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How do I play movies on my external hard drive I bought through apple onto my IPad Pro?

How do I play movies on my external hard drive I bought through apple onto my IPad Pro?


iPad Pro, iPadOS 13

Posted on Aug 11, 2020 8:15 AM

Reply
Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Aug 11, 2020 8:27 AM

Make sure your iPad is on iPadOS 13.


Keep in mind that iOS 13 and iPadOS supports these external drive formats

  1. macOS Extended journaled
  2. FAT32
  3. exFAT
  4. APFS
  • Please note that NTFS is currently not supported.


Make sure you provide power to your external drive

For most iPads, you need to supply power to your external drive. That means your external drive must be self-powered OR you need to use a powered hub or Apple’s Lightning to USB3 Camera Adapter. The iPad itself is not capable of delivering enough power to keep the external drive running and maintain its functionality. The external drive simply draws too much power


I suggest you purchase a USB-C hub that allows for power delivery. Your iPad Pro may be able to handle small thumb drives, but an external hard drive probably draws too much power

1 reply
Question marked as Best reply

Aug 11, 2020 8:27 AM in response to loyal fa

Make sure your iPad is on iPadOS 13.


Keep in mind that iOS 13 and iPadOS supports these external drive formats

  1. macOS Extended journaled
  2. FAT32
  3. exFAT
  4. APFS
  • Please note that NTFS is currently not supported.


Make sure you provide power to your external drive

For most iPads, you need to supply power to your external drive. That means your external drive must be self-powered OR you need to use a powered hub or Apple’s Lightning to USB3 Camera Adapter. The iPad itself is not capable of delivering enough power to keep the external drive running and maintain its functionality. The external drive simply draws too much power


I suggest you purchase a USB-C hub that allows for power delivery. Your iPad Pro may be able to handle small thumb drives, but an external hard drive probably draws too much power

How do I play movies on my external hard drive I bought through apple onto my IPad Pro?

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