Greatest exterior laborious drives for Mac 2025

The unique Seagate Extremely Contact was a pocket-size laborious drive with an attractively slim and light-weight design. It was a reasonably outdated design although, restricted to both 1TB or 2TB of storage, and it was nonetheless utilizing an outdated USB 3.0 interface that required an adaptor as a way to work with extra trendy Macs and PCs with USB-C.

This up to date model of the Extremely Contact updates most features of the drive’s design. It’s barely bigger and heavier, however now begins with a minimal of 2TB storage, with 4TB or 5TB fashions additionally out there for those who want extra storage. This new mannequin now has a USB-C interface too, with a prolonged (50cm) USB-C cable included as nicely.

The 2TB mannequin – which is completed in cloud white – continues to be pretty slim, measuring simply 13.2mm thick, 80mm vast and 115mm lengthy, and weighing a modest 168g, so it’s an excellent choice for those who simply want a light-weight, moveable drive that you may slip into your pocket or a bag. The 4TB and 5TB fashions are completed in a darker pebble gray and are barely bigger and heavier, measuring 23mm thick and weighing 267g.

You possibly can’t purchase the Extremely Contact instantly from Seagate, so that you’ll have to buy round on-line, and costs do appear to differ rather a lot. Seagate pricing is as follows: $164.99/£179.99 for 5TB, $159.99/£154.99 for 4TB, $99.99/£109.99 for 2TB. Nevertheless, the common costs that we got here throughout throughout testing have been round $79.99/£99.99 for the 2TB mannequin that we examined, whereas the 4TB and 5TB fashions are round $124.99/£139.99 and $207.99/£164.99 respectively.

Efficiency is just like that of the unique Extremely Contact, at 130MB/s for each learn and write speeds, which is round common for a transportable drive similar to this. The Extremely Contact contains some extra options too, similar to the flexibility to create mirror folders in your Mac and the Extremely Contact drive which can be mechanically synced and up to date everytime you make any adjustments to these folders. The Toolkit app additionally supplies 256-bit encryption and password safety for additional safety, making the Extremely Contact an excellent choice for individuals who have to hold vital information safe after they’re working away from the workplace. Clients within the US can even use Seagate’s Knowledge Restoration service to rescue information within the occasion that the drive is broken (though this service isn’t out there in all areas).–Cliff Joseph

LaCie’s Cell Drive has been on our record of the most effective laborious drives for Mac customers for some time and this model was launched in 2022. The 2022 Cell Drive adopts an Apple-style slimline, rectangular design with clean rounded corners with the LaCie brand proper within the heart.

Costs begin at a aggressive $79.99/£69.99 for a drive with 1TB storage (that’s a value lower from the preliminary £79.99 within the U.Ok.), however there are additionally fashions with 2TB, 4TB, and 5TB out there too. The 1TB and 2TB fashions measure simply 10.4mm thick, 85mm vast, and 118mm lengthy, and weigh 200g, in order that they’re simple to choose up and carry round together with your laptop computer. The 4TB and 5TB fashions are slightly thicker – at 20.4mm – and weigh 300g, however that’s nonetheless an excellent dimension for moveable laborious drives that present such excessive capability. They’re all constructed out of recycled aluminum, and durable sufficient to deal with life on the highway.

You should utilize them to your Time Machine backups, however LaCie’s ToolKit app – for macOS 10.14 or later – additionally lets you create a Mirror folder that’s mechanically up to date everytime you make any adjustments to the information or information inside that folder.

The drive has a USB-C interface, with a USB-C cable included within the field, and recorded write and skim speeds of 126MB/s and 130MB/s respectively when working the BlackMagic Disk Velocity Take a look at. There are quicker laborious drives out there, however that’s nonetheless a good velocity for a compact laborious drive similar to this, and the Cell Drive 2022 stays an excellent, inexpensive backup drive for MacBook homeowners – and even homeowners of desktop Macs who may have the bigger 4TB or 5TB fashions. —Cliff Joseph

The ArmorATD begins at $99.99/£89.99 for 1TB, rising to $229.99/£225.99 for the brand new 6TB mannequin.

It’s an enclosure with a 2.5-inch laborious drive inside that’s shock-mounted, and the rugged aluminum case is surrounded by a silicon sock for additional safety. It’ll face up to minor abuse, extra when off than on and the disks are spinning, however your finest wager with any laborious drive is to not deal with it like a hockey puck. The connection is USB-C with a velocity score of 5Gbps (USB 3.1/Gen 1)–lots quick sufficient for any laborious drive. The drive guarantee is for 3 years.

You’ll get round 120MBps writing and 127MBps studying most (with massive information) from the ArmorATD in your Mac. Good things. The Armor ATD arrives formatted to exFAT so that you’re good to exit of the field below each macOS and Home windows. Nevertheless, exFAT will extract a 5 % max penalty, so Mac customers will wish to reformat the drive. –Jon L. Jacobi

The WD My Passport Extremely for Mac is a 2.5-inch exterior USB laborious drive that gives a fairly first rate storage capability of 6TB for round $200/£200. The 5TB unit presently provides the most effective bang to your buck at $28 per terabyte. 

The drive delivers 110MBps learn and write velocity, making it appropriate for media streaming and Time Machine backups working within the background.

The My Passport Extremely for Mac encompasses a USB-C port. Till just lately, exterior 2.5-inch USB laborious drives unanimously used USB micro-B SuperSpeed connectors (for additional energy) on the drive and USB-A on the opposite finish of the cable. WD bundles a USB-C to USB-C cable and a USB-C to USB-A adapter to accommodate older and present connection eventualities. 

The primary time you connect the drive a.dmg file for putting in WD’s Discovery software seems. Discovery can import your information out of your Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive accounts. You’ll additionally discover hyperlinks for the WD Drive Utilities, WD Safety (encryption, password safety), and a branded model of Acronis’s True Picture backup software program. It’s not a foul software program bundle, you don’t have to make use of it in fact. 

In our checks the My Passport Extremely for Mac delivered a switch fee of as much as 110MBps, which is quick sufficient for a number of audio or film streams. However in a world changing into accustomed to 3GBps velocity on USB4/Thunderbolt exterior SSDs chances are you’ll not discover this quick.

It’s nonetheless an amazing storage machine for a big multimedia assortment and is appropriate for background backup with Time Machine. The My Passport Extremely for Mac is a superb storage machine for a big multimedia assortment and may stream throughout the community at 2.5Gbps.

Western Digital has up to date its widespread moveable laborious drive. The 2024 model of My Passport, out there in darkish blue, provides the world’s first 2.5-inch 6TB mannequin (claims the corporate). There isn’t any longer a 1TB model. As a substitute, the vary begins with 2TB for $84.99/£75.99. There are additionally 4TB and 5TB fashions, whereas the 6TB mannequin prices an inexpensive $184.99/£165.99.

The 2TB mannequin is slimmer and lighter than the others, measuring 13.5mm thick, 75mm vast, and 107mm lengthy, and weighing simply 140g. The 4TB and 5TB fashions improve to a thickness of 19.2mm, whereas the 6TB mannequin is 20.6mm thick, weighing 210g.

The My Passport drive nonetheless makes use of an ageing USB Micro-B interface, however Western Digital features a USB-A cable with a separate USB-C adaptor for compatibility with newer Macs with USB-C and older Macs with USB-A. We’ve additionally appeared on the My Passport Extremely for Mac (above), which makes use of USB-A pr USB-C through an adaptor.

The My Passport drive additionally contains Western Digital’s Discovery app for Mac and Home windows, offering password safety and encryption options.

The WD Black P10 supplies a extra moveable various to the WD Black D10, which is geared for desktop use. It’s not as quick because the D10, however it will probably draw energy from a USB port, so you possibly can merely plug it into any Mac, PC, or video games console when it’s worthwhile to again up your information. It’s comparatively massive for a transportable drive, measuring a chunky 20mm thick, 88mm vast, and 118mm lengthy, however its bolstered casing is sturdy sufficient to deal with being bumped round in a backpack while you’re touring.

The drive is rated at a comparatively modest 140MB/s for each learn and write efficiency, though our checks really recorded speeds of 120MB/s and 110MB/s for learn and write efficiency respectively. That’s not going to interrupt any data, however it’s superb for the occasional Time Machine backup or for storing plenty of video games, photographs, movies, and different multimedia information. The P10 can be competitively priced, beginning at simply $89.99/£80.99 for a wholesome 2TB of storage. There are 4TB and 5TB fashions out there too, so the P10 is an efficient choice for Mac customers who’ve actually massive collections of photographs and movies that they will’t match onto their Mac’s inner drive.

The one oddity is that the P10 makes use of an getting old USB 3.2 interface. There’s a USB cable included, however it has a USB-A connector, so that you’ll want to supply an adaptor for Macs that solely have USB-C. —Cliff Joseph

You will have to reformat the Mac you will want to reformat the Seagate Growth Desktop with a Mac. As soon as full, the drive needs to be detected and it is possible for you to to make use of it as you’ll any laborious drive.

It measures roughly 7-inches lengthy, by 4.9-inches vast, by 1.65-inches thick and weighs round 2.5-pounds and is available in black with loads of air flow grating, and diagonal grooves spicing up considerably what would in any other case be a bland countenance. It’s not unhealthy trying.

The Seagate Growth Desktop is accessible in a wide range of capacities and may present as much as 24TB in a single unit. You gained’t get that a lot storage in an SSD, and even for those who may this may value lots lower than the identical allocation in an SSD. After all, the distinction is that an SSD is lots quicker, however our 16TB check unit was lots quicker than you may assume. As a substitute of the same old 120- to 140MBps its smaller 2.5-inch cousins learn and write at, the Growth Desktop managed virtually 280MBps.

Whereas it’s not quick in comparison with an SSD, the Growth Desktop is workable for streaming and background operations, is much quicker than 2.5-inch exterior HDDs, and also you positive as heck can’t beat the capability.

Increasingly more individuals are actually utilizing a MacBook as their important laptop, so the pattern with laborious drives lately has been in direction of smaller, extra moveable drives that you may simply carry round together with your laptop computer. That’s superb for those who solely want 1TB or 2TB of storage, however there are occasions when chances are you’ll want a bigger, desktop drive that may retailer a number of terabytes of information and information.

Western Digital’s My Guide vary of desktop drives has been round for fairly just a few years, however the vary supplies as much as 24TB of storage (we appeared on the 22TB mannequin) – which needs to be greater than sufficient for photographers, designers and video-editors who work with massive, high-res information day by day. Costs really begin at $134.99 / £120.99 for a My Guide drive with 4TB of storage, and there are a number of different fashions alongside the way in which earlier than you attain the 22TB drive that we evaluate right here, which prices $499.99 / £502.99, and the 24GB drive that prices $579.99 / £570.99.

Not surprisingly, the My Guide could be very a lot designed for desktop use. It measures 6.7 x 1.9 x 5.5-inches (170 x 49mm x 139mm), and weighs 2.20 kilos (1kg), and likewise requires a mains energy provide, so it’s not a drive that’s going to go away your own home or workplace fairly often.

It’s a bit odd that the drive nonetheless makes use of an getting old USB 3.0 interface, with a USB-A cable offered for connecting to a Mac or PC, so chances are you’ll want to supply a USB-C adaptor for Macs that now not have USB-A ports. Nevertheless, the My Guide does present good safety and safety for all of your information, with 256-bit encryption and password safety out there within the WD Safety app for Mac and Home windows.

The drive itself has a three-year guarantee, {and professional} customers may additionally need to enroll in WD’s Knowledge Restoration plan – from $9.99 / £9.99 for 2 years – which might retrieve misplaced information if the drive does get badly broken.

Efficiency is sweet too – regardless of the getting old USB interface – with the My Guide recording learn and write speeds of 215MB/s. That’s virtually twice as quick as a lot of the smaller, moveable drives that we evaluate right here, so the My Guide can be an excellent choice for individuals who want loads of storage for his or her vital work information. And if 22TB isn’t sufficient, there’s additionally a mannequin referred to as the My Guide Duo, which supplies RAID storage choices utilizing two inner laborious drives for a complete of 44TB of storage for $1,119 / £1,289.99.

Seagate has a spread of particular version Firecuda drives that sport designs taken from Marvel and Star Wars movies. There are drives with Spiderman, Boba Fett and the Mandolorian, however our favourite is the ‘small and highly effective’ Child Yoda drive (sure, we all know his identify is Grogu, however he’ll at all times be Child Yoda to us). And, when hooked up to your Mac, the drive is even displayed in your desktop with a Child Yoda icon as nicely.

These particular version drives are solely out there with 2TB storage. They’re priced at $139.99/£139.99 on Seagate’s web site, which is slightly expensive for a 2TB drive so that you’re paying a bit additional for the Star Wars vibe. Some are actually discounted together with Grogu, who’s now $59.99 within the U.S., and we’ve got seen them at decrease costs elsewhere on-line.

It’s slightly bigger than some moveable drives, measuring 14.5mm thick, 80mm vast, and 122mm lengthy. It’s sturdily constructed although and solely weighs 167g, so it’s nonetheless mild sufficient to simply choose it up and slip it onto a bag together with your laptop computer while you’re touring. The one minor oddity with the design is that it makes use of a USB 3.2 interface with a USB-A cable–to supply compatibility with Xbox consoles, apparently, so that you’ll want a USB-C adaptor in case your Mac solely has USB-C.

The Firecuda drive is formatted within the ExFat format for Home windows PCs, however you possibly can reformat it for Macs utilizing Disk Utility, and Seagate’s ToolKit app will run on any Mac with macOS 10.14 or later. The drive will work with Time Machine in your Mac, however the ToolKit app additionally lets you create a particular Mirror folder in your Mac that’s at all times saved in sync with an identical Mirror folder on the Firecuda drive. The app even enables you to customise the coloured lighting results for the standing mild on the entrance of the drive too.

Seagate doesn’t quote a velocity for the drive, however we recorded learn and write speeds of 130MB/s in our checks. Skilled customers may favor a quicker laborious drive or SSD, however that’s a good velocity for a transportable laborious drive similar to this, and the Firecuda is a very good – to not point out severely cute – choice for day-to-day backups in your Mac. –Cliff Joseph

Because the identify suggests, LaCie’s 1big Dock is greater than only a simple laborious drive. It begins at $369/£349.99 for a drive with 4TB storage, going as much as $889/£869.99 for 18TB, and its 7,200rpm IronWolf Professional laborious drive supplies sturdy efficiency with learn and write speeds of 235MBps through its Thunderbolt 3 port. That makes it an excellent choice for anybody that wants a quick drive for big video, photographs, and audio information.

The first Thunderbolt port additionally supplies energy for charging a MacBook laptop computer as nicely. You even have the choice of popping open the entrance panel to swap out the usual laborious drive and insert a brand new drive to supply an on the spot improve.

However the factor that basically makes the 1big Dock stand out from most of its laborious drive rivals is its built-in hub and connectivity options. There’s a second Thunderbolt port that can help you join extra Thunderbolt and USB-C units, and a DisplayPort 1.4 interface for an exterior monitor.

The entrance of the drive additionally supplies a regular USB 3.0 port and slots for each SD and CompactFlash (CF) reminiscence playing cards, making it an amazing choice for artistic customers who have to import information from cameras and different units.

There’s additionally a model of the 1big Dock out there that makes use of quicker solid-state storage too–in fact, it’s fairly a bit dearer. –Cliff Joseph

Western Digital’s WD Black drives are primarily aimed toward players who desire a quick drive to spice up loading instances for his or her video games, which explains why the menacing black design of this D10 desktop drive seems like a chunk of heavyweight munitions from the Name Of Responsibility video games. However a quick drive will even attraction to anybody that has loads of photographs, movies, and audio information that they wish to retailer on their Mac, and the D10 has different options that may turn out to be useful too.

Some features of the design are slightly odd. There’s just one model out there, with 8TB storage, though its $240/£199.99 price ticket on Amazon continues to be aggressive for a quick drive similar to this. It’s geared up with solely an outdated USB A interface (although it’s USB 3.2) maybe to supply compatibility with older video games consoles, so that you’ll want an adapter in case your Mac solely has USB-C.

Its 7,200-rpm drive supplies excellent efficiency, reaching learn and write speeds of 245MBps and 240MBps, respectively. The D10 requires an exterior energy provide, so it’s very a lot designed for desktop use, however it additionally has two extra USB 3.2 ports on the again of the drive that may present energy to different units, similar to an iPhone or iPad. These ports are just for charging, although, so you possibly can’t use the D10 as a dock for connecting peripherals similar to a printer or reminiscence stick. –Cliff Joseph