My hard drive is read only on the new iPad pro

Hi everyone,

I’ve read other threads and still rather confused about the situation. I try to plug a 2TB hard drive into my 2021 iPad Pro but it says read only. My hard drive is kinda old (2~3 years), could that be why it doesn’t let me or iPad isn’t equipped with the editing function to start with?


thanks in advance

Posted on Jun 17, 2021 3:36 PM

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Posted on Jun 17, 2021 3:44 PM

To be recognised by iPadOS, the attached external storage device must be formatted to FAT, FAT32, exFAT, APFS or HFS+ with a single partition.


Apple are additionally introducing NTFS support for iPadOS15 - but this will be read only.


HDDs are very power-hungry, potentially beyond the capability of the iPad USB-C port. Is the HDD self-powered - or connected to iPad via a powered USB hub?

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 17, 2021 3:44 PM in response to shshc99

To be recognised by iPadOS, the attached external storage device must be formatted to FAT, FAT32, exFAT, APFS or HFS+ with a single partition.


Apple are additionally introducing NTFS support for iPadOS15 - but this will be read only.


HDDs are very power-hungry, potentially beyond the capability of the iPad USB-C port. Is the HDD self-powered - or connected to iPad via a powered USB hub?

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My hard drive is read only on the new iPad pro

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