iPad Pro 3rd gen iPad Pro Usb c Transfer speeds with thumb drive

[Astonish_IT]

Hello Everyone,

I have a few questions regarding the USB-C of iPad Pro.

Today I connected a usb-c / usb-a thumb drive (Scandisk) to my iPad Pro. I guess it is usb 3.0, I bought it like a mounth ago and it was the latest model with usb-c and usb a connection on different ends of it. Well, with excitement of having usb-c on my iPad finally, I wanted to transfer 3 videos to the thumb drive to place in my Macbook Pro, the videos are 2.5 gb , 1.5 gb and 760 mb, done in Luma Fusion, in .mp4 format.

Transfering this total of 4.7 gb of file took about 15 minutes if not more (did not really measure as I was not expecting it to be this long.) Is this normal? Would an SSD harddrive like a Samsung T5 would achieve MUCH better results? All the thumb drives will be slow like this? I formatted the thumb drive in Ex-FAT format on my mac.

I was hoping / expecting a faster speed to be honest. But well.. usb-c still is an adventage for peripheral ease as I can use the things I have for my Macbook Pro. But using the thumb drive in this speed is almost unuseable as I am curious how long would it take if I had to transfer 30 GB.

My second question is this: I have a Samsung S20 with usb-c. Is there a way for me to be able to mount my phone like a usb-disk drive in the iPad and copy files to it? When I connect it to my iPad, it does not show on the side panel in Files app. May be a third party app can solve this? Do you know any?

Thank you!

 

[sparksd]

Samsung T5 exFAT SSD with USB-C direct connection to my 2018 12.9 Pro -

2 MP4 files, 9.87GB (4.38GB + 5.49GB)

Copy from SSD to iPad Files local folder – 45 secs.
Copy from iPad Files local folder to SSD - 66 secs.

Don't know if you could do a direct connect with an Android phone like that - I doubt it. What USB mode is set on the phone - Media Device (MTP) or Camera (PTP)? You could try switching modes (under Settings-Storage I believe).

 

[AutomaticApple]

Don't know if you could do a direct connect with an Android phone like that - I doubt it.

Yeah, it most certainly cannot draw enough power.

 

[Astonish_IT]

Samsung T5 exFAT SSD with USB-C direct connection to my 2018 12.9 Pro -

2 MP4 files, 9.87GB (4.38GB + 5.49GB)

Copy from SSD to iPad Files local folder – 45 secs.
Copy from iPad Files local folder to SSD - 66 secs.

Don't know if you could do a direct connect with an Android phone like that - I doubt it. What USB mode is set on the phone - Media Device (MTP) or Camera (PTP)? You could try switching modes (under Settings-Storage I believe).

Hello, thank you very much for your reply!

Wow, those numbers are very different than mine. So if I want a fast data transfer I need an external SSD. Is there a fast thumb drive? Because size wise, I find them more conveniant.

Yes with MTP I am able to see the photos of my iPad but I am not able to do the opposite. :-/

Yeah, it most certainly cannot draw enough power.

Hello! thank you very much for your reply! That is sad, it could be very useful if it worked.

 

[sparksd]

Hello, thank you very much for your reply!

Wow, those numbers are very different than mine. So if I want a fast data transfer I need an external SSD. Is there a fast thumb drive? Because size wise, I find them more conveniant.

Yes with MTP I am able to see the photos of my iPad but I am not able to do the opposite. :-/



Hello! thank you very much for your reply! That is sad, it could be very useful if it worked.

The 1TB T5 is actually faster than what I used as is the newer version, the T7.

I can't personally point to a thumbdrive that would be as fast. The problem I have run into in the past with fast thumbdrives is heat - they can get pretty hot on large transfers (I had a USB 3 Samsung that I quit using as it got too hot to even handle and I was concerned about heat damage to the device I was using it in).

 

[Del Martes]

Samsung T5 exFAT SSD with USB-C direct connection to my 2018 12.9 Pro -

2 MP4 files, 9.87GB (4.38GB + 5.49GB)

Copy from SSD to iPad Files local folder – 45 secs.
Copy from iPad Files local folder to SSD - 66 secs.

Don't know if you could do a direct connect with an Android phone like that - I doubt it. What USB mode is set on the phone - Media Device (MTP) or Camera (PTP)? You could try switching modes (under Settings-Storage I believe).

So the external drive has to be exFat, be it a USB thumb drive or an SSD?

 

[sparksd]

So the external drive has to be exFat, be it a USB thumb drive or an SSD?

If you're tied to a PC then yes - NTFS is not supported. Others are using Mac format, e.g. APFS (which may also improve performance). All my drives are exFAT.

 

[Astonish_IT]

The 1TB T5 is actually faster than what I used as is the newer version, the T7.

I can't personally point to a thumbdrive that would be as fast. The problem I have run into in the past with fast thumbdrives is heat - they can get pretty hot on large transfers (I had a USB 3 Samsung that I quit using as it got too hot to even handle and I was concerned about heat damage to the device I was using it in).

Thank you very much again for the detailed answer, much appreciated.

Do you think that on an iPad Pro, I could see difference in performance between T5 and T7? I mean, my 2017 Macbook Pro may take adventage of it’s full potential, but If I am not wrong, even tho iPad Pro has USB C, it does not support Thunderbolt speeds, it is limited to USB 3.0 speeds.

So when you go to those high performance drives, the bottleneck would be the USB 3.0 reaching already it’s full speed with a T5? or, T5 still can not reach the speed potential of USB 3.0 and that T7 can improve it?

In anyways both T5 or T7 would be miles ahead of my thumb drive’s speed judging from the numbers you gave me, my question is just about pure curiousity as I will most probably buy the one which I find in the best offer, even tho I do not see a big price difference between T5 and T7 for 500 GB model on Amazon.

I would not want to use a “too hot” thumbdrive neither, so in this case I have to avoid that solution so thank you for the heads up.

 

[sparksd]

Thank you very much again for the detailed answer, much appreciated.

Do you think that on an iPad Pro, I could see difference in performance between T5 and T7? I mean, my 2017 Macbook Pro may take adventage of it’s full potential, but If I am not wrong, even tho iPad Pro has USB C, it does not support Thunderbolt speeds, it is limited to USB 3.0 speeds.

So when you go to those high performance drives, the bottleneck would be the USB 3.0 reaching already it’s full speed with a T5? or, T5 still can not reach the speed potential of USB 3.0 and that T7 can improve it?

In anyways both T5 or T7 would be miles ahead of my thumb drive’s speed judging from the numbers you gave me, my question is just about pure curiousity as I will most probably buy the one which I find in the best offer, even tho I do not see a big price difference between T5 and T7 for 500 GB model on Amazon.

I would not want to use a “too hot” thumbdrive neither, so in this case I have to avoid that solution so thank you for the heads up.

I'd get the T7 now over the T5 as it faster, the price difference is no longer very much, and my use would also be on a PC or laptop, not limited to the iPad. And one question to always consider is would your usage be such that faster makes a big difference, i.e., would you be doing a lot of large transfers and you really don't want to spend the additional wait time. The T5 is certainly fast enough for my usage and it can stream any and all videos I may put on it.

 

[Astonish_IT]

Well to be honest, the speed bump from my thumbdrive to T5 would already be huge and that would be definitely necessary as that speed is barely useable for 100 mb+ files. But the difference in speed between t5 and t7 would just be a luxury, not a necessary as you have stated that T5 is fast enough.

I am not who transfers large files often but also I am someone who buys an external harddisk like every 6-7 years. So for the long term use T7 can be nicer but if I find a deal for T5 for about 30% off T7, then I would be happy to go with T5 as well as it will already improve it a lot my situation.

Actually I will be using it to transfer files between my iPad and Mac and PC. But the transfer speeds on a thumbdrive does not disturb me while using it on my computers, so a T5 would already make me more than very happy most probably.

 

[rui no onna]

The T5 is SATA-based while the T7 is NVMe-based. Personally, for the $20 difference at the moment, I'd just go T7. I believe current iPad Pros are capable of faster than SATA3/USB3 speeds.

The problem with most flash drives is the tiny ones are pretty much just as slow or slower than USB2 hard drives. The fast ones tend to be big and bulky, and they run hot.

Mind, there have been some reports of the T7 running hot with heavy extended use. That's the price you pay for performance.

 

[loybond]

Thank you very much again for the detailed answer, much appreciated.

Do you think that on an iPad Pro, I could see difference in performance between T5 and T7? I mean, my 2017 Macbook Pro may take adventage of it’s full potential, but If I am not wrong, even tho iPad Pro has USB C, it does not support Thunderbolt speeds, it is limited to USB 3.0 speeds.

So when you go to those high performance drives, the bottleneck would be the USB 3.0 reaching already it’s full speed with a T5? or, T5 still can not reach the speed potential of USB 3.0 and that T7 can improve it?

In anyways both T5 or T7 would be miles ahead of my thumb drive’s speed judging from the numbers you gave me, my question is just about pure curiousity as I will most probably buy the one which I find in the best offer, even tho I do not see a big price difference between T5 and T7 for 500 GB model on Amazon.

I would not want to use a “too hot” thumbdrive neither, so in this case I have to avoid that solution so thank you for the heads up.

I believe usb 3 is 5 Gbps, while the iPad pro can do 10 Gbps. The new Air can only do 5 Gbps. Theoretically, it can up to 1280 MB/s. Some sort of nvme based external SSD might give you up to 1050 MB/s (like a t7), but it depends on lots of factors (% full, file system, file sizes and types etc).

 

[Del Martes]

If you're tied to a PC then yes - NTFS is not supported. Others are using Mac format, e.g. APFS (which may also improve performance). All my drives are exFAT.

I'm not tied to a PC. All my devices are Apple. I was wondering whether an APFS'd SSD or thumb drive could be recognized by the latest iPad Pro, when I asked the question.

And thanks for your info!

 

[sparksd]

I'm not tied to a PC. All my devices are Apple. I was wondering whether an APFS'd SSD or thumb drive could be recognized by the latest iPad Pro, when I asked the question.

And thanks for your info!

Most definitely go with Mac format, then. iOS has had a number of issues with exFAT-formatted drives - aborted transfers, file corruption on copy, drive corruption, etc., issues that don't seem be occurring with Apple native formats.

 

[Astonish_IT]

The T5 is SATA-based while the T7 is NVMe-based. Personally, for the $20 difference at the moment, I'd just go T7. I believe current iPad Pros are capable of faster than SATA3/USB3 speeds.

The problem with most flash drives is the tiny ones are pretty much just as slow or slower than USB2 hard drives. The fast ones tend to be big and bulky, and they run hot.

Mind, there have been some reports of the T7 running hot with heavy extended use. That's the price you pay for performance.

Thank you very much for your informing answer. I will go and check two of those drives and I will most probably buy a T7 then.

I believe usb 3 is 5 Gbps, while the iPad pro can do 10 Gbps. The new Air can only do 5 Gbps. Theoretically, it can up to 1280 MB/s. Some sort of nvme based external SSD might give you up to 1050 MB/s (like a t7), but it depends on lots of factors (% full, file system, file sizes and types etc).

Thank you very much for the detailed numbers, so in this case, with usb 3 drives, it seems like the drives themselves paired with the connection is their bottleneck and that with a drive like T5 or T7, there is still to much to gain.

 

[Digitalguy]

Some thumb drives have ssd speeds because they have a ssd controller. Some throttle, some don't, as they are better made. But they all run relatively hot. This one doesn't throttle https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Flas...&keywords=corsair+usb+3&qid=1607689126&sr=8-5

Buit SSDs are cheaper per GB so are a better buy. You can take advantage of a NVME only with ipad pro and with computer that support USB 3.1 gen 2 (but limited to 10Gb/s). Some go up to 20Gb/s (gen 2x2) but are much more expensive (and ipads and macs cannot take advatnage of the additional speed). The new macs are USB 4.0 with can take advatange of 10Gb/s like the ipad pro. They support TB3 drives, which are even more expensive (up to 40Gb/s but don't support 2x2, up to 20GB). Many PCs are limited to 5Gb/s, including for the USB C port, since they are gen 1 (which is the same speed as USB 3.0). NVME generally run hotter than SATA.

 

[Astonish_IT]

Thank you very much Digitalguy for the detailed answer and for the link supported for the ssd thumb drives. Since as you have said as well. it gets too hot, I will steer away from the thumb drive solution.

For future proofing, I will opt for a Nvme as my 2017 Macbook Pro can definitely take adventage of those speeds. My PC has a usb-c port as well but it is an early 2016 MSI, so I doubt that it can take adventage but anyways, the limit in that case will be the computer and not the HD.

Thank you!

 

[Digitalguy]

Thank you very much Digitalguy for the detailed answer and for the link supported for the ssd thumb drives. Since as you have said as well. it gets too hot, I will steer away from the thumb drive solution.

For future proofing, I will opt for a Nvme as my 2017 Macbook Pro can definitely take adventage of those speeds. My PC has a usb-c port as well but it is an early 2016 MSI, so I doubt that it can take adventage but anyways, the limit in that case will be the computer and not the HD.

Thank you!

the mac should be able to take advantage of the 10Gb/s speed (around 900MB). Mind you however, NVME SSDs get hot too, especially if you keep them plugged in for a long time, but at least you can hold them by the cable...

 

[Astonish_IT]

..but at least you can hold them by the cable...

Love this part ?

 

[Astonish_IT]

Hello everyone!

So I was going back and forward on my Amazon Shopping Card and at the same time I was watching some reviews of Samsung T5 and T7 with iPad PRo..and suddenly I found a video of someone testing my usb thumb drive with his 2018 iPad PRo 11" and guess what? It took 1 minutes almost to copy a 1.5 gb file to the iPad Pro and more than 8 minutes to copy it from the iPad to the thumb drive!! Coherant with my experience! So if they did not make a newer model, my thumb drive is exactly the same (design wise and the same brand) - So I guess that I have one of the worst drives... lol

This is the video for some of you who could be interested to watch lol:

so yeah, with a T5 or T7, I will definitely have a huge speed boost! But well, I prefer my cheap thumb drive to be "rubbish" rather than my expensive iPad Pro, transfer speed wise, so I am happy to find this out! :=) And I learned my lesson, usb-c does not always mean fast speeds.

EDIT: I tried the thumb drive with my Samsung S20. I copied a 4k video from the Samsung S20 to the usb c drive which was 3.98 GB and it took "only" 4 minutes. Actually it is incredibly faster compared to the iPad Pro. In a way, I wish that it would copy as slow as my iPad Pro. After the copy tho, the thumb drive was pretty hot.