Best Laptop External Hard Drive For Mac
Tom Brant The Best External Hard Drives for Mac Looking to add storage, or for a smart way to back up your Mac? Here's what you need to know, along with our top-rated Apple-friendly drives. We've tested SSDs and platter-based drives alike. The Right Connections Buying an external hard drive for your Mac is not all that different from buying one for your Windows PC, except for one very important complication: Newer and only come with Thunderbolt 3 ports, but the arrival of Thunderbolt 3-equipped drives has been a trickle, rather than a flood. Most of the current models are designed for photographers and video editors who need to store mountains of footage and access it very quickly. As a result, they are typically SSDs or arrays, which means they're also very expensive. So what's a Mac user who just wants to back up his or her files using Time Machine to do?
Read on as we answer that question, along with all of your other Mac external storage quandaries. A New File System. Thunderbolt 3 and USB Type-C are the latest innovations in the external storage market, but before we get to them, we need to address a basic building block of hard drives that has always affected compatibility, and probably always will: the file system. An external drive's file system is the most important factor that determines whether or not it's readable by Macs, PCs, or both.
Since the late 1990s, Apple has used the Mac OS Extended file system, commonly abbreviated as HFS+, to power its laptop and desktop computers. But with the release of the operating system, Cupertino switched to an entirely new file format. It's simply called the, and it's the first format to be used on Apple computers as well as the iOS ecosystem of, iPods, the Apple TV, and the Apple Watch. There are many benefits to switching from HFS+ to the Apple File System, including better security thanks to native encryption, but the most important thing to note for external drive shoppers is backward-compatibility. Any drive formatted with HFS+ (which includes most Mac-specific drives on the market today) will work just fine with a Mac that's running macOS High Sierra.
Neither Apple File System nor HFS+ works with Windows, however. If you plan to use your external drive with computers that run both operating systems, you should consider a drive formatted with the exFAT file system. Microsoft introduced exFAT about a decade ago, which means that it's still relatively young, as far as file systems go. You won't get the security and efficiency of Apple File System, but you will get the convenience of being able to transfer files back and forth between Windows and macOS simply by plugging in and unplugging your drive. Of course, you can easily reformat almost any drive you buy, so you're not limited to buying only those intended for use with Macs. If you really fancy a drive formatted for Windows (which will usually come preformatted in the NTFS format), you can use the Disk Utility in macOS to reformat it after you bring it home from the store.
There are a few exceptions to this rule, but they're rare. The only drive we've tested recently that isn't Mac-compatible even if it's formatted is the pro-oriented, which uses a lightning-quick Intel SSD inside. It relies on firmware that requires Intel motherboards that aren't found in any Mac computers. Spinning Drive Once you've settled on a file system, you then have to determine which storage medium you want:. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, and—unlike the file system—the type you buy is the type you're stuck with for the life of the drive. A solid-state drive (SSD) offers quick access to your data because it stores your bits in a type of flash memory rather than on spinning platters.
SSDs are often smaller and lighter than spinning external drives, as well, which is also thanks to the lack of moving parts. Their small size means they can often fit into a jacket or pants pocket, which makes them a better choice if you're looking for a portable external drive that you'll be carrying with you frequently. One major downside, however, is that they're much more expensive. You could pay more than 30 cents per gigabyte for an SSD, while spinning drives can be had for less than 10 cents per gigabyte—often much less.
External SSDs also have much less capacity, with most drives topping out at 2TB. Compare that with spinning drives, which are not hard to find in capacities topping 8TB. For professional videographers who edit lots of footage and gamers or movie buffs who have large libraries of multi-gigabyte titles, an external RAID array is worth considering, since it combines the speed of an SSD with the gargantuan capacities of a spinning drive.
An array typically contains as few as two or as many as eight spinning drives, which all work together to both speed up throughput and guard your precious files against corruption if one of the drives fail. The result is that you can get SSD-like speeds, with data throughput of more than 400MBps, and capacities that top out close to 50TB. You'll pay handsomely, of course.
The Mac-specific, for one, can cost as much as $5,000. On the other hand, if you're looking to buy an external drive mainly to back up your files and it will rarely leave your home office, an inexpensive spinning drive will work just fine. Searching for Thunderbolt 3 So, to recap: Faster, smaller (both physically and in terms of gigabytes) drives come at a premium, while spinning drives offer a much better value while sacrificing speed. But what happens when you throw yet another variable into the mix: the connection between your drive and your Mac? As you might have guessed, the answer is more tradeoffs. Every Mac laptop sold today comes with ports that support Thunderbolt 3, but other than a headphone jack, they are the only connectivity options available, which means you'll need an adapter to plug in any device that doesn't have a USB Type-C cable. Fortunately, Thunderbolt 3 via USB Type-C supports a blazing maximum potential throughput of 40Gbps, double the speed of the old Thunderbolt 2 standard and many times the 5GBps that USB 3.0 offers.
Unfortunately, you won't find many Thunderbolt 3-compatible drives on the market currently. Even some Mac-specific drives are still sold with USB 3.0 connectors. Moreover, the Thunderbolt 3 drives you can buy are constrained by the maximum throughput of the drive itself, rather than the Thunderbolt 3 interface.
The speediest SSDs we've tested recently top out at around 600MBps, for instance. This means that for now, it's best to include Thunderbolt 3 support in your buying decision only if you're concerned about futureproofing.
While it's nice of manufacturers to include a USB Type-C cable for people who own a USB Type-C-only MacBook, you can pick up a converter for a few dollars online if the drive you're eyeing doesn't offer one. Meanwhile, iMacs, Mac Pros, and Mac Minis all still come with USB 3.0 ports, so they won't require adapters, for now. Other Considerations Drives intended for PCs sometimes come bundled with software that will automatically back up your files to the drive when it's connected, but such software isn't really a consideration for Mac users, who already have an excellent built-in backup option in the form of Time Machine. The first time you plug in an external drive, Time Machine will ask if you want to use it as a backup drive. While you can customize backup options in System Preferences, such as asking Time Machine to exclude certain folders, there's no action required on your part if you're happy with the default settings. The next time you plug in your drive, Time Machine will automatically set to work creating a backup.
Unless your drive is never going to leave your home or office, you should also consider its physical durability. Rugged, waterproof drives are a good option not just for surfers and BMX riders, as their marketing seems to suggest, but also for people who are carrying their drives to and from school or work, where they might occasionally get spilled on or dropped on the floor. (Check out.) Finally, you might want to consider how the drive will look when it's plugged into your Mac.
Some drives, like the WD My Book, come in a variety of colors. Many others feature copious amounts of aluminum and industrial-chic styling to match the design cues of your MacBook or iMac. We've selected a few of our favorite drives for Macs below; for more, check out our. You can also read our full list of, as well as our.
LaCie Rugged RAID, Thunderbolt Portable Drive ($348.95) This portable hard drive is sturdy and has great performance. It is resistant to shock, water and dust.
It is perfect for use on the go. The two internal hard drives with a total of 4GB storage have performances of up to 240MB/s.
It supports RAID; choose RAID 0 for fast performance or RAID 1 for duplicated data. With the USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt ports you can easily connect to your Mac and also add other peripheral devices. Any computer will recognize this device. Use it to expand your storage and/or backup your data as you wish.
Buy on Amazon: 2. Seagate Backup 4TB Portable Hard Drive ($478) This is a portable Mac external hard drive that has a capacity of 4TB and fast data speeds of up to 220MB/s.
Backup anything you want and manage it with the Seagate dashboard software. You can backup data from Windows PCs and Macs thanks to this hard drive’s support for the plug-and-play NTFS driver. The USB 3.0 port provides connectivity with quick file transfers. There is no need for power supply as the USB connection is enough. Buy on Amazon: 3. BUFFALO LinkStation 520 NAS 4 TB ($290) This NAS device will act as the digital hub of your home or office.
It has 4TB storage space that can be used for backups. It comes RAID 1 configured to ensure all data remains safe. The data stored here can be accessed from anywhere thanks to private cloud connectivity. The user-friendly interface makes it easy to manage files.
The built-in bit torrent client makes it easy to download files. The two premium grade HDDs in place are durable and have lower operating costs. Buy on Amazon: 4. WD 4TB My Cloud Home Personal ($179) This hard drive has 4GB space that can be used to store files, photos, and videos from your phone or computer. Easily connect the hard drive to your router and you will be able to view files stored in the hard disk on the go on your phone or computer. Photos and videos on your phone will be backed up automatically. As for backing up, use the Time Machine to backup and sync all your Mac devices.
This can be done wirelessly whereas backups from external hard drives and flash drives can be done via the USB port available. There are many apps that connect devices to this hard drive making it the best hard drive for Mac that provides easy control. Buy on Amazon: 5.
Best Portable External Hard Drive For Mac Uk
Seagate 8TB Desktop External Hard Drive ($149.99) Expand the hard drive of your Mac with this the 8GB on this external hard drive. Transfer data fast via the USB 3.0 supported. The installation process is as simple as connecting the power adapter and USB cable and you can start working. As a Mac user you will need to reformat it. Do this easily by following the application guide provided. Buy on Amazon: 6. WD My Passport 3TB Portable External ($104) If you have been looking for the best portable hard drive for Mac, this is it.
It has great looks and works perfectly. The 3TB will store massive amounts of data while the sleek design and light weight makes it ideal to be carried wherever you go. It is designed specifically for use with the Mac and is compatible with Time Machine. Backup all the files on your Mac or iPhone.
You can then open the files by simply dragging and dropping them from the Finder. Keep everything secure with the 256-bit AES hardware encryption and WD security software included in this hard drive. The WD build makes this hard drive sturdy and long lasting.
It is shock-resistant. Buy on Amazon: - Please Don't Forget to Subscribe - Be Connect with us in our Social Network: Facebook: GPlus. Twitter: Instagram: YouTube. Visit Our Website.