I bought an iMac but it doesn’t have an SD card reader. The Apple Card reader is about £40 so I wondered if anyone could recommend an after-market reader that would work as well. I would prefer a personal experience recommendation please

Cofion

 

Sorry, can’t hep because,
1, my iMac is 11 years old and has an SD reader,
2, the card reader I do have is old so probably no longer available.

However, some Epson printers have SD card readers and I have used one of those without problems, not really helpful unless you need a printer.

 

I use a usb cable (mini, micro, funny double one, C ) as required. I think my imac (late 2012) may have a card slot but it is around the back and so useless. When I bought my imac my son advised I buy a wired keyboard, thank goodness, it has 2 USB ports in it. I don’t really see the point of taking a card out of the camera, reading it, putting it back. Folk go on about “speed” but a cup of tea takes time to make and, even without tea I haven’t found waiting time intolerable.

I’d expect there are powered USB hubs that have integral card readers. Someone on Fuji-X-forum showed me that there was an external powered USB hub, I’m sure it read cards, but properly it was a SSD or HDD housing, the USB ports were extras. It was said it effectively converted a mac mini to a mac studio at a fraction of the price.

 

The reader on my Late 2015 iMac is actually on the rear of the machine, amongst the Thunderbolt and USB ports. It's a slot which you get used to using by feel, yours may be like this, unless it's one of the latest type with coloured casing, which I have seen but know little about.

 

In case you were unaware Pete, most memory cards use what are known as "wiping" contacts. The effect is that when you remove and insert a card the contacts wipe against each other and are cleaned in the process. Thus regular removal of the card can be beneficial to the operation of the camera.

 

Dust resting on the edge of the wiping surfaces tends to stay there if it is not disturbed. When the card is re-inserted that dust can be wiped into the contact area. This is a very old discussion that goes back many years. I remember it being had about reseating DEC PDP 11 computer cards during routine maintenance.

 

Hi, I have been using a Hama 35 in 1 reader with my I Mac, via usb, not very expensive, for a bit more Lexar do a multi card reader

 

Dust is very unlikely to get on the contacts of a card installed in the sealed environment of the card slots on my cameras, obviously other cameras will differ. I store my spare cards in dust and water proof cases too.