My neighbors are selling their computer and keeping only an iPad. They have an extensive, organized Photos library on the Mack. How can they best move the full library to their iPad instead?
I have never done this, but I suppose you have to do a full export of all the Photos (unmodified originals) to a folder in the Mac.
Then connect the iPad to the Mac via USB Cable and in the Finder sidebar the iPad will appear. Click the iPad icon in the Sidebar of the Finder window. You may need to accept a dialog asking you to “Trust” the iPad in the Mac or viceversa). After that, you drag the unmodified originals folder structure to the Photos tab in the Finder window.
For this to work, iCloud Library must be disabled in the iPad.
Is iCloud Photos an option?
If so, enable it on the Mac and let it sync completely then set download and keep originals on the iPad and let it sync.
1 Like
Your larger problem is what are they going to do if
- Their iPad dies and/or
- They buy a new iPad
Also what are they taking new photos on? How are they going to get those onto the iPad
I can’t recommend iCloud Photos highly enough as a persistent storage place for their photos, it would also aid in moving from one device to the other.
But they’ll have no reliable way to backup their photos.
3 Likes
I only had an iPad for awhile. Not being able to do satisfactory backups of my photos was one of the reasons I went back to having a Mac around.
I back up my iCloud photos using Google Photos installed on my iPad. If the15 GB that comes with a free account isn’t enough storage an additional 100 GB is $20 a year.
2 Likes
I used to try and do that on my iPhone, but I never found it to be reliable, I’d guess that you are Wayne if you’re recommending it.
Also I think that my photo library is pushing 200GB in size, so I don’t know how much that would cost
1 Like
I’ve been doing this for several years, and it “just works” for me. But 200GB could be a problem. I have a Business Standard Google Workspace account that comes with 2TB of storage (and Gemini), and costs $14/month per account when paid annually.
I don’t know if you could purchase two 100GB storage upgrades. But I always recommend setting up a free Gmail account and testing everything before spending any money.
If your iPad has a USB-C connector you have the option of backing up to an external SSD . CCC Mobile is a manual backup system for iPad.
On the surface, this idea sounds either extremely short sighted or absolutely brilliant. Probably lives somewhere in between.
Questions must be asked before qualified advice should be offered:
- What model iPad do they plan to use?
- Where will they use this? (ie: traveling vs home)
- How technically adept are they?
- How much storage space is on this iPad?
- How large is their current photo library?
- Do they plan to have said library live on device or in the cloud?
- Do they understand that a cloud based library requires an online connection when they want to access it?
- Why do they think this is a good idea?
I’m sure there are more questions that should be asked, but I am curious to learn of their answers first. Please reply when possible.
All I know is what has already been discussed here. And the suggestions I made are some of the workarounds that I have been using to make up for a real, non-iCloud, backup system.
I rely on cloud based solutions. Without an internet connection my iPad, iPhone, and Mac are just paperweights, and I would need to dig out my old Franklin Planner. 
2 Likes
Sorry Wayne… meant to reply to the entire thread!
1 Like
No problem.
I’ve never tried it but they could connect an external drive to the iPad and copy the pictures over. While I do more and more with my iPad I still like having a Mac available.
They plan to use a newer-model iPad with a USB-C charger/connector. They will be traveling - they are becoming nomads and won’t have a permanent home for a while. This is why they are getting rid of their Mac. They plan to, at a minimum, back up their photos to Google Photos. I have also suggested backing up to a drive connected to their iPad. Their technical savvy is low to medium, which is why they asked for my help. Their current photo library is quite large.
This won’t work (we tried it), because the iPad Photos app cannot read the Mac Photos library. They want all their metadata to come with their photos.
It seems to me that syncing to iCloud with both devices, and then disconnecting the Mac but keeping the synced photos is the best way for them to go. We’ve been trying this, but the sync still hasn’t finished.
Their iPad is a newer model with USB-C connection and enough hard drive space to hold their photos library.
They will be backing up to Google Photos
2 Likes
I agree that’s the best option. It may take some time to sync depending on how big of library they have. The nice thing about going with IPad is if they use a camera with a SD card they can get an adapter for it that plugs into the USB port at the bottom.
Are they using a Cellular iPad?
If not, they need to understand they are at the mercy of whatever Wi-Fi network they can connect to. Backups will only happen (iCloud or Google Photos) during those moments and may take a while. Using their phone as a hotspot might be iffy.
Are they competent (tech wise) enough to make backups? I’m not insulting them but you stated they are low to medium tech savvy. What happens if they have an issue during their travels? Will you be on the hook for long distance tech support?
Is there a family member they trust to keep their Mac powered on and connected to the Internet as an option? (Trust me on this… anyone but you!)
I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to whether they have cellular on their iPad. They will also be backing up to an external drive as they can, and the photos will be on their camera’s SD cards for a while.
If they have an issue during their travels, they can either visit an Apple store/Genius bar in whatever city they’re in, or they can email me. I would totally help them. But that’s the best thing about an Apple device, in my opinion - the odds of a tech issue are fairly low, and there are a number of ways to obtain technical support.
To clarify - they’re not just traveling, they’re becoming permanent nomads. They don’t want to own anything they can’t carry on their backs!
If that is the case, and they plan to use free WiFi when it is available, I recommend they use a reliable VPN service. Especially if they will be doing any banking, etc. I’ve been using ExpressVPN for several years.
1 Like