I added an SD card and USB-A port to my ...

At this level, the iPhone and iPad are principally tiny, highly effective computer systems we stock round each day in our pocket, and when Apple lastly made the bounce from Lightning to USB-C (thanks European Union) a couple of years in the past, each gadgets instantly grew to become suitable with a variety of equipment, making them much more PC and Mac-like.

Nonetheless, the iPhone and iPad solely characteristic one single USB-C port, which may typically really feel limiting, particularly should you use your iPad extra like a standard laptop computer. For instance, what if you wish to cost your iPhone whereas additionally dumping photographs from an SD card you employ in your DSLR? Properly, you possibly can’t do this. On the iPad aspect, possibly you are wanting to make use of a wired mouse and keyboard with Apple’s pill. Because the iPhone and iPad do not characteristic a USB-A port, you possibly can’t make that occur both.

With that in thoughts, should you’re searching for a option to plug older equipment into your iPhone or iPad, I’ve discovered a really inexpensive and easy accent that will get the job carried out and works nice.

Use a easy USB dongle

There are numerous choices, however even probably the most primary dongle in all probability works nice

In the event you’re a MacBook consumer, you are in all probability very accustomed to residing the “dongle life.” Whereas Apple’s laptops are nice, relying on what mannequin you go for, the port choice could be very limiting, particularly if in case you have a bunch of older USB-A equipment you continue to use. Due to this, lots of people use some type of USB-C dock that options USB-A ports, further USB-C ports, Thunderbolt ports, and in some circumstances, even an SD card slot. In my case, I’ve used CalDigit’s TS3 Plus Thunderbolt dock for a number of years now.

Whereas the TS3 Plus is a bit cumbersome and goes properly past what most individuals in all probability want, it may technically develop your iPhone’s or iPad’s port choice, although it requires its personal energy supply and is not the type of accent anybody would ever wish to carry round with them on the go. What’s extra appropriate for an iPhone or iPad is a compact, easy USB-C or Lightning dongle, with no matter port choice makes probably the most sense for you (there are even magnetic MagSafe dongles on the market now).

Some docks characteristic USB-C ports and a microSD card slot, whereas others would possibly solely provide further USB-A ports. What works greatest for you’ll finally come all the way down to what sort of equipment you intend to make use of with the iPhone or iPad.

What dongle do I exploit?

This $10 accent will get the job carried out completely.

Relating to how I exploit a dongle like this with my iPad or iPhone, it is fairly easy. Typically once I’m capturing photographs with my Olympus OD-M E-M1 Mark III DSLR, I wish to instantly edit and publish them on social media. Moderately than deliver my trusty MacBook Professional, I make these fast edits within the Lightroom CC app on my iPhone or iPad. This technique is especially vital if I wish to preserve my gear-filled backpack a little bit lighter than regular, one thing I have been considering loads about as CES 2026 attracts nearer.

With that in thoughts, to get photographs off my DSLR’s microSD card, I first pop it out of its SD card adapter. Subsequent, I slide it into this USB-C SD Card Reader from an organization I’ve by no means heard of earlier than referred to as, Aidoubara (Amazon is fantastic typically). I then drop the pictures into Lightroom CC on my iPad or iPhone for modifying by choosing the Lightroom tab, tapping the Add Images icon on the backside, and choosing Related Digital camera/Card. The pictures immediately present up, and I can make fast edits to them and save them to my iPhone’s Photograph app library for posting throughout platforms like Instagram, X, Threads, and Bluesky.

The adapter additionally contains a USB-A port and a microSD slot, although I do not discover I would like to make use of these ports fairly often. Whether or not you discover them helpful will come all the way down to how you intend to make use of the USB-C SD Card Reader for iPhone.