Good External Hard Drive For Mac
Summarizing, the Seagate Seven is perhaps the best portable hard drive for Mac, when it comes to size. However, because its performance is not so good, it is more of the best buy external hard drive Mac based on looks than on efficiency. An external hard drive is a great way to store huge amounts of data and images – far more than can be saved to most laptops or tablets. As such, many people find themselves needing the extra. The 10TB G-DRIVE Desktop External Hard Drive will give you enough volume and lightning speed for a traditional drive, and comes pre-formatted for Mac. If you need instant cross-platform compatibility, and an array of color choices, you’ll be covered with the Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB. Known for being rough on your electronics? Dec 29, 2015 Follow these instructions If you plan to share an external hard drive between PC and Mac. From Windows 7 and up can also format an external drive as exFAT for use with Mac as well. It’s basically what the names suggest. An internal hard drive is the hard drive that comes inside your Mac or store-bought Windows system. While new internal hard drives have a ton of space compared to older ones (now measured in terabytes instead of gigabytes as in years past), it’s a good idea to have a backup of your work. Mac External Hard Drive Reviews. 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.
In this article to the best external hard drives for Macs, we focus on the top devices for plugging in and expanding the storage space of your MacBook or even your Mac. While there is a lot of love about Macs, Macbooks, and iMacs, they can be tricky at times to manually upgrade, which indicates supposing that you run of space, it is not so simple to open them up and pop in a larger hard drive.
When you are in search of the best external hard drive for Mac for your needs, you should focus on the capacity you need. External hard drives come in all sizes and shapes and you do not want to pay too much for space you will never need, but neither do you want to run out of space all too quickly.
A great solution is an external hard drive. But there are so many choices – desktop and portable drives, rugged and super slim ones, they all also differ in speed and capacities. So how to chose the right one? We have created a list of Top 9 best external hard drives for PC for all needs, whether you seek a high capacity or a top-shelf.
Best External Hard Drive For Mac 2020
Western Digital external hard drive
This device comes in capacities from 1TB to 4TB, and also features cloud storage and 256-AES encryption, as well as WD’s own backup software. While the speeds of transfers are not the fastest, it provides a good balance between speed, price, and capacity. Other specifications include;
- 4TB capacity
- USB 3.0
Sold at 94 dollars at Amazon
PROS
- Large capacity
- Good data transfer speeds
CONS
- WD backup software is basic
Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt external hard drive
Supposing that you want to use Mac’s Thunderbolt port, this is a great choice, as it offers double the speeds of standard USB 3.0 drives. It also makes use of a traditional hard drive, instead of an SSD, and while it indicates speeds are not as fast as possible, it at least keeps the price low, while providing large capacities. Other specifications include;
- 1TB and 2TB capacity
- USB 3.0
Sold at 129.88 dollars
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PROS
- Low price compared to other Thunderbolt drives
- Mac-formatted
CONS
- Not SSD
G-Technology G-Drive external hard drive
This is one of the quickest high capacity hard drives you can plug into your Mac, with a large 4TB of storage space that zips along its USB 3.0, FireWire or eSATA connection. The all-aluminum enclosure enables the drive a premium appearance and feel, while also safeguarding your data from drops and knocks. Other specifications include;
- 4TB capacity
- USB 2.0, USB 3.0, FireWire, eSATA
Sold at 129. 95 dollars at Amazon
PROS
- Slim design
- Sturdy
CONS
- Can be noisy
Samsung T3 SSD
Assuming that you really want a super-fast external hard drive for your Mac, then this device is easily one of the best you can choose from. As it makes use of a solid-state drive, the read and writes speeds of this drive are quicker than external hard drives that make use of traditional hard drives. Other specifications include;
- 1TB capacity
- USB 3.1
Sold at 165 dollars at Amazon
PROS
- Very good performance
- Very high capacity
CONS
- Expensive
Buffalo MiniStation Extreme NFC external hard drive
Best External Hard Drive For Mac And Windows
With compatibility for both Windows machines and Mac, this device is very flexible and comes with a rugged case that is dust and water-resistant, along with a built-in USB 3.0 cable. Not only does the device have 256-bit AES security features and Near Field Communication features, but it is your data kept protected from knocks and drops with the rugged shell. Other specifications of this device include;
- 2 TB capacity
- USB 3.0
Sold at 108.99 dollars at Amazon
PROS
- NFC security
- Rugged design
CONS
- Not the fastest drive
Western Digital external hard drive
This model features cloud storage and 256-AES encryption, along with WD’s own software suite. This model is a good performer when it comes to data transfer speeds and does not come close to the top of the leaderboard. Not surprising at all, it does not get to the top speeds of solid-state external drives but is the drive you should consider today. Other specifications include;
- 4TB capacity
- 0 USB
Sold at 94 dollars at Amazon
PROS
- Large capacity
- Type-C connector
- Suite of applications
CONS
- Average performance
LaCie Porsche Design Mobile Drive 4TB
You probably have stumbled upon this device when perusing the Apple website for USB-C accessories. Though it is expensive for an external hard drive, do not get us wrong, particularly assuming that you are in the market for the top-end 4TB option. Other specifications of this device include;
- 4 TB capacity
- USB-C
Sold at 129.95 dollars at Amazon
PROS
- Fast USB-C connection
- Great design
CONS
- Quite expensive
- You need USB-C ports to take advantage of speed
iStorage diskAshur 2TB external hard drive
Assuming that you are concerned about individuals getting access to your data if your external hard drive is taken away by a stealer, then you will like his model we are about to discuss. Assuming that someone is trying to tamper with your device, you can configure it to self-destruct. Though it might be pricier than other drives of its capacity, the extra security it provides will be well worth it for many of us. Other specifications of this device include;
- 2TB capacity
- USB 3.0
Sold at 267.88 dollars
PROS
- Physical security
- Rugged design
CONS
- Quite expensive
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If you read my previous post about how to format an external hard drive, you know that I bought a 2TB Seagate Expansion external drive and managed to create two partitions on the disk — one for Mac backup purposes, and the other for personal use.
In this article, I’m going to show you how to backup your Mac data to an external drive. You should backup your Mac on a regular basis, especially if you’re planning to perform macOS updates.
I did this several weeks ago while preparing my MacBook Pro for the High Sierra update. You may also be interested in taking a look at the issues I encountered during that process just in case you also want to upgrade your Mac to the latest macOS.
Please note that the backup tool that I used is Time Machine, a built-in app provided by Apple. If you want to backup your Mac data without using Time Machine, there are also alternatives worth considering.
Where is Time Machine on Mac?
As I said, Time Machine is a built-in app within macOS ever since OS X 10.5. To find it, click on the Apple logo on the top left corner of your screen, then select System Preferences.
Best External Hard Drive For Mac Australia
In the Preferences Pane, you’ll see the app located between “Date & Time” and “Accessibility”.
What does Time Machine Backup?
Time Machine is definitely the easiest way to backup Mac. In addition, the app is created and recommended by Apple. Once you have a timely backup, it’s incredibly easy to restore all or part of your data in case of accidental deletion or a hard drive crash.
So, what kind of data does Time Machine backup? Everything! Photos, videos, documents, applications, system files, accounts, preferences, messages, you name it: They all can be backed up by Time Machine. You can then restore your data from a Time Machine snapshot. To do so, first open Finder, then Applications, and click on Time Machine to continue.
Be aware that the recovery process can be only be conducted when your Mac is bootable.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Backing up Mac to an External Hard Drive
Note: the screenshots below are taken based on macOS 10.12.5 Sierra. If your Mac has High Sierra or an older version, differences may exist, but the process should look similar to what’s displayed below.
Step 1: Connect your external hard drive.
First, use the USB cable (or USC-C cable if you’re on a newest Mac model with Thunderbolt 3 ports) that comes with your external drive to connect that drive to your Mac. Once the disk icon shows up on your desktop (if it doesn’t, open Finder > Preferences > General, and here make sure you’ve checked “External disks” to let them show on the desktop), move on to Step 2.
Step 2: Select the disk for backup.
Now open Time Machine (I tell you how above) and select the disk you want to use. I have partitioned my Seagate drive into two new volumes, “Backup” and “Personal Use”, as you see from the screenshot. I chose “Backup”.
Step 3: Confirm backup (optional).
If you have used another disk for backup before, Time Machine will ask you whether you want to stop backing up to the previous disk and use the new one instead. It’s up to you. I selected “Replace”.
Step 4: Wait until the process is complete.
Now Time Machine will start to backup all your data. The progress bar gives you an estimate of how much time is left before the backup is complete. I found it a bit inaccurate: Initially, it said “About 5 hours remaining”, but it only took two hours to finish. It’s worth noting that the remaining time may vary from case to case depending on the write speed of your external hard drive.
It says I have to wait 5 hours
After about an hour and a half, it says only 15 minutes remaining
Step 5: Eject your external drive and unplug it.
When the backup procedure is completed, don’t rush to disconnect your device as this could cause potential disk problems. Instead, go back to the main desktop, locate the volume that your external hard drive represents, right-click and select Eject. Then, you can safely unplug the device and put it in a safe place.
One More Thing
Like any other hardware device, an external hard drive will fail sooner or later. It is advisable to make a copy of the data on your external drive — as they say, a “backup of your backups”! One good option is to use cloud storage services. I now use IDrive (read our full review here), and I really like it because the app is so easy to use, and it also allows me to back up my Facebook albums and photos automatically. Backblaze and Carbonite are also popular options in the market, though I have yet to give them a try.
I hope you find this tutorial helpful. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of data backup these days, especially when my mid-2012 MacBook hard drive died all of a sudden. I’ve also seen cases where my friend’s computer and hard drive failed. You can imagine their desperation. Without a proper backup, it’s really hard to restore data. Although you could try a third-party recovery program like Prosoft Data Rescue and Stellar Mac Data Recovery, chances are they won’t get all your lost data back.
Anyway, the main takeaway I want you to have from this article is this: Backup your Mac with Time Machine and create a second or third copy of those backups if you can.