Reddit Best External Hard Drive For Mac

BestUSB-C Hard Drives for MaciMore2020

It's 2019, and if you're not backing up all your data in multiple places, you're not being as safe and secure as you possibly can. Backing up your data is probably the most critical thing you can do, and even if you used cloud storage to back up data, you should always have a safe 'hard' copy on a hard drive. Of course, the current MacBook Pro lineup only has Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, but that's OK, because USB-C is fast, future-proof, and will likely replace standard USB, HDMI, DisplayPort, power, and more. Here are a few options to get you started on your search.

Fan favorite

Xbox One X users, as well, would be wise to invest in an external drive as a way of augmenting the console’s measly 1TB hard drive (the external drive needs to be USB 3.0-compatible and will be.

G-Technology G-Drive 1TB

Staff Favorite

The G-Drive by G-Technology is a great USB-C hard drive for most people. It has 1TB of storage and features a quick drive speed of 7200RPM, with transfer rates of up to 136MB/s, thanks to USB 3.1. It comes Mac ready and USB-C ready.

Best for speed

Samsung T5 SSD 500GB, 1TB, 2TB

Samsung's T5 SSD is a solid-state drive that provides way faster transfer rates than physical hard drives. Solid-state drives don't have moving parts, so if you happen to drop this one, there's less to break! SSDs are more expensive, but with this one, you get write speeds of up 540MB/s, which is over three times faster than many hard drives. If you like to store TV shows and movies on your hard drive, consider a solid-state drive!

Rugged pick

Glyph Blackbox Plus 1TB

The Glyph Blackbox Plus is a rugged, portable hard drive that can keep up with you wherever you go. It's surrounded in rubber to protect from drops and has enough capacity for all your backups and then some. You get write speeds of up to 140MB/s from just 5400RPM, as well as a 3-year warranty in case anything goes wrong. It also features fan-free heat dissipation, so it's nice and quiet.

Best for video

Samsung 5X Portable SSD

With read and write speeds of up to 2,800MB/s and 2,300MB/s, respectively, this portable drive is perfect for videographers. It's designed for rendering and compiling high res photos and videos with up to 40Gb/s data transfer. It also looks like the Ferrari of external hard drives.

Upgrade option

SanDisk Extreme 900 SSD 480GB, 960GB, 1.92TB

SanDisk's Extreme 900 SSD is a powerhouse solid-state drive that offers up to nine times the transfer speeds of external hard drives. It's made of durable aluminum and rubber, and the solid-state core is shock-proof. So, this is far less likely to die on you should you drop it (compared to hard drives).

Best value

G-Technology G-DRIVE Mobile SSD Durable Portable External Storage

With a low price per terabyte, G-Technology's G-Drive SSD is one of the more versatile solid-state drives on the market, and it comes from a brand that Apple recommends. You'll get transfer rates of up to 560MBps and USB-C connectivity. Plus, it has IP67 water/dust resistance, it's drop-tested to ten feet, and it has 1000 pound crush-resistance.

Long-lasting

LaCie Rugged 2TB

The LaCie Rugged of yesteryear got me through my entire post-secondary education, and now that there's a USB-C option, it'll help get you (and maybe even your children!) through school or work with reliability and that fast connection. The body is rubberized to help it stand up to daily wear and tear, and 2TB should be more than enough for all of your files, documents, Final Cut projects, and much more. There's a 2-year warranty on these, which includes data recovery services.

Durable and reliable

CalDigit Tuff 2TB

CalDigit's Tuff hard drives are rugged, colorful 2TB drives that offer USB-C connectivity, and there's even a USB-C to USB-A cable for backward compatibility. With an IP57 rating, these drives are water-resistant in three feet of water for up to 30 minutes. They're dust-resistant, so you can take yours with you anywhere, knowing that your data is safe from the elements.

Compact pick

SanDisk Extreme SSD

You may know SanDisk for its SD cards, but its hard drives are excellent as well. This solid-state drive is smaller than the average smartphone and has a hole in it so that you can clip it to a bag. It's shock-resistant and ruggedly designed, so it's perfect for life on the move.

Budget pick

WD 2TB My Passport for Mac Portable External Hard Drive

Western Digital makes some of the best hard drives around, and this well-priced USB-A and USB-C compatible hard drive fits right in with all its other excellent drives. It's made for Mac and is Time Machine ready.

Waterproof-ish

G-Tech All-Terrain Drive

For the extreme outdoorsmen and women, this rugged hard drive does more than protect your external hard drive from scratches and breaks. It's watertight, so you can drop it into a pool of water up to one-foot for 30 seconds without anything seeping in. The tethered Thunderbolt cable means you don't have to bring any extra cables, too.

Our personal favorite

External hard drives are must-have peripherals for anyone with a computer. They give you additional storage space, which can fill up fast on laptops, and are essential to backing up your data safely and securely. Every one of the drives on this list is easy to set up and start using right away. All you have to do is plug one into your Mac.

The G-Drive is our staff's favorite portable hard drive because it's affordable and reliable. It's Mac-ready but can also be reformatted for Windows computers. If 1TB isn't enough, there is also a 2TB, 4TB, and 5TB version available. A three-year limited warranty backs the G-DriveThe G-Drive is supported by a three-year limited warranty.

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When you purchased your computer, you thought it had plenty of space. Or at least, it seemed like it did… until photos, videos, programs, documents, and other files began crowding the disk space.

Whether desktop or laptop, 10 years old or only 2, running out of storage on your Mac or PC is a widespread problem with an easy solution.

For a lot of people, the go-to is cloud storage services such as iCloud or Google Drive, but these aren’t a great fit for everyone, especially if you have a lot of files or need to access them offline on both your mac and PC.

In this case, an external drive that’s Mac and PC interchangeable is the best option, because you’ll have all your files on hand at all times and it can store significantly more data than a cloud drive.

In this article, we’ll help you better understand the use cases of a physical drive, and round up the best Mac & PC compatible external drives for backup and storage purposes.

Quick Summary

Tired of learning all the “techy” terms related to hard drives? We understand. Here’s a brief of our recommendations to save you time exploring.

For Mac users: G-Technology Portable External Hard Drive 2TB

From the sleek design to the pre-formatting, this terabyte-sized drive is perfect for Mac users who need a little extra space and offers the transfer rate up to 140MB/s for accessing all your files.

For Windows PC users: WD 2TB Elements Portable

At 5400 RPM but only around 3″ x 4″, this tiny drive packs a real punch. You can get it in sizes from 1 to 4 TB, all of which are equally portable and will allow you to access your files with speed and efficiency wherever you go.

For the best of both worlds: Samsung T5 Portable SSD

Whether you simply prefer the speed of an SSD or use both Mac and PC on a regular basis, this drive offers formatting that works everywhere you go and top notch read/write rates. The drive is small, portable, and sleek (available in multiple colors!)

Who Should Get This?

You don’t have to be a power user to make use of an external drive, but if you aren’t sure you need one, here are some considerations:

• Has your computer slowed down due to being stuffed with files you aren’t necessarily using all the time?
• Do you need to backup your computer, especially if you’re worried about a crash soon due to the age of the machine?
• Are the fees for your cloud storage service not worth the amount of storage you get?
• Do you want to clean up old files that you only occasionally reference?
• Need a better place to run large applications from, or have programs you want to run on more than one computer?

If you’re saying yes to any of these, then there’s a good chance you would benefit from an external drive. It’ll give you space and security that you need.

However, an external drive might not be the best choice for you if you only have a few files that need storage, or if you already have a backup of your computer for example via backup software. In that case, using a small flash drive or an online cloud storage provider might be the better option.

External Drive for Mac and PC Compatible: What to Look for in 2020?

File Capacity

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The number one consideration when buying an external drive is how much space it has to offer. Depending on what type of files you’ll be storing and how long you want the drive to last, you may want more or less space. However, when buying an external drive you should be getting at minimum 128GB, as anything less will be better served by a flash drive. Many people will be much more satisfied with closer to 1 TB of storage though since space tends to disappear faster than you would think.

Type: HDD and SSD

External drives come in two types: HDD and SSD. The former is what is normally referred to as a “hard drive”, since it uses a physical spinning disk to read and write data, while the latter, sometimes called a solid-state drive, actually uses flash memory and stores everything electronically and has no moving parts. An HDD tends to be cheaper, but SSDs are faster and more reliable.

Formatting

An external drive is typically formatted for either MacOS or PC use. While there are some drives that work on both, most tend need to be reformatted to be functional on the opposite system, and that will erase all your data. Formatting in the first place can also be difficult, so look for a drive that’s already formatted to work with your computer and know that you will only be able to access your files on machines of the same type.

Speed

All external drives are rated for read-and-write speeds, which is how fast they can store, retrieve, and display information. Higher speeds are better, but a small difference won’t be noticeable. An HDD is generally not capable of the higher speeds of an SSD, but they do tend to be much cheaper.

Best External Drive for Mac and PC Interchangeable: Our Picks in 2020

1. G-Technology Portable External Hard Drive 2TB

Using a Mac? This drive is preformatted just for you, offering a high transfer rate for fast file access and connects easily via USB-C. It will definitely stand up to regular use of creative editing applications and store files/backups well if you’re using in a more long-term frame.

Pros:

• 2TB is a fair amount of storage space for any user, and this drive is available in larger sizes as well.
• The transfer rates up to 140 MB/s means you can easily access your files without sacrificing any time spent loading or waiting for files to transfer.

Cons:

• Pre-formatted for Mac, but can be reformatted to Windows.
• Not cross-compatible.

2. WD 2TB Elements Portable External Hard Drive

If you’re an avid PC user, this HDD drive from Western Digital has you covered. With sizes from 1 to 4 TB and plug-n-play functionality, you’ll start with your feet on the ground. USB 3.0 allows you to transfer files at up to 5MB/s, and the drive overall runs at 5400 RPM.

Pros:

• A high RPM means you don’t have to worry about sitting in front of your computer waiting for files to load, while the slim 3″ by 4″ design is super portable, perfect for taking files to and from work or another setting.
• Can even be used to backup games on your console.

Cons:

• Only for PC, unless you want to separately reformat to use with Mac.

3. Samsung T5 Portable SSD

Available from the smallest 250 GB size all the way up to 2TB, this external SSD from Samsung writes at 540MB/s, which is a stellar rate. It normally uses a USB-C cable, but if your computer doesn’t yet support this, a standard USB-A cable is also provided. This product also ranks in our best portable SSD drive review.

Pros:

• Formatted to work on Mac and Windows and even Android!
• A variety of storage options makes it easy to find the right size for you.
• The sleek drive is also very sturdy and fits into the palm of your hand.

Cons:

• Transfer speeds may be slightly lower if you can’t make use of the included USB-C cable.

Useful Tips

Don’t forget to get an external drive case (like this one from Amazon), which will help protect your drive from potential damage caused by accidental scratch or dropping. It also allows you easily pack it into backpack or briefcase.
Want to format your external drive for Mac and PC compatibility? Check out this step-by-step tutorial we created earlier.

To extend the life of your storage drive, it’s a good practice to always put it on a flat and stable surface and away from heaters, humidifiers or air conditioners. Also, when you’re done with data backup or file transfer, make sure to properly eject the drive before plugging it out.

Still can’t decide between an HDD or SSD external drive? Check out this guide from PC World, which will help outline which is best depending on your situation. Alternatively, if you aren’t sure about getting an external hard drive at all, you can always try out a web-based cloud service first to see if it gives you space and flexibility you want.

Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox are great places to get started since they offer free options at the lowest tier, and paid users can get more than 1TB of storage space.

Final Words

Whether you prefer HDD or SSD, you’re looking for your first drive or your third, an external drive is usually a great solution for data backup and file storage on both your Mac and PC. Moving files off your computer will also help tune up your PC a little bit and will protect your important files from potential damage.

Are you using both a Mac and PC, and how much space do you need for your external drive? Leave us a comment below and tell us how you’re making the most of your external drive!

Jessica is the co-founder and content manager. She has been fascinated by the startup culture in Silicon Valley and she loves building things from zero to one. When she is not writing, she loves getting close to nature and shoot photos with her iPhone and Canon EOS 80D.