$499.00 MSRP Editors' Rating Type External External External External External External External External External External Storage Capacity (as Tested) 2 TB 8 TB 500 GB 2 TB 2 TB 512 GB 3 TB 12 TB 1 TB 1 TB Rotation Speed 5400 rpm 7200 rpm SSD SSD SSD SSD 7200 rpm 7200 rpm SSD SSD Ports USB 3.0, USB-C USB 3.0 USB 3.0, USB-C USB-C, Thunderbolt 3 USB-C Ethernet, SD Card Slot, USB 3.0, USB-C, Thunderbolt 3 USB 3.0, USB-C, Thunderbolt 3 Thunderbolt 3 Thunderbolt 3 USB 2.0, SD Card Slot, USB 3.0 Read Review. 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.
Today we are talking about Seagate's Expansion 8TB (External) USB 3.0 Hard Drive (HDD). The average consumer has been favoring 3-4TB drives for external backup scenarios for quite some time now, based on average sales around the globe. Apple Reviews; Mac. Whereas a 1TB external hard drive costs around £50. If you've got a recent model with a Thunderbolt 3 USB-C port, you're set. While external SSDs use USB.
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, and solve 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 motherboard-level support that isn't found in any Macs. SSD Versus 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—and often much less. External SSDs also have much less capacity, with most drives topping out at 2TB. Compare that with spinning drives; portable hard drives top out at 5TB, and desktop ones are easy to find in capacities in excess of 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 speed up throughput, or guard your precious files against corruption via drive redundancy if one of the drives fail. (Or both; it depends on how the array is set up.) 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) solid-state 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. Ready for Our Recommendations?
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.
Best Mac External Hard Drives There’s nothing more awful then losing data on your computer because you didn’t back anything up. Gone are the days where you had to do this on a disc, and thank goodness we have external hard drives to help us sleep soundly at night. You can store a whopping 1TB of info on most Mac drives, and this will also allow you to free up storage space on your device. Most Mac drives are incredibly affordable, and the technology seems to improve every day. Not only that, but most models are incredibly portable and perform routine backups in the background without even having to think about it. The simplest drives have a powerful USB 3.0 as well as Thunderbolt.
Often right out of the box you can plug in one wire and everything is taken care of for you. Not only that, but an external drive is really essential when you purchase a new computer and want to safely and efficiently move your data from the old device to the new one.
Seagate Backup Plus Slim 1TB Portable External Hard Drive Like many external hard drives on the market, the Seagate Backup Plus Slim allows you to choose between two different storage capacities: 500 GB and 1 TB. This device provides automatic backups, and is a good addition to any Cloud backups that you perform, as these can sometimes be insufficient and unsafe on their own. The quality that makes this drive stand out from the rest is its size. Because it’s so slim and lightweight, it’s very easy to take from place to place, even though it perhaps doesn’t offer as much heavy duty storage as other hard drives do. The packing is easy to open and the device is simple in appearance. Other drives allow you to choose fun colors and accents, but this Seagate is pretty spartan in appearance.
The small USB cable is just long enough to be at a comfortable distance from your computer, and the plastic body of the device feels good and stable. It’s small enough to fit in your pocket, and has the added benefit of a 2 year warranty.
WD My Passport for Mac 2TB Portable External Hard Drive The Passport is great if you’re looking for a lightweight hard drive that is compatible with both OSX and Windows. Format the drive as exFAT to get it to work on both operating systems with ease.
The Passport is just about the size of an iPhone, and maybe even a little smaller. The design is sturdy and elegant, and it’s made entirely of durable plastic. Thunderbolt is definitely faster than this hard drive, but the USB 3.0 works with great speed and efficiency nonetheless.
Western Digital is famous for their drives being very reliable and long-lasting, so the Passport is great if you’re looking for a device that is going to last you for the long haul. In fact, the Passport really does perform with the best of them, and offers a 3 year warranty that is one year longer than most other drives on the market.
The backup is automatic, and there is a lot of built in protection that ensures that your data will be safe at all times. Seagate Backup Plus 1TB Portable External Hard Drive The Seagate is a great Mac external hard drive when you’re looking for a simple way to back up all your data locally as well as on social networks.
Right out of the box the Seagate will start doing its job, and it’s also compatible with Time Machine software. The Save feature is what allows you to back up your content from social media sites automatically. One of the big downsides of taking so many photos on your smartphone is that they’re liable to be lost, because they aren’t constantly backed up and saved, and the Seagate takes care of all this with simplicity.
If a file gets accidentally deleted from your device, then there’s a copy waiting for you on your external hard drive. With HFS+, you’re able to use the drive on both your Mac OS X and your PC. The Seagate operates so smoothly and intuitively that you really don’t need to even take a look at the Quick Start Guide that comes included. Mac External Hard Drive Buying Guide There are many different kinds of external hard drives for Mac on the market. With a large selection available it can be difficult to know which one to select when shopping. This buying guide for Mac external hard drives is designed to help you narrow down the search and find the one with the features and options that will be best suited to meet your storage needs.
We’ve provided the information about what to look for in a Mac external hard drive for whatever your intended purpose. By following a few tips and recommendations you’ll be able to determine just what it is that you need in an external hard drive before you begin shopping. Recommendation for Purchases How You Plan To Use Your External Hard Drive for Mac Before actually making a purchase, it’s important to establish what the drive will be used for. This will help you to know which size and capacity you will need. For example, will you be using the external hard drive for backup of your important system files? Perhaps you need additional storage space for videos or music files.
How much space will you need for your external hard drive? Will you need a full sized drive or a portable one? Finally, how much speed will you require from the drive? This is a big one for gamers who will be storing game data on the external drive.
Once you determine the intended uses and approximately how much storage you will need, it’s time to look at which features you will want the drive to have. Different Types of External Hard Drives for Mac There are of course several different brands and models of external hard drives available for Mac. These types of additional storage are usually connected to your Mac through a USB connection or Firewire. The smaller 2.5 inch portable models obtain their power through this connection and are easy to unplug and carry with you to other locations. The larger 3.5 inch drives require a power supply that is plugged into a wall outlet. Features of External Hard Drives for Macs The storage capacities for external HDDs for Mac range from 160 gigabytes to 3 terabytes. Pricing goes up for the maximum storage units and this is one of the reasons why the 1 terabyte drives are so popular.
Most external HDDs for Mac are compatible with Time Machine, but it’s wise to double check and make sure prior to purchase. What to Look For In an External Hard Drive for Mac While storage space is an important aspect of an external hard drive, it is by no means the only consideration to be made. The data transfer rate and access speed of the hard drive are what make the difference between a more useful and time saving drive or one that is frustrating and a waste of time with slower speeds for performing functions. Many of the available drives feature multiple connection ports such as USB, FireWire, eSATA or Thunderbolt, but some only offer one. If you need a variety of options then make sure that the model you select is versatile.
This is particularly important if you will be connecting the drive to different machines. Thunderbolt is an extremely fast interface type, but not all Macs have the ability to support this option. If your Mac does not support Thunderbolt, you cannot use this type of drive. Check System Requirements Prior to purchasing an external hard drive for Mac, check the system requirements to ensure that the drive is compatible with your current system. You will benefit from using some of the faster interface formats such as Thunderbolt or eSATA or even Firewire over USB. If your Mac does not support eSATA, it can be added by using an ExpressCard/34. Speed Speed can be an important factor, particularly if you are storing gaming applications for use in your external HDD.
Higher rpm drives provide better performance for most activities and gaming is no exception. For example, most Mac notebooks come with 5400 rpm drives, but the addition of an external drive which operates at 7200 rpm can improve your gaming or downloading experience with faster access and load time. This is particularly important when heavy graphics are involved. To gain optimal performance, high performance drives that run with 10,000 to 15000 rpm are available, however; the downside is that the often require a SCSI connection and they offer less storage capacity.
Pros and Cons of External Hard Drives External hard drives can be used to back up important system data in case of a crash or other type of system failure. This can help to ensure that your information is not lost and it could help to get you back up and running with less hassle and expense. The prices are less expensive for external desktop hard drives than for the portable versions. These drives have transfer speeds that are faster than CDs or DVDs and they are easy to use.
The downside is that larger capacity drives can be expensive and tend to be priced on a per gigabyte basis. Also, the most common connection option is USB which is much slower than some of the other options. Conclusion External hard drives for Mac come in a variety of sizes, models and storage capacities. The best drive for you is solely dependent upon your individual needs.
Some are designed for providing lots of storage space for back up of your system and other files while others feature fast access and transfer speeds which enhance the experience of gaming and transferring files from one location to the other. Smaller portable units may be more expensive, but they offer a better option for those who are on the go.
By knowing up front what you will need to use an external hard drive for, how much storage capacity and what rates of speed you will need, you are prepared to choose a unit that will meet your storage needs. You are prepared to look for the features that will enhance the activities that the drive will be used for in a new external hard drive. Following a few simple tips and recommendations can be helpful in avoiding making the wrong choice.