Apple Introduces New Lightning to SD Card Reader with Support for Super-Fast USB 3.0

After the iPad Pro was released and, subsequently, torn apart by iFixIt, a special little treat was discovered within the unit — it features the capability of transferring data with unmatched speed thanks to the Lightning Port’s support for USB 3.0 connectivity. And now, ladies and gentlemen, roughly one month after the iPad Pro’s release, Apple has officially introduced an update to the Lightning SD Card reader.

Bearing the same title and price of its predecessor, the new iteration of the Lightning-powered SD card adapter isn’t all that indistinct of the version that preceded it. However, under the hood, you’ll see where the real difference exists — USB 3.0 is really, really fast; even considerably faster than USB 2.0

The new unit even works much akin to its predecessor, as well, by connecting to the Lightning port on iPad Pro, and thus, allowing for the insertion of an SD card to transfer photos and videos from the card to iPad Pro and vice versa. It’s a must have accessory, especially if you’re not a fan of storing your photos in the cloud or doing wireless data transfers.

On the new accessories’ product page, Apple clearly mentions that in order to achieve the increased speeds of USB 3.0, the card reader must be used with an iPad Pro, specifically, which makes sense seeing as how previous generation iOS devices don’t feature the USB 3.0 standard.

“The Lightning to SD Card Camera Reader supports standard photo formats, including JPEG and RAW, along with SD and HD video formats, including H.264 and MPEG-4. It supports data transfer at up to USB 3 speeds on iPad Pro, and up to USB 2 speeds on all other iPad and iPhone models.”

Customers wishing to purchase one of the newer Lightning to SD card readers also need to pay attention to the model numbers of the device, because there already exists another versions of the same accessory — that only feature USB 2.0 speeds, however — and you just wouldn’t want to get stuck pairing an older reader to your brand new iPad Pro, right? The model number to look for is MJYT2AM/A.

Learn More: Take a Look Inside the Apple Pencil to See How It Works