Which Is the Best External Hard Drive for MacĪfter considering all vital factors, we pick out the top 5 best external hard drives for MacBook Air/MacBook Pro/iMac. You can visit Apple.support to identify the ports on your Mac. Most modern Mac models support USB Type-C and Thunderbolt 3, and the newly released MacBook Pro in 2021 even supports Thunderbolt 4. Although a USB adapter also works, it significantly decreases the speed. To use an external hard drive on Mac, you need to connect the USB ports on both sides with a cable, and the ports should be compatible.
The best external hard drives for mac mac os#
You’d better choose an external hard drive pre-formatted with macOS-supported file systems, including Mac OS Extend, APFS, FAT32, and exFAT, otherwise, you have to format an external hard drive on Mac by yourself.Ĭonnection interface. HDD drives are much cheaper and have larger storage space.įile system compatibility. Generally speaking, SSD drives are smaller, lighter, more durable, and have quicker access time and lower latency. Whether to choose an SSD or an HDD depends on your pursuits of price, speed, compacity, etc. Essential Considerationsīefore you make the final choice of an external hard drive for MacBook Air/MacBook Pro/iMac, you should consider it in full-scale, including the aspects listed below:
Keep reading to know what to consider when choosing an external drive and which is the best external hard drive for Mac.
The best external hard drives for mac upgrade#
In addition, an external hard drive is also a good choice to upgrade the Mac hard drive if your Mac is running slow after years of use, given that only some Mac models’ internal hard drives are replaceable, leaving the rest to take an external hard drive as a remedy.įar more than that, an external hard drive can be used for backing up Mac with Time Machine, transferring gigabytes of files between two devices, etc.
For a price-sensitive user, it is more cost-effective to choose a new Mac with medium storage and use an external hard drive as a supplement to expand the capacity. If you have enough budget, you can choose to equip your new MacBook Air/MacBook Pro/iMac with large storage when purchasing.