Ihave an ipad Air tablet, purchased earlier this year. I'm curious about the cord that runs from the charger to the ipad. One end of the cord is a standard USB plug. I've never tried plugging it into my laptop out of concern I might damage something. Can this cord be safely inserted into the USB port on my laptop, and for what purpose? Thank you for your assistance.

Did you ever read the manual?That's how you connect with iTunes on your PC to do full backups.It will not charge the iPad as the voltage is to low.manuals

Yes. It is a standard usb connection.

Yes, it is safe to use in your laptop, amd as Fizz pointed out, it can be synced through iTunes on your PCI or Mac this way, but won't charge from a computer.

Mine charges from my computer. Bruce

mr. ed wrote:Ihave an ipad Air tablet, purchased earlier this year. I'm curious about the cord that runs from the charger to the ipad. One end of the cord is a standard USB plug. I've never tried plugging it into my laptop out of concern I might damage something. Can this cord be safely inserted into the USB port on my laptop, and for what purpose? Thank you for your assistance.if it is the cord that came with your iPad you can use that cord to charge or sync the iPad to iTunes. to charge, plug the standard USB connector into a USB2 or newer port on your PC or MAC or get a standard USB-to-AC outlet adapter and charge that way. periodically syncing your iPad to iTunes on your PC or MAC will ensure that you can always restore your iPad should something go poof in the night.

ipad charger cord question | Good Sam Community

17 Replies

chrisguld
Explorer
Nov 28, 2014
I use the usb to transfer pictures and video from my ipad to my pc.
docj
Explorer
Nov 28, 2014
rk911 wrote:
Fizz wrote:
I can't charge my iPad Air2 off the computer but it will charge if I plug it into the TV's USB.

must not be enough voltage at the PC's USB. is it USB 1x, 2x or 3x? that may be the difference.

No, all USB ports provide 5V. It's a current (amperage) issue. Many USB chargers and ports can only provide ~500 mA. Many larger devices including my Samsung Galaxy S4 need chargers with 2A output. Otherwise they may run down their batteries despite being plugged in. This is especially true if you're using a smartphone as a GPS with Google Maps.
wildtoad
Explorer II
Nov 28, 2014
Mine says not charging but it does.
tatest
Explorer II
Nov 27, 2014
It depends on your PC. USB has evolved over the past 15 years, without changing connectors at the "host" end to reflect the changes.

iPad (and some other tablets) want to draw at least 1 amp from a USB power supply. The USB standard prior to USB 3x let this port be current limited to something lower (1.1 was lower than 2.0).

Some PCs have USB ports that will power tablets, optical drives and other high current devices, others will shut down the power if the device draws too much. Some high load devices will charge more slowly on a low power USB port, iPad may not charge at all.

My deskside PC has 8 USB ports of 1.1 and 2.x vintage. At least one of these will provide power for devices drawing up to 1 amp, it is marked as such. Some of the others might, I haven't tried the iPad on all of them. You can try with the ports you have on your PC, they will protect themselves from overload on the power line.

IPad, fron iPad2 at least, the data connection cord is the charging cord, whether original iPod 30-pin or the newer Lightning cord. iPads needing 1amp ship with a different charger from iPhones and iPods happy with less than 50 milliamps. Cords are the same. I make it a point, buying USB charging devices, to make sure they are rated at least 1 amp on each port. These will usually be a little bigger, a little heavier, than chargers with lesser ratings.
RoyB
Explorer II
Nov 27, 2014
Dang Google search has all the answers haha...
Fizz
Explorer
Nov 27, 2014
mr. ed wrote:
Fizz wrote:
Did you ever read the manual?
That's how you connect with iTunes on your PC to do full backups.
It will not charge the iPad as the voltage is to low.

manuals

My manual is at home (my RV). I'm currently disabled, so it would be difficult to access the manual

Here you go.
iPad Manual
mr__ed
Explorer
Nov 27, 2014
Fizz wrote:
Did you ever read the manual?
That's how you connect with iTunes on your PC to do full backups.
It will not charge the iPad as the voltage is to low.

manuals

My manual is at home (my RV). I'm currently disabled, so it would be difficult to access the manual
Fizz
Explorer
Nov 27, 2014
rk911 wrote:
Fizz wrote:
I can't charge my iPad Air2 off the computer but it will charge if I plug it into the TV's USB.

must not be enough voltage at the PC's USB. is it USB 1x, 2x or 3x? that may be the difference.

I have both 2x and 3x.
iPad is known to be fussy with proper voltage/amperage
rk911
Explorer
Nov 27, 2014
Fizz wrote:
I can't charge my iPad Air2 off the computer but it will charge if I plug it into the TV's USB.

must not be enough voltage at the PC's USB. is it USB 1x, 2x or 3x? that may be the difference.
Fizz
Explorer
Nov 27, 2014
I can't charge my iPad Air2 off the computer but it will charge if I plug it into the TV's USB.