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

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

Nevertheless, the iPhone and iPad solely function one single USB-C port, which may usually really feel limiting, particularly for those who 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 utilize in your DSLR? Effectively, you’ll be able to’t do this. On the iPad aspect, perhaps you are wanting to make use of a wired mouse and keyboard with Apple’s pill. Because the iPhone and iPad do not function a USB-A port, you’ll be able to’t make that occur both.

With that in thoughts, for those who’re in search of a technique to plug older equipment into your iPhone or iPad, I’ve discovered a really inexpensive and easy accent that will get the job achieved and works nice.

Use a easy USB dongle

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

In case you’re a MacBook person, you are in all probability very acquainted with dwelling the “dongle life.” Whereas Apple’s laptops are nice, relying on what mannequin you go for, the port choice may 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 form 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 sort 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 essentially the most sense for you (there are even magnetic MagSafe dongles on the market now).

Some docks function USB-C ports and a microSD card slot, whereas others may solely supply further USB-A ports. What works finest for you’ll in the end come all the way down to what sort of equipment you propose to make use of with the iPhone or iPad.

What dongle do I exploit?

This $10 accent will get the job achieved completely.

In terms of how I exploit a dongle like this with my iPad or iPhone, it is fairly easy. Generally after 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. Slightly than carry 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 wish to maintain my gear-filled backpack a little bit lighter than regular, one thing I have been considering lots 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 known as, Aidoubara (Amazon is fantastic generally). I then drop the photographs into Lightroom CC on my iPad or iPhone for enhancing by deciding on the Lightroom tab, tapping the Add Pictures icon on the backside, and deciding on Related Digital camera/Card. The photographs 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 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 propose to make use of the USB-C SD Card Reader for iPhone.