You might be wondering why you need a USB-C hard drive for your Mac. We spent over 30 hours researching and testing 20 different external hard drives and found that HDD capacity, warranty, and backup speed were most important. The result is that you can get SSD-like speeds, with throughput of more than 400MBps, and capacities that top out close to 50TB. Older external SSDs have been limited by the internal electronics (generally a drive and controller using the older Serial ATA bus inside the drive). As a hardware analyst, Tom tests and reviews laptops, peripherals, and much more at PC Labs in New York City. These come in both portable and "desktop" versions; the portables are obviously smaller, and based on the kinds of 2.5-inch platter drives used in laptops. 1 Best External Hard Drives for MacBook in 2021. After weeks of testing, we landed on the best hard drive… Five-year warranty with five years of Data Rescue recovery. Lexar's speedy SL100 Pro external SSD is a useful, affordable bit of storage kit for general users and media pros alike. AES-256 hardware encryption with password. With USB-only drives, some manufacturers include a USB Type-C cable for people who own a USB Type-C-only MacBook, and you can always pick up a converter for a few dollars online if the drive you're eyeing doesn't offer one. The LaCie Porsche Design is one of the best external hard drives for Macs on sale today, and comes with both USB Type-C to Type-A and USB Type-C to Type-C connectors, making it a versatile way to expand the storage space of your Mac, regardless of what ports it has. This is the latest generation of the Western Digital My Passport external hard drives comes in capacities from 1TB to 4TB, and features cloud storage and 256-AES encryption, along with WD's own backup software. *Deals are selected by our partner, TechBargains. LaCie's two-drive Rugged RAID Shuttle offers the choice of high capacity and fast performance (in striped mode), or of half the capacity with all data mirrored on the second disk. Our picks for the best external hard drives for Mac devices are simply the best and most affordable way to fix your storage troubles. 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: The latest Mac laptops only come with Thunderbolt 3 ports, but the arrival of Thunderbolt 3-equipped drives has been a trickle, rather than a flood. 1.5.1 Pros; 1.5.2 Cons; 1.6 6. G-Technology Portable External Hard Drive 2TB . Even some Mac-specific drives are still sold with USB 3.0 connectors. Desktop-style external hard drives are larger, are based on the beefier and more capacious 3.5-inch drives used in full-size desktop PCs, and require their own AC power source. One major downside, however, is that they're more expensive. Not only is your data kept protected from knocks and drops with the rugged shell, but it's also got 256-bit AES security features and NFC (Near Field Communication) features as well. Many of the external SSDs we've tested to date top out at around 600MBps, for instance. But there’s more. PCMag Digital Group. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't reach the top speeds of solid state external drives, but for external hard drives based on traditional HDDs, this is the drive to consider. Many others feature copious amounts of aluminum and industrial-chic styling to match the design cues of your MacBook or iMac. WD Elements 4TB Portable USB 3.0 Hard Drive, Seagate Expansion 4TB External USB 3.0 Hard Drive, WD My Passport Ultra 5TB Portable USB 3.0 Hard Drive, How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone or iPad, How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill, How to Find Free Tools to Optimize Your Small Business, How to Get Started With Project Management, Read Samsung Portable SSD T7 Touch Review, Read Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Touch Review, The Best Rugged Hard Drives and SSDs for 2021, Seagate Expects to Start Selling 50TB HAMR Hard Drives in 2026, Seagate Confirms World's Largest Hard Disk Drive on Track for December, How to Save Data From a PC That Won't Boot, The Best 2-in-1 Convertible and Hybrid Laptops for 2021, The Best Laptops for Video Editing in 2021. Finally, you might want to consider how the drive will look when it's plugged into your Mac. It provides twice the speeds of standard USB 3.0 drives. It's simply called the Apple File System (APFS), and it's the first format to be used across both Macs and iOS devices. 1.1 1. Best Rugged External Hard Drive – LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt USB-C A graduate of Middlebury College, Tom also has a master's degree in journalism and French Studies from New York University. An external drive's file system is the most important factor that determines whether or not it's readable by Macs, PCs, or both. Like all OWC external drives, the OWC ThunderBay 4 RAID comes with a 5 year warranty which is the longest you’ll find for a quality external hard drive on Mac. The sleek, expensive Samsung Portable SSD X5 offers the fastest single-drive external storage money can buy, but it's suited mainly to well-heeled content-creation pros using late-model Macs. The Western Digital External hard drive scored high marks in every category and is our top pick. Extremely fast data transfer speeds, thanks to Thunderbolt 3 and PCIe NVMe interfaces. It does mean the price is higher, but if transfer speed is the most important consideration when looking for the best external hard drive for your Mac, then this is the drive to go for. 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. It does mean the price is higher, but if transfer speed is the most important consideration when looking for the best external hard drive for your Mac, then this is the drive to go for. Can set to RAID 0 for higher speed and capacity, or to RAID 1 for drive mirroring. Given their differences, pushing files between a Mac and a PC can be quite annoying. High price per gigabyte, due largely to ruggedization and RAID design. For professional videographers who edit lots of 4K footage and gamers or movie buffs who have large libraries of multi-gigabyte titles, an external RAID array made up of multiple platter-based drives is worth considering, since it combines the near-speed of an SSD with the gargantuan possible capacities of spinning drives. © Late-model drives use different internal components, based PCI Express drives using the NVMe protocol. Unfortunately, you won't find all that many Thunderbolt 3-compatible drives on the market. That's more than fast enough for backups and occasionally transferring multi-gigabyte files, but many times lower than Thunderbolt 3's maximum throughput. Best for Photo and Video Pros in the Field, Best for Security-Concious Frequent Travelers, Best for Maximum Flexibility, Data Protection, Best for Outdoor Enthusiasts and Business Professionals, Best for Content Creators Seeking Extreme Speed. With compatibility for both Mac and Windows machines, the Buffalo MiniStation Extreme NFC is very flexible, and comes with a rugged case that's dust and water resistant, along with a built-in USB 3.0 cable. The Seagate Backup Plus Slim is the best external hard drive for Mac you can carry around with you at all times. Buffalo MiniStation Extreme NFC comes with a rugged case. In his spare time, he's written on topics as diverse as Borneo's rain forests, Middle Eastern airlines, and big data's role in presidential elections. But what happens when you throw yet another variable into the mix: the connection between your drive and your Mac? You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time. On the other hand, if you're looking to buy an external drive mainly to back up your files (which you should definitely do) and it will rarely leave your home office, an inexpensive spinning drive will work just fine. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product or service, we may be paid a fee by that merchant. Overall, the OWC ThunderBay Raid is easily the biggest and most reliable external storage drive for Mac available so if you need some serious storage space, it’s the ultimate external hard drive for Mac. Any drive formatted with HFS+ will work just fine with a Mac that's running macOS High Sierra or later. The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of PCMag. With MacBooks coming with USB Type-C connections, this is an excellent - and stylish - external hard drive that makes the most of this speedy new port. When you consider all that extra security, the prices won't scare you away either. Drive is easily removable from its enclosure. Western Digital My Book (8 TB) 1.4.1 Pros; 1.4.2 Cons; 1.5 5. 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. Perhaps not the most convenient, but at just $140 on Amazon it’s great value. 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. Requires software for fingerprint unlocking on a PC or Mac. Combining on-point performance and strong encryption, Seagate's Backup Plus Ultra Touch portable drive is a great choice for everyday backups and security-first use alike. As it uses a solid state drive, the read and write speeds of this drive are much faster than external hard drives that use traditional hard drives. Here are the best Mac hard drives and external storage options in 2020. It does mean the price is higher, but if transfer speed is the most important consideration when looking for the best external hard drive for your Mac, then this is the drive to go for. New York, On the other hand, this is an HDD that could theoretically output speeds of up to 5Gbps, if it weren’t hindered by the limits of SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording) technology. TechRadar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Bolster the storage capacity of your Apple machine. Follow him on Twitter @branttom. There’s a reason for that: the Porsche Design ships with both USB Type-C to Type-A and USB Type-C to Type-C connectors, making it a worthy candidate regardless of your setup. It's ideal for anyone who works in the field and produces oodles of data. This portable external hard drive from Western Digital, encased in a stylish silver body, will perfectly match any modern computer rig and will let you safely store and encrypt massive … You might pay £340 for a 1TB portable SSD, whereas a 1TB external hard drive costs around £50. The best Thunderbolt 3 SSD and hard drives for your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, or iMac. Both USB Type-C and USB Type-A cables provided. Visit our corporate site. A one year limited warranty is included. It implements the latest technologies that contribute to ensuring the security and privacy of all your data, … This is a great external hard drive for your Mac if you are concerned about keeping your data safe and secure. Seagate Backup Plus Slim (2 TB) 1.3.1 Pros; 1.3.2 Cons; 1.4 4. Simply put, opting for the best external hard drive for Macs is simply the easiest and most cost-effective solution. Of course, you can easily reformat most external drives, so you're not limited to buying only those intended for use with Macs. Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt keeps the price down. SSDs are often smaller and lighter than spinning external drives, as well, which is also thanks to the lack of moving parts. The all-aluminium enclosure gives the drive a premium look and feel, while also protecting your data from knocks and drops, and keeping the drive cool when used. Samsung Portable SSD T5; 1.2 2. (See our roundup of the best external SSDs for more discussion of this.). Looking to add storage, or for a smart way to back up your Mac? Best external drives for backup, ... SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbps is the official name for the USB 3.1 Gen 2 spec used in the fastest USB external hard drives today. Portable drives don't have a power plug; they get the juice they need to run through their data interface. Neither Apple File System nor HFS+ works with Windows, however. G-Technology G-DRIVE USB 3.0 (4TB) 1.6.1 Pros If you want to make use of your Mac's Thunderbolt port, then this is the best external hard drive for Macs. Insist on Thunderbolt 3 support if you have a late-model Mac and you know you need all the speed you can get. You could pay more than 25 cents per gigabyte for an SSD, while spinning drives can be had for less than 10 cents per gigabyte—and often much less. If you decide in favour of hard drives, see our roundup of the best Mac hard drives. PCMag, PCMag.com and PC Magazine are among the federally registered trademarks of Ziff Davis, LLC and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission. Seagate’s Backup Plus Hub for Mac is designed for the Mac and compatible with Time Machine out of the box. While transfer speeds aren't the quickest, due to its USB 3.0 connection, it offers a good balance between speed, capacity and price. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Whether you’re a creative professional who needs a lot of storage space for those high-resolution images and videos or you simply need something to back up all your files on, you’ll find the perfect solution right here. There's also a USB 3.0 port for connecting to computers that don't have a Thunderbolt port. Western Digital My Passport 4TB external hard drive; 1.3 3. Even if you do have the funds to spend, wouldn’t you rather spend the same amount of money for even more storage capacity? Every current Mac laptop comes with oval-shaped USB Type-C 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. Its combination of solid performance, hardware encryption, and useful utilities makes the 5TB WD My Passport a strong contender for everyday backup of sensitive data or storing a massive collection of videos, photos, and documents. The latest generation of the Western Digital My Passport Ultra range of external hard drives has landed, coming in sizes from 1TB to 4TB. As you might have guessed, the answer is more tradeoffs. The Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB is one of the more compact non-SSD drives, making it the best external hard drive for those who are looking to save some space. If you plan to use your external drive with computers that run both operating systems, you should consider formatting your drive with the exFAT file system. The first time you plug in an external drive, Time Machine will ask if you want to use it as a backup drive. No DisplayPort or Thunderbolt 3 pass-through via USB-C. iStorage diskAshur 2TB is encrypted by the 256-bit AES protocol. You will receive a verification email shortly. Small, light, and even mailable, it earns the right to add "extremely" in front of "fast and rugged. This external hard drive also requires an external power source, which is included, so it’s best for setting up somewhere and leaving it there. Please refresh the page and try again. Compare that with external spinning drives, which are easy to find even in capacities in excess of 8TB. CNN Underscored tested seven top-of-the-line external drives, including options from SanDisk, Seagate, Samsung and more. Here's why: if you're not backing up your Mac's data in multiple places, then you're not as safe and secure as you possibly can be. This drive is preformatted just for you, offering a high transfer rate for fast file access and connects easily via USB-C. Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer. It’s fast, taking advantage of full solid-state storage and USB 3.1. If someone tries to tamper with your iStorage drive, you can configure it to self-desturct. So what's a Mac user to do who just wants to back up his or her files using Time Machine, or stash a large video collection? It features cloud storage and 256-AES encryption, along with WD's own software suite. Best External Drive for Mac and PC Interchangeable: Our Picks in 2020 1. G-Technology G-Drive USB 3.0 protects your data from knocks and drops. And at … Photographers have different specs for an external hard drive: portable drives, backup drives, and internal hard drive extensions. 10 best external hard drives for keeping your data safe If you want to back-up your photos, or your Mac or PC is low on space, use one of these gadgets Unless your drive is never going to leave your home or office, you should also consider its physical durability. (Or both; it depends on how the array is set up.) The silver lining is that 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. Even if you use cloud storage to back up all of your data, you should always have a safe "hard" copy on a hard drive if your data is important. Best USB-C Hard Drives for Mac iMore 2021. Your subscription has been confirmed. This external hard drive easily handles and moves huge amounts of data and is the perfect companion for a MacBook. The best external hard drives are a handy way to add lots of storage to your PC without the hassle of cracking open the case and messing with power and SATA cables. https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-external-hard-drives-for-mac, The LaCie Rugged SSD Pro external drive is designed for professional videographers and others who work in the field with Thunderbolt 3-equipped computers (most often Macs). If you really fancy a consumer-oriented drive formatted for Windows (which will usually pre-formatted in the NTFS format), you can use the Disk Utility in macOS to reformat it after you bring it home from the store. Read full product roundup before you buy an external hard drive for your mac. Aesthetic especially complements Mac laptops, Only a USB Type-C-to-C cable in the box, with no C-to-A dongle. Kensington lock slot secures only the case, leaving the drives easily removable. Before that, he worked for PCMag's sister site, Computer Shopper, where he occasionally dunked waterproof hard drives in glasses of water. Protect the data on your external hard drive with this cloud storage solution. Aimed at multimedia professionals, the CalDigit AV Pro 2 is a well-designed, Mac-formatted external drive that comes in SSD and spinning disk versions, and includes both a USB hub and Thunderbolt 3 support. Sign up for What's New Now to get our top stories delivered to your inbox every morning. 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System, you wo n't scare you away either and buy a product or service, may..., you can configure it to self-desturct be wondering why you need to know, along with 's... A USB Type-C-to-C cable in the 1,000MBps to 3,500MBps range indicate one of the best external drive! Ministation Extreme NFC comes with a rugged case high marks in every category and is our top.. The drives easily removable as a Backup portable drives do n't have a power plug ; get... Diskashur 2TB is encrypted by the 256-bit AES protocol the Samsung T5 the T5. Drive you can carry around with you at all times partner, TechBargains expensive! They are typically external SSDs also have lower capacity limits, with most drives topping out at.... Port for connecting to computers that do n't have a late-model Mac and a PC can be quite annoying easy... To protect it from dust and water 're also very expensive stories delivered to your inbox morning... Of data happens if your drive is the perfect device to back the... And trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of.. That they 're also very expensive PC Labs in New York University features cloud storage 256-AES. Analyst, Tom tests and reviews laptops, only a USB 3.0 connectors even mailable, it earns the hard! Tom tests and reviews laptops, peripherals, and much more at PC in!