I tried to aggressively go Type C exclusively starting in 2017 and have pretty much been there for about 18 months. There are two devices that need an adaptor which I simply glued onto the cable, but then again a lot of devices have gone completely wireless.
People had the same problem with the 30-pin to lightning transition, ADB to USB type A, the super messy VGA->various kinds of DVI and DisplayPort -> (mostly) HDMI and the like. They've been worth it in the end.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UUBS0SS
Or if you want to use a card reader, you get one that plugs into a USB-C port and toss it in the bag with the iPad, just like you would with a USB-A card reader and a Surface.
I don't know about the GoPro since I don't have one, but if it's a normal filesystem they ought to show up in the Files app as well.
Since you already have a USB-C MacBook Pro in sounds like either the cable or the reader would work on both devices.
EDIT: slightly outdated from iPadOS Beta 5, but this blog reports that the Files app shows RAW files and can preview them, but doesn't generate thumbnail icons. Not sure whether this is still the case https://numericcitizen.me/2019/08/01/browsing-raw-images-in-...
Does the iPad not support HFS+ and Apple File System?
It's pretty similar to Mac; I believe the supported systems are HFS+, APFS, FAT, and exFAT.
But NTFS is not supported at all (macOS can read but not write) and encrypted drives aren't supported (macOS supports read/write).
It works well with about anything on the iPhone - although some devices require a powered lightning cable.
On iPad, the same devices will all work, but it's a lot fussier about what powered lightning cable you use.
For example - I have a USB-C to lightning cable and a USB-PD charger. If I use those with the camera connection kit, my iPhone will access any USB storage device I've connected. It won't work on the iPad. But if use a USB-A to lightning cable to a 2 amp power supply, the same devices work fine on the ipad. go figure.
Wish they’d just change everything to USB-C, but with them releasing new accessories regularly that charge with lightning, it doesn’t feel likely. Most recently PowerBeats 4 a couple of days ago.
And it's not just external storage devices. It was always such a mess.
E.x. with the Camera connection kit on the iPad Pro:
- My Canon 5D worked
- Go Pro cameras did not work
- My external card readers didn't work (which could take the cards from the GoPro), sounds like maybe they fixed this
I could go on and on, Apple chips away a little by little at what works and what doesn't work. But meanwhile life goes on with OSX and Windows where everything just works. I used the iPad Pro for 2-3 years.. stuff just improves glacially on the iPad, that's the issue, they fix like one or two things in a year and you still have a list of 25 things that are a PITA.
Some of this stuff with USB-C is tough. There's no way I'm going to buy a new $3000+ camera to get USB-C for example.