MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - iPad External memory Read/Write speeds with iPad Pros (2020) and iPad Air 4

OtinG · 05-21-2021, 07:37 PM

I created a small chart illustrating the transfer speeds I was able to get between my iPad Air 2020 and seven different memory storage devices. (See the attached image.) Red represents READ speeds and black represents WRITE speeds.

The fastest READ/WRITE speeds I recorded were approximately 30% as fast as the theoretical “up to” speed for the USB-C Gen 1 port used by the iPad Air 2020. The same drive recorded READ/WRITE speeds nearly twice that fast when used with my MacBook Pro which has USB 3.0 ports and an internal SSD. I assume the iPad Air 2020 has slower internal memory than my MacBook Pro and/or that iPadOS is slower than macOS. The newer iPad Pro M1 models should get faster READ/WRITE speeds than my iPad Air 2020.

This will certainly sound a bit like Captain Obvious speaking, but here are a few generalized observations.

For the fastest READ/WRITE speeds use an external SSD drive.
WRITE speeds tend to be way slower than READ speeds.
The faster the port types the faster the speeds. USB 3.1 Gen 2 is better than USB 3.1 Gen 1 or USB 3.0, especially for WRITE speed.
USB 2 is too slow, so don’t waste your time (pun intended) with it.
APFS is faster than ExFAT, so if possible reformat the storage device to APFS.
Samsung drives seemed to be faster than SanDisk drives in my tests. YMMV.

05-21-2021, 07:37 PM	#24
OtinG Old Gadget Guy Posts: 1,913 Karma: 6854865 Join Date: Jun 2018 Device: Oasis 3, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPad mini 6, iPad Air 2020, Alexa Devices	I created a small chart illustrating the transfer speeds I was able to get between my iPad Air 2020 and seven different memory storage devices. (See the attached image.) Red represents READ speeds and black represents WRITE speeds. The fastest READ/WRITE speeds I recorded were approximately 30% as fast as the theoretical “up to” speed for the USB-C Gen 1 port used by the iPad Air 2020. The same drive recorded READ/WRITE speeds nearly twice that fast when used with my MacBook Pro which has USB 3.0 ports and an internal SSD. I assume the iPad Air 2020 has slower internal memory than my MacBook Pro and/or that iPadOS is slower than macOS. The newer iPad Pro M1 models should get faster READ/WRITE speeds than my iPad Air 2020. This will certainly sound a bit like Captain Obvious speaking, but here are a few generalized observations. For the fastest READ/WRITE speeds use an external SSD drive. WRITE speeds tend to be way slower than READ speeds. The faster the port types the faster the speeds. USB 3.1 Gen 2 is better than USB 3.1 Gen 1 or USB 3.0, especially for WRITE speed. USB 2 is too slow, so don’t waste your time (pun intended) with it. APFS is faster than ExFAT, so if possible reformat the storage device to APFS. Samsung drives seemed to be faster than SanDisk drives in my tests. YMMV. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by OtinG; 05-22-2021 at 01:09 AM.