External Hard Drives and Solid-State Drives: The Best for Mac in 2024

There isn’t much of a difference between shopping for a new SSD for a Windows PC and the best SSD for Mac and external hard drives in 2024. The most up-to-date Macbooks have just Thunderbolt 3 connections; however, SSDs with that interface have been slow to appear.

Most of the currently available versions that are Apple-compatible are geared for photographers and video editors who need large amounts of storage space and rapid data retrieval. Therefore, they are often highly costly external SSDs or multidrive RAID arrays.

What, therefore, is the best course of action for a Mac user who only needs somewhere to save their many video files or to back up their data using Time Machine? Keep reading as we answer this and all your other questions about using external storage with your Mac.

What will 2024’s top Mac SSD be like?

The file system is a basic part of hard drives that has always influenced compatibility and will likely continue to do so even after Thunderbolt 3 is implemented.

The primary determinant of whether an external drive is compatible with Macs, PCs, or both is its file system.

With the introduction of macOS High Sierra, Cupertino discontinued support for the long-standing Mac OS Extended file system (HFS+). It was the first file system to be supported by both Macs and iOS devices, and it goes by the acronym APFS (Apple File System).

Some of the Best SSDs for Mac, we suggest: 

• WD Elements 8TB External Hard Drive — $169.99 (List Price $$179.99)
• WD Elements 4TB Portable Hard Drive — $114.00 (List Price $129.99)
• SAMSUNG SSD T7 External Solid State Drive — $104.99 (List Price $139.99)
• WD My Passport 5TB External Hard Drive — $117.99 (List Price $149.99)

Compatibility for the Best SSD for Mac

Though there are several reasons to make the change from HFS+ to APFS, the most crucial one from the perspective of those shopping for external hard drives is compatibility with previous versions of OS X. A disk formatted on the HFS+ file system will function flawlessly in any Mac running macOS High Sierra or later.

However, Windows cannot read files saved in Apple File System or HFS+. You should utilize the exFAT file system to format your external drive if you want to share its contents across Windows and Mac machines.

While you’ll miss out on the safety and efficiency of APFS, you’ll appreciate the ease with which you can move files between Windows and macOS by simply connecting and disconnecting your drive.

Formatting for the Best SSD for Mac

You are not restricted to acquiring just those external drives that are intended for use with Macs since the majority of them can simply have their formatting changed. After you bring it home from the shop, you may use the Disk Utility that comes with macOS if you wish to reformat a consumer-oriented drive that has been formatted for Windows. These drives often come pre-formatted in the NTFS file system.

Even if they are formatted correctly, it is possible that certain highly specialized external drives will not operate with Macs. However, customers searching for more capacity to store backups or huge video collections are exceedingly unlikely to come across these drives.

The Samsung Portable SSD T7 is an example of an external storage device that belongs to the next generation. With transfer rates up to 9.5 times quicker than typical external hard drives and read/write speeds up to 1050 MB/s, you are able to move big files around with an ease and fluidity that is unmatched by any other storage medium.

Choosing the Right External Drive for Your Mac: Spinning Platters vs SSDs

Following the selection of a file system, you will be prompted to choose between spinning disk storage and solid-state storage. In contrast to file systems, each has its own set of benefits and drawbacks; nonetheless, any kind of drive you choose will be the only one available to you for the duration of its useful life.

A solid-state drive, often known as an SSD, offers lightning-fast data retrieval thanks to the fact that it keeps your bits in flash memory rather than on spinning platters. The finest solid-state drives (SSD) for Mac are often smaller and lighter than spinning external drives since they do not include any moving elements.

If you’re searching for a portable external drive that you’ll be taking with you on a daily basis, you might consider purchasing one of these drives since, due to their compact size, it’s not uncommon for them to be able to fit into a pocket of a jacket or pair of jeans.

The primary drawback is that they are more costly than other options. When compared to spinning drives, solid-state drives (SSDs) may cost more than 25 cents per gigabyte, while spinning drives can cost less than 10 cents per gigabyte, and sometimes considerably less.

The capacity of external SSDs is similarly restricted, with the majority of drives having a maximum of 2 terabytes. Contrast that with external spinning drives, which are commonly accessible and may have capacities of more than 8 terabytes for desktop-style drives and up to five terabytes for portable drives.

Because of this, it is now possible to purchase the greatest solid-state drive (SSD) for Mac-like speeds, boasting a throughput of more than 400 MBps and capacities of up to 50 terabytes. You may expect to pay a hefty price, considering that Mac-specific arrays can run several thousand dollars.

If, on the other hand, you want to purchase an external drive for the sole purpose of doing backups and you plan to keep the device largely at your home office, a low-cost spinning drive will do the trick. These are offered in “desktop” as well as “portable” variants for your convenience.

The portables are clearly more compact, and the platter drives that they use are the same 2.5-inch size as those found in laptops. Desktop-style external hard drives need their own power source and are bigger than portable hard drives since they are based on the stronger and more capacious 3.5-inch drives that are used in full-size desktop computers. Drives that are portable do not have a connector for powering them; rather, they draw their power from the data interface.

Is Thunderbolt 3 required, or will a USB-C connection do the trick?

So, to summarize: The increased speed and decreased size of solid-state devices makes them more costly than traditional spinning disks (both physically and in terms of gigabytes). But what happens if you throw another factor into the equation, namely, the connection that your disk has with your Mac? The response, as you would anticipate, is more concessions and compromises.

Other than a headphone jack, the only connectivity options available on a modern Mac laptop are oval-shaped USB Type-C ports that support Thunderbolt 3. Because these ports are the only connectivity options available, you will need an adapter in order to plug in any device that does not have a USB Type-C cable.

Thunderbolt 3 through USB Type-C provides a scorching maximum theoretical throughput of 40Gbps, which is quadruple the speed of the earlier Thunderbolt 2 standard and many times faster than the 5GBps given by USB 3.0. This is the silver lining.

On the market today, there are a very limited number of drives that are compatible with Thunderbolt 3. Even some drives that are exclusive to Macs nevertheless come equipped with USB 3.0 ports. In addition, the number of Thunderbolt 3 drives that are available for purchase is limited not by the Thunderbolt 3 interface but rather by the maximum throughput of the Thunderbolt 3 drive.

Up until recently, the maximum transfer rate of most external solid-state drives (SSDs) was capped at roughly 600 megabytes per second (MBps) due to the conventional bus types utilized by drives contained inside the chassis. Even while this is more than sufficient for backups and the occasional transfer of files spanning many gigabytes, the maximum throughput that Thunderbolt 3 is capable of is far higher.

On the other hand, the maximum allowed speed is going up. Newer drives employ various internal components that are based on PCI Express drives and make use of the NVMe protocol, in contrast to prior external SSDs, which were restricted by the internal electronics of the device.

These kinds of components may be found in more recent drives, and they make it possible for Thunderbolt 3 to attain its maximum speed. Drives that have quoted peak read and write speeds that range anywhere from 1,000 MBps to 3,500 MBps are probably one of these newer-technology drives.

If you have a recent model of Mac and are aware that you want the most amount of speed that you can get, you may insist on Thunderbolt 3 compatibility; however, if you are more budget conscious or need to utilize the drive with a PC, a USB-C drive will be the best option.

Some manufacturers include a USB Type-C cable with USB-only drives for customers who own a MacBook that only has a USB Type-C port. If the drive you’re interested in doesn’t include a converter, you can always purchase one online for a few dollars if the drive doesn’t include one. Additionally, there is no longer a need for adapters since all Mac desktops come equipped with USB 3.0 connections.

Extra Considerations When Choosing the Best Mac SSD

If you have a Mac, you probably don’t need the automated backup software that comes with certain PC hard drives since the Time Machine utility already does a great job of protecting your data.

Time Machine will inquire as to whether or not you want to utilize a newly connected external disk as a backup drive. You may exclude certain directories from Time Machine’s backups by adjusting the settings in System Preferences.

If the default options suit your needs, you may skip this step. Time Machine will immediately begin producing a backup when you reconnect your disk.

You should also consider the drive’s physical durability unless it will never leave your home or workplace.

Although they are marketed for extreme sports enthusiasts like surfers and BMX riders, rugged, waterproof drives are a wonderful choice for anybody.

But also for those who take their drives with them on the go, whether to and from school or work, where they may be accidentally dropped or spilled on.

Finally, picture the drive’s icon in your Mac’s Finder. It’s possible to get some drives in a rainbow of hues. Many more include aluminum construction and an industrial look to complement your MacBook or iMac.