I added an SD card and USB-A port to my iPhone for $10

At this level, the iPhone and iPad are principally tiny, highly effective computer systems we feature round every single day in our pocket, and when Apple lastly made the soar from Lightning to USB-C (thanks European Union) just a few years in the past, each gadgets all of a sudden turned suitable with a variety of equipment, making them much more PC and Mac-like.

Nevertheless, 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 images from an SD card you utilize in your DSLR? Effectively, you’ll be able to’t do this. On the iPad aspect, possibly you are wanting to make use of a wired mouse and keyboard with Apple’s pill. For the reason that iPhone and iPad do not characteristic a USB-A port, you’ll be able to’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 reasonably priced 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 most likely works nice

In the event you’re a MacBook person, you are most likely very conversant in dwelling the “dongle life.” Whereas Apple’s laptops are nice, relying on what mannequin you go for, the port choice might be very limiting, particularly 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, extra 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 effectively past what most individuals most likely want, it might technically broaden your iPhone’s or iPad’s port choice, although it requires its personal energy supply and is not the form of accent anybody would ever need 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 may solely provide extra USB-A ports. What works finest 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.

On the subject of how I exploit a dongle like this with my iPad or iPhone, it is fairly easy. Typically after I’m capturing images with my Olympus OD-M E-M1 Mark III DSLR, I need to instantly edit and publish them on social media. Reasonably than convey my trusty MacBook Professional, I make these fast edits within the Lightroom CC app on my iPhone or iPad. This technique is especially necessary if I need to hold my gear-filled backpack somewhat lighter than regular, one thing I have been pondering lots about as CES 2026 attracts nearer.

With that in thoughts, to get images 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 great generally). I then drop the pictures into Lightroom CC on my iPad or iPhone for enhancing by deciding on the Lightroom tab, tapping the Add Images icon on the backside, and deciding on Related Digicam/Card. The pictures immediately present up, and I will 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 want 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.