Best External SSD For Mac 2024-2025

We favored the sturdy little XS2000 drive that Kingston launched again in 2022, however it was fairly costly and used a model of USB referred to as USB 3.2 Gen 2×2, which isn’t totally supported on the Mac in the intervening time. Drives that use ‘Gen 2×2’ will nonetheless work with a Mac, however the Mac gained’t get the total velocity that the drive is able to. However, Kingston has now launched a extra reasonably priced mannequin referred to as the XS1000. This is a extra standard USB-C drive, utilizing customary USB 3.2 Gen 2, so it’s a very good, reasonably priced choice for Mac customers who simply desire a compact, light-weight backup drive.

The XS1000 is among the smallest and lightest SSDs that we’ve seen to date – in truth, it appears to be like extra like slightly USB thumb drive, reasonably than a high-capacity backup drive. It measures simply 13.5mm thick, 32.5mm extensive and 69.5mm lengthy, and weighs solely 28.7g, so you may simply slip it into your shirt or trouser pocket whenever you’re touring. It’s not fairly as rugged because the dearer XS2000 – which had an IP55 ranking for water and dirt resistance – however the plastic and steel casing feels sturdy sufficient to deal with a couple of knocks whenever you’re touring, and Kingston offers a five-year guarantee as properly.

It’s very competitively priced too, costing $84.99/£74.99 with 1TB of storage, or $109.99/£99.99 with 2TB. The drive’s USB interface offers a quoted write velocity of 1000MBs, whereas the learn velocity is barely increased at 1050MB/s. It didn’t fairly match these speeds in our exams, however its write velocity of 875MB/s and skim velocity of 950MB/s will nonetheless be high-quality for routine back-ups with Time Machine. Our solely criticism is that Kingston solely features a USB-A-to-USB-C cable with the XS1000, so that you’ll want to purchase an adaptor or a brand new cable in case your Mac solely has USB-C. Professional customers may favor a quicker drive, or a extra rugged design, however in case you simply need an reasonably priced backup drive that may go touring with you then the XS1000 is nice worth for cash.

Many transportable drives use an ordinary USB-C port for connecting to a Mac or PC, however SanDisk’s Pro-G40 opts for a high-speed Thunderbolt 3 port to supply most efficiency for skilled customers who have to work with giant video and graphics recordsdata (and, in fact, it’s backward-compatible with USB-C as properly).

The Pro-G40 was first launched in 2022, and was already on our checklist of the very best SSD drives for Mac, however this present mannequin offers each improved efficiency and better capability to your work recordsdata. The design hasn’t modified although, with a compact, transportable drive that measures simply 12mm thick, 58mm extensive and 111mm lengthy. It weighs simply over 120g – relying on the capability you select – so you may slip it right into a jacket pocket or right into a carrying case alongside your MacE book with no hassle in any respect. The drive can also be extraordinarily powerful, with a sturdy steel case that’s rated IP68 – one of many highest rankings attainable – for resistance to water, mud and different particles. Western Digital, which now owns the SanDisk model, additionally claims that the drive can survive drops from a top of 3m, and may stand up to crushing strain of as much as 4000lbs. The drive even features a five-year guarantee as properly.

The 2022 model of the Pro-G40 offered learn and write speeds of 2700MB/s and 1900MB/s respectively when utilizing the Thunderbolt cable included within the field, however the present mannequin is rated at 3000MB/s for learn and 2500MB/s for write speeds. Our exams confirmed it to be completely spot-on for write efficiency, constantly hitting 2500MB/s. The learn efficiency didn’t fairly hit the quoted 3000MB/s, settling at simply over 27000MB/s, however that’s nonetheless far quicker than most USB-C drives, and offers the form of efficiency that skilled customers want for backing up their work recordsdata.

That mixture of excessive efficiency and ultra-rugged design does imply that the Pro-G40 is sort of a bit dearer than many USB-C drives, so it’s most likely overkill in case you simply want an reasonably priced transportable drive for backing up private recordsdata. However, skilled customers will likely be happy to search out that the worth of the Pro-G40 has been decreased lately, with the 1TB mannequin now costing $299.99/£294.99, whereas the 2TB model is $449.99/£441.99. And, as talked about, there’s a brand new 4TB model to supply additional capability, priced at $699.99/£687.99.

We usually manage critiques of transportable drives and desktop drives individually, however the brand new SanDisk Pro Blade is a modular SSD storage system that could be very a lot designed for skilled and artistic customers, and means that you can swap between transportable and desktop modes as required.

You can begin by shopping for the Pro Blade SSD Mag, which is a solid-state storage module that’s accessible in 1TB, 2TB or 4TB sizes (the 1TB was discounted from $179.99 to $119.99 on the time of our assessment). The SSD Mag is pre-formatted in APFS format for Mac customers, and is hard sufficient to resist being dropped from a top of three meters or 9.8 foot, and stand up to 4000lb (1814kg) crush strain, making it supreme for outside use. However, the SSD Mag modules can’t connect with a pc on their very own, so SanDisk offers two choices for transportable and desktop use.

For transportable use you should purchase the Pro Blade Transport, which is a compact case for the SSD Mag, and is supplied with a USB-C port for connecting to your Mac. The Transport measures simply 130.4mm lengthy, 71.5mm extensive and 16mm thick, so you may simply slip it into your pocket or a carrying case similar to some other transportable drive. It’s additionally attainable to attach the Transport to a digital camera that has a USB-C interface so that you could document high-res video reasonably than having to hold a lot of smaller SD reminiscence playing cards.

When you get again to the workplace you even have the choice of inserting the SSD Mag modules into the Pro Blade Station ($499.99/£490.99). This desktop storage system doesn’t embrace any built-in storage of its personal, however it has 4 slots that help you insert SSD Mag modules (not included) offering as much as 16TB of high-speed solid-state storage. The Pro Blade Station has two Thunderbolt 3 ports, with one used to attach your Mac, whereas the opposite port can be utilized to daisy-chain extra storage units if required. The Pro Blade Station is pretty costly – provided that it doesn’t embrace any storage of its personal – however it provides you the choice of making a high-speed, high-capacity SSD storage system to be used in your workplace, while additionally having the ability to take away the person SSD Mag modules and use them as transportable drives every time it’s worthwhile to.

Western Digital – which owns SanDisk as of late – claims that the Pro Blade Station can present learn and write speeds of 3000MB/s and 2600MB/s respectively. Our exams truly recorded a learn velocity of 2600MB/s and write velocity of 2300MB/s, however that’s nonetheless one of many quickest SSD drives we’ve ever seen, making it a very good choice for inventive customers who want a quick storage system that they’ll use each within the workplace and on the street.

The LaCie Portable SSD is an choice for individuals who don’t want James Bond ranges of safety. Available with 500GB, 1TB or 2TB of storage, the Portable SSD has a brand new design in comparison with its predecessor. Rather than sharply angular corners and edges of the now discontinued LaCie Mobile SSD, the compact Portable SSD has easily spherical corners – maybe following Apple’s latest fetish for rounded corners on icons in Big Sur and Monterey.

It’s smaller and lighter than earlier drives from LaCie too, measuring simply 0.4in/10.6mm thick, 1.9in/50mm extensive, and 3in/80mm lengthy, and it weighs a mere 1.5oz/45g, so it’s supreme for carrying round together with your MacE book or iPad whenever you’re touring.

The drive has a single USB-C interface, and features a USB-C cable, however the low value signifies that there aren’t any added extras, similar to an adaptor for older Macs which have USB-A (3.2) connectors.

LaCie hasn’t reduce some other corners, although. The Portable SSD has a stable, sturdy design that ought to be capable of deal with a couple of bumps in a backpack or briefcase, and it performs very properly too.

LaCie quotes learn and write speeds of 1000MB/s, however repeated exams with the BlackMagic velocity check app confirmed the Portable SSD comfortably cruising alongside at round 1,300MB/s with no hassle in any respect.

That mixture of velocity, compact design and aggressive pricing makes the Portable SSD a fantastic choice for anybody that wants a transportable backup drive for his or her Mac or iPad.

Read our full review.

The light-weight, compact design of solid-state drives makes them a fantastic choice in case you want a transportable back-up drive to make use of together with your MacE book whenever you’re touring. However, transportable SSDs do are likely to have restricted storage capability, usually with a most of simply 1TB or 2TB. In distinction, the SanDisk Desk Drive offers each high-speed SSD efficiency and excessive capability too, beginning with a minimal of 4TB for $379.99/£359.99. If that’s not sufficient then you may also step as much as 8TB, for $699.99/£663.99.

As the title suggests, the Desk Drive could be very a lot designed for desktop use in an workplace, and it’s bigger than most standard SSDs, standing 40.2mm excessive and 99.2mm on all sides, and weighing 268g. The drive itself remains to be small and light-weight sufficient to slide right into a backpack or touring bag alongside together with your MacE book, however it does require a mains energy provide as properly, so this isn’t a drive that’s going to go away the workplace fairly often (we did attempt to energy it by a USB-C port on our MacE book Pro, however that didn’t work).

It’s additionally slightly disappointing that the Desk Drive simply has a single USB-C port for information switch. At this value, a few additional ports would have been a helpful bonus, particularly for MacE book fashions that solely have a few USB-C ports of their very own.

We didn’t have any complaints concerning the Desk Drive’s efficiency, although. SanDisk quotes a velocity of 1GB/s, though the outcomes we received have been nearer to 925MB/s and 910MB/s for write and skim speeds respectively. That’s not as quick as some high-end SSDs which might be designed for skilled customers – similar to SanDisk’s personal Pro Blade system – however it’s nonetheless rather a lot quicker than a standard exhausting drive, and the Desk Drive will likely be an excellent choice for individuals who merely want a quick backup drive that gives loads of storage for images, movies and work recordsdata.

Seagate’s OneTouch exhausting drives are a preferred alternative with many customers. The OneTouch SSD is the smallest and lightest transportable drive we’ve ever seen and is offered in black, silver or blue.

When sitting flat on the desk it measures simply 2in/50mm extensive, 2.7in/70mm deep and a mere 0.4in/10.6mm thick. And it weighs solely 2.6oz/74g, so you may simply slip it into your pocket and carry it round together with your laptop computer or iPad whenever you’re touring. It’s sturdily constructed too, with Seagate claiming that it could actually stand up to being dropped from a top of 6.5 foot/2m.

The OneTouch drive has a USB-C interface, however Seagate contains each USB-C and USB-A cables so that you could use it with most Macs and PCs straight out of the field.

It works with Apple’s Time Machine for computerized backups, however Seagate additionally contains its personal ToolKit app, which has a ‘sync’ choice for backing up particular folders. The drive additionally features a one-year free subscription to the Mylio photo-organizer app, and 4 months with Adobe’s CC Photography plan, usually $9.99/£9.98 a month on an annual plan (learn our guide to getting the best deal on Adobe Creative Cloud).

The drive is offered with 500GB, 1TB or 2TB of storage, so it offers loads of room for backing up giant libraries of images, movies or music. It doesn’t fairly match Seagate’s quoted velocity of 1GB/s, however it recorded learn and write speeds of 835MB/s and 915MB/s respectively in our exams, which nonetheless put it among the many quickest solid-state drives that we’ve examined lately. And, with its ridiculously gentle and compact design, the OneTouch will likely be supreme for backing up all of your necessary recordsdata whenever you’re on the transfer.

The Adata SE920 External SSD is a high-performance USB4 SSD for many who want fast information switch speeds. 

It combines passive and energetic cooling with a compact steel housing for passive cooling, and a micro-fan with openings for energetic cooling. The person can truly activate the fan by urgent on the housing. 

If you’re engaged on a challenge similar to a video or picture edit, or one other process that would require a number of drive entry over a time period, then swap on the fan. The remainder of the time you may most likely go away it. 

The SE920 is primarily designed for Windows customers, evident from the formatting within the NTFS file system and the backup software program for Windows, however this shouldn’t be an issue for skilled Mac customers. The SE920 is shortly reformatted in APFS utilizing the macOS Disk Utility.

Data switch charges measured with Aja System Test Lite have been spectacular. The SE920 achieved 2992MBps for writes and 3161 MBps for reads. Data charges are secure over an extended interval and the thermal design works completely.

All this comes at a very good value. We suggest the SE920 to any content material creator.

LaCie’s Rugged drives have been standard with Mac customers for a few years, because of their mixture of high-performance and that now-familiar orange sleeve that helps to maintain the drive secure whenever you’re working outdoor. However, the Rugged vary has principally used standard exhausting drives previously, that are slower than the newest solid-state drives, in addition to being greater and heavier. Welcome the Rugged Pro SSD, which is primarily aimed toward inventive customers.

The Rugged SSD vary begins at round $180/£180 for a mannequin with 500GB storage, however we have been capable of assessment the SSD Pro, which stands out from the remainder of the vary with its matte-black sleeve. It’s fairly costly, costing $419/£249.99 with 1TB of storage, and a hefty $739.99/£379.99 for the 2TB mannequin and $1,049.99/£999.99 for 4TB, however it justifies that value with an excellent harder design and the newest, super-fast solid-state drives designed for skilled video work. (U.Ok. costs dropped in 2024 however US costs don’t appear to have adopted go well with. Luckily you may get good offers at numerous resellers).

Switching to a solid-state drive signifies that the SSD Pro is now the smallest mannequin within the Rugged vary, measuring simply 3.8in/98mm lengthy, 2.5in/65mm extensive and 0.6in/17mm thick. It solely weighs 100g/3.5oz, so you may simply slip it into your pocket or bag whenever you’re touring and barely even discover that it’s there.

Despite its compact design, that new black sleeve is critically powerful and rated IP67 for resistance to water and dirt, permitting it to outlive in 3.2 foot/1m of water for as much as half-hour. It can deal with being dropped from a top of 9.8 foot/3m, and may even resist the burden of a two-tonne automotive driving over it. It features a five-year guarantee in case something does go unsuitable, which incorporates one go to to LaCie’s data-recovery labs if it’s worthwhile to retrieve necessary information.

The Rugged SSD Pro contains only a single Thunderbolt 3/USB-C interface, however most of its excessive value is right down to the usage of the newest NVMe solid-state drives, which offer prime efficiency for high-end video functions, similar to enhancing 8K or super-slow-motion video recordsdata (which may be monumental, as they shoot at as much as 240 frames per second on the newest iPhones). The drive didn’t disappoint, recording constant write speeds of 1780MB/s, and an excellent quicker 2480MB/s for learn speeds – with each figures leaving nearly each different SSD drive we’ve ever examined trailing in its wake. And, when backing up our iTunes music library, the Rugged SSD Pro blew us away by backing up 5GB of music recordsdata in simply 5 seconds – look away for a few seconds and also you’ll miss it!

Of course, not everybody will want that form of efficiency – particularly at this value – however in case you work with high-res video and want a quick, powerful drive for outside work then the Rugged SSD Pro is in a category of its personal.

LaCie’s Rugged vary of exhausting drives and SSDs has lengthy been standard with individuals who want a sturdy back-up drive that may deal with tough climate and situations when working outdoor. The Rugged drives have at all times tended to be reasonably giant and ponderous, although – just like the Rugged SSD Pro (beneath) – so LaCie has now produced a extra compact choice within the type of the brand new Rugged Mini SSD.

As you may count on, the Rugged Mini appears to be like very very like its rugged kin, with LaCie’s distinctive vibrant orange rubber sleeve serving to to maintain the drive secure. But, in fact, it’s rather a lot smaller than earlier fashions, measuring simply 17.3mm thick, 66.9mm extensive, 105mm lengthy. It solely weighs 114g as properly, so you may simply slip it right into a jacket pocket or backpack whenever you’re touring.

Despite that compact design, the Rugged Mini remains to be powerful sufficient to deal with some tough remedy. It’s rated IP54 for water and dirt resistance, so it ought to be capable of deal with life outdoor in case you’re engaged on location for a photo- or video shoot. And, because of that rubber sleeve, it could actually deal with drops of as much as 3m and even survive being pushed over by a 1-tonne truck. And if that’s not powerful sufficient, the drive comes with a three-year guarantee that features LaCie’s Rescue Data Recovery Service, to assist restore any misplaced information.

The drive’s USB-C port will work with any Mac or PC that additionally has USB-C or Thunderbolt. But, like various drives that we’ve seen lately, it makes use of a model of USB referred to as USB 3.2 Gen 2×2, which isn’t totally supported by Macs in the intervening time. This signifies that Macs gained’t be capable of get the total 2000MB/s speeds supported by that interface, and our exams confirmed this, recording write and skim speeds of 900MB/s and 970MB/s respectively. We’ve seen stronger efficiency from some rival drives, however these speeds needs to be completely ample for routine backups whenever you’re on the street, and the sturdy design of the Rugged Mini makes it a very good choice for individuals who want a drive that they’ll use outdoor regularly.

Pricing is slightly complicated, although. In the US, the Rugged Mini prices $84.99/£74.99 (1TB), $109.99/£99.99 (2TB), and $159.99/£149.99 (4TB). We’ve seen a lot decrease costs from Amazon and different on-line retailers, so it’s positively value procuring round earlier than shopping for.

Western Digital’s Passport drives have at all times offered transportable, light-weight designs, and the My Passport SSD combines compact design with robust efficiency and extra security measures.

Available in a wide range of colours, the My Passport SSD offers as much as 4TB of solid-state storage, though the 1TB mannequin that we assessment right here prices $74.99/£94.99.

The drive measures simply 0.35in/9mm thick, and weighs 1.6oz/46g, so it’s sufficiently small to slide right into a jacket pocket whenever you’re on the transfer. However, it’s additionally powerful sufficient to outlive being dropped from a top of two metres.

The drive is supplied with a USB-C interface, however WD features a USB-C cable and a USB-A adaptor with the drive, so you may nonetheless use it with older Macs that don’t have USB-C. The solid-state drive offers good efficiency too, recording a write velocity of 935MB/s and skim velocity of 908MB/s, making it a fantastic choice for backing up your necessary recordsdata on the transfer.

It’s safe too, as WD’s Discovery app means that you can set a password for the drive so as hold your recordsdata secure. There’s a second app as properly, referred to as WD Unlocker, which is constructed into the drive itself, and means that you can enter the password so that you could use the drive with one other Mac or PC if it’s worthwhile to.

When the drive was first launched there have been complaints that the WD apps hadn’t been correctly up to date to 64-bit code for the newest variations of the macOS, however we examined the drive with our workplace Macs and didn’t encounter any issues.

Read a full review over on our sister website Tech Advisor.

SanDisk has been making a push for the skilled market with a few of its latest merchandise, however it’s additionally well-known for merely offering good worth for cash with merchandise such because the SanDisk Portable SSD. In reality, the Portable SSD is so low cost that SanDisk doesn’t even hassle promoting a 500GB mannequin on its website, leaping straight as much as 1TB for a really aggressive $101.99/£104.99, whereas even the 2TB mannequin prices simply properly beneath $200/£200.

The Portable SSD lives as much as its title too, because it measures simply 10mm thick, 47mm extensive and 97mm lengthy, so you may slip it right into a jacket or perhaps a shirt pocket and barely even discover that it’s there. The light-weight plastic case doesn’t really feel fairly as sturdy as we would have favored, {and professional} customers who work outdoor rather a lot may favor a drive with a extra rugged design. However, SanDisk states that it could actually survive being dropped from a top of two metres, and there’s a useful little rubber hook on one nook to assist hold it secure, so it ought to be capable of survive common day-to-day use whenever you’re out and about together with your laptop computer. The solely oddity is that the drive has a USB-C interface, however SanDisk solely offers a USB-C-to-USB-A cable, so that you’ll want your individual adaptor or cable in case your Mac or PC solely has USB-C ports.

It’s not the quickest solid-state drive round and, to be sincere, even SanDisk’s  quoted velocity of 520MB/s appears slightly optimistic. The drive’s write efficiency was slightly erratic, however averaged round 300MB/s, whereas learn efficiency was increased and extra constant at 430MB/s. Again, skilled customers may favor a quicker drive in the event that they’ve received deadlines looming, however the Portable SSD remains to be rather a lot quicker than a standard exhausting drive, and it’s a very good choice for anybody that simply desires a light-weight, reasonably priced back-up drive for his or her Mac.

There are three variations of Samsung’s T7. The customary T7 is a compact, light-weight SSD that appears similar to the previous T5 – though it boasts increased efficiency, so be sure you test the mannequin numbers earlier than shopping for. We examined the T7 Shield, which is a extra rugged mannequin, wrapped in a sturdy rubber sleeve designed for outside use. Both of these fashions can use Samsung’s Portable SSD app so as to add password safety to your recordsdata, however there’s additionally a 3rd mannequin referred to as the T7 Touch that has a built-in fingerprint sensor for additional safety and comfort.

Available in black, blue or silver, the T7 Shield prices $129/£110 with 1TB of storage, however we’re seeing nice reductions now it’s been out some time. It has a USB-C interface for connecting to your Mac, however Samsung features a USB-C cable and a USB-A adaptor so that you could use it with older Macs which have USB-A. The rugged protecting sleeve signifies that it’s slightly bigger than the opposite T7 fashions, measuring 0.5in/13mm thick, 2.3in/59mm extensive and three.4in/88mm lengthy, and weighing 3.4oz/98g. Even so, it’s nonetheless sufficiently small to slide right into a jacket pocket or backpack with no hassle in any respect, and many individuals will admire the additional safety that it presents.

The T7 Shield is rated IP65 for water- and dust-resistance, and Samsung claims that the shock-resistant rubber sleeve can survive drops from a top of three meters.

It’s a very good performer too. Samsung quotes learn and write speeds of 1,000MB/s, however our exams with the Blackmagic disk device truly recorded a learn velocity of 1,780MB/s, and a write velocity of 1,300MB/s, which makes the T7 Shield a fantastic backup choice for individuals who have to work outdoor with their laptop computer.

The OWC Express 1M2’s cooling fins alone account for round half of the general top of this exterior SSD. The aluminum housing is sort of giant at 5.2 by 2.8 by 0.9 inches (13.2 by 7.1 by 2.3 centimeters) and the very high-quality steel housing additionally has sufficiently giant rubber surfaces on the underside.

To check for velocity, we used two benchmarks, Aja System Test Lite and Blackmagicdesign Disk Speed Test. The outcomes are spectacular: 2736MBps (write) and 2980MBps (learn) in Aja System Test Lite. The values with Blackmagicdesign Disk Speed Test have been round 100MBps increased–it cracked the 3000 MBps mark within the learn check.