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The Apple iPad Pro is squarely focused on creative and business professionals that can make use of Apple's new Apple Pencil and Apple Smart Keyboard accessories. However, one thing that makes the iPad Pro still inconvenient compared to the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is transfering files between the tablet and other computers using USB drives. With the Surface, you can use any regular USB flash drive with a USB Type-A plug connector. The iPad Pro also has USB but it needs to be accessed through Apple's Lightning connector. That's where Lightning based storage drives like SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive come in.
To use the iXpand Flash Drive, you need to first download and install the SanDisk iXpand Sync App from the Apple Store.
Once you open the iXpand App for the first time, SanDisk conveniently labels the key functions of the App.
You can decide to Decline or Accept whether the App should share anonymous usage data to SanDisk.
If you select the menu icon (the 3 short horizontal lines) on the upper left, you can then select Camera Sync. Camera Sync is the easiest way to transfer files from your iPad Pro to the iXpand drive. With Camera Sync, the App will automatically transfer all photos and videos from your iPad Pro to the iXpand drive as soon as you insert the drive into the iPad. You can also set it up such that photos and videos are deleted from the iPad after the files are transferred.
For Camera Sync to work, you'll need allow the App to access your photos. Note the Apple doesn't allow you to transfer photos and videos from the iXpand drive to the iPad- only the other way around.
After the sync is complete, the App will still ask you to confirm whether to delete from the iPad all the photos/videos that had been transferred to the iXpand drive.
The iPad Pro supports USB 3.1 Gen (5 Gb/s) speeds but currently only the Apple Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader can take advantage of this speed. The SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive only supports USB 2.0 (480 Mb/s) speeds with the iPad Pro.
To insert the iXpand drive into the iPad Pro, you'll need to lift up the drive's rubbery "tail" with the Lightning connector at the end.
You can then insert the Lightning connector into the iPad Pro, while the rest of the drive sits below the iPad.
Once you have transferred all your photos and videos from the iPad into the iXpand drive, you can then use the other USB Type-A plug connector with any Mac or PC.
The SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive is a key accessory for the Apple iPad Pro especially for those that need to transfer a lot of files which have been created or edited using the iPad. You can of course use your mobile internet or WI-FI connection, but nothing beats the iXpand drive for quickly transferring large videos and photo collections.
