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Requires Thunderbolt 3 for best performance The newer version costs twice as much, but if super-fast reads are your game, then go for it. Since we tested the Extreme Pro Portable SSD, SanDisk has released a second version that integrates USB 3.2 (opens in new tab) to get speeds of up to 2,000Mbps but looks exactly the same as its predecessor. The drive is a shade expensive, and the integrated carrying loop is too big to easily fit on a standard keychain. Otherwise, this is an excellent storage device that's ideal for heavy everyday use. The SanDisk Secure Access application applies general encryption, too. Ok, how about speed? The USB 3.1 version of the Extreme Pro Portable SSD is rated for sequential reads of 1,050MBps, and in our own performance tests, it routinely came out at or near the top of the rankings. Suave looks? Its rounded corners, black-and-red coloration, delicately pockmarked front and soft-touch back give it an appearance and feel that are both thoroughly modern and refreshingly classic. Here is our pick of the five best external hard drives for Macs.No matter what you want from the best external hard drive, the SanDisk Extreme Pro Portable SSD delivers it.Ĭonvenient design? It’s small and light enough to fit in your hand but not get lost in your pocket or bag. Here issues such as portability and resilience might not be as important to you but speed of data transfer could well be. The prospect of losing all your work to a damaged drive is not an enticing one.Įven if you use a desktop-based Mac you will soon find the need to add some extra storage to the mix.
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This can be annoying if you travel around with your Macbook a lot, as it something else to carry and potentially drop. Pretty much as soon as you get it out of the box, you are going to need some form of external storage solution.
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This is super speedy when it comes to booting into the OS but pretty much useful if you want to use the Mac for what it’s actually really good at – content creation of any sort. Popular laptops such as the Macbook Pro only come with a relatively limited amount of SSD storage. It’s fair to say that a lot of modern laptops are slimming down their internal storage, both to reduce cost and unit weight.
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