With the introduction of iOS 13 and iPadOS, you can connect external storage devices to an iPad Pro. David Ashkinazy, product manager at Seagate and her LaCie, explains everything users need to know before connecting their LaCie drive to a mobile device.
There are a few important factors:
Catering
All hard drives require power. Some are powered by an external adapter, others by a USB port.
If the hard drive has an external adapter (such as LaCie d2 Professional), it should be able to connect to mobile devices, as long as they have a USB-C cable.
If the hard drive is powered via a USB port (such as the LaCie Rugged SSD), then it gets a little trickier. It depends on the protocol and type of USB port on the mobile device. The Apple iPad Pro, for example, should provide enough power to connect to several LaCie hard drives, since it has a USB 3.1 (gen 2) port. iOS devices with a Lightning port and older Android mobile devices may not have enough power to power the same drives, since they are USB 2.0. Some of the newer Android devices can power connected drives, but it depends on the type of USB port.
Finally, you can't connect a LaCie drive to your phone or tablet via a Thunderbolt port. Only a regular USB-C port will work. Some of the devices (like the LaCie d2 Professional) have multiple ports.
Format
Mobile devices won't be able to recognize every hard drive format. iOS 13 and iPadOS support the following formats: ExFAT, FAT32, HFS+, and APFS.
If users want to connect their LaCie drive to multiple devices (such as Mac, Windows, iPad Pro, and Android smartphones), they should format the drive to ExFAT, as it is compatible with most operating systems. Below are instructions on how to format their LaCie drive on a Mac.
Safety
On some LaCie drives, such as the LaCie Rugged SSD, users can encrypt files with Seagate Secure for maximum project confidentiality. Unfortunately, they will not be able to decrypt their files on a mobile device. They will need to disable Seagate Secure on the LaCie drive on a Mac or Windows computer before they can access their files.
Once connected, they should be able to use the LaCie Drive to store or back up files. However, there are some limitations. For example, if the user is a creative professional, they won't be able to edit their files directly from their hard drive. They'll need to import the files to their mobile device first before editing the video.
Only the LaCie DJI Copilot and the LaCie Rugged BOSS SSD They are specifically designed to connect to tablets, smartphones and cameras. LaCie has not officially tested its other hard drives with mobile devices and therefore cannot guarantee compatibility.
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