.
- dTal 8y ago
  Well, yeah. I think the point was they ought to be your concerns.
  - dpkonofa 8y ago
    Don't you tell me my business, devil woman!
gumby 8y ago
I believe they have a majority in tablets but they certainly are far from a majority in phones or computers, so I don't feel like they are any risk to your computing freedoms in practice. Some people consider the restriction on running arbitrary code a benefit (BTW I agree with you on this) and complaining about that is like complaining that it's terrible that people who buy a Mercedes or Tesla have exorbitant repair costs. If you think they are the thin edge of a wedge that others will follow you might have a point. But I think Android and Windows (much less BSD and linux!) specifically are not following this approach. BTW things are better on the Mac side -- most well defined (i.e. supported by a standard) devices work without additional drivers which is a huge improvement over the old Windows approach. And until the T2 machines you could boot whatever you want on their hardware (and I believe, though with little evidence, that this restriction will go away).

dzhiurgis 8y ago

Has anyone benchmarked it yet? Frustration I have with latest iPhones is that they still run on USB2.0 speeds. Sure, USB-C cable supposed to do up to 10Gb/s, yet you are pumping 512GB of data at 20MB/s...