How to get images from a very old iPad?

Question

I have a very old iPad (maybe 10 years old or so?) on which I took numerous photos and videos of my kids when they were very young.

These images are irreplaceable. I want to move them to cloud storage. However, there are numerous problems I have trying to do that. I never synched that iPad with any other computer. I don't have an iTunes account (as far as I know). The device is so old that when I go to the App Store to download Google Drive or DropBox, there are no versions of those apps that are compatible with this ancient iPad.

The iPad runs version 9.3.5 of IOS.

So what should I do? I have never been much into the Apple hardware/software ecosystem. So I don't know what the best solution is. I own a MacBook Pro and multiple Chromebooks.

Note: the iPad has a 30-pin (wide) access port on the bottom.

Answer 1

Option 1: Turn on iCloud photo library.

Settings > iCloud > Photos

You'll probably need a paid iCloud plan, depending on how many photos you have.

Option 2: Plug the iPad into your MacBook Pro

You can get a lightning to USB-C cable for under $20, or just get a USB A to C adapter, and use the charging cable that came with the iPad. The photos will show up in the Photos application on your mac once it's plugged in.

Answer 2

Also, to get an old version of an app e.g Dropbox, Drive.

Login with the same appleid on a more modern apple device (iphone etc) or possibly on a desktop computer. Purchase (for zero dollars) the apps. On the ipad 2, open App Store and either look at "Purchased Apps" or browse to find the identical apps you already "bought", and download them. The option to download an older version should appear.

I also recommend you get the Chrome browser at the same time as some websites will work with it when Safari will not, and it may not be available in the future.