Since macOS High Sierra, macOS no longer uses the old HFS+ format and now macOS uses Apple File System (APFS) which works across macOS and iOS. Some SSD drives are already formatted for use with Macs but some are only formatted for Windows out of the box. The only way to get read/write speeds above 1000mb/s on an external SSD connected to a Mac is with a dedicated Thunderbolt 3 SSD drive.Ĭurrently, the best external Thunderbolt 3 SSD drive for Mac is the Samsung X5 SSD which can read at an amazing 2800 MB/s and write at 2300 MB/s via Thunderbolt 3. You can check whether your Mac has a Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 port here. The latest M1 Mac Studio, MacBook Pro and M2 Macs have Thunderbolt 4 ports although there’s no difference in transfer speed between Thunderbolt 3 v 4. Macs since around 2017 have Thunderbolt 3 ports which are even faster than USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 and can deliver transfer speeds of up to 40Gbps. Do These SSD Drives Work With iPads and iPhones too?.

Can You Use an External SSD Drive as a Boot Drive?.In our research, we found the best external SSD for Mac is the Samsung T7 Portable SSD thanks to a combination of speed, reliability, durability and portability. Not only this but SSDs are much smaller, lighter and stronger than mechanical drives which are far more susceptible to damage from being moved around, knocked or dropped.įinally, SSD drives also require less cables as they usually take their power from your Mac’s small oval shaped Thunderbolt port (the same port connector as USB-C) so there’s no need for clunky power packs. SSDs will also backup your Mac quicker than mechanical drives with apps such as Carbon Copy Cloner or macOS Time Machine. This also makes them much faster as the average SSD drive can write at up to 1000MB/s which is roughly twice as fast as mechanical HDD drives that write at around 540MB/s.Įxternal SSD drives are therefore ideal for transferring and working with large files for use with video editing software, music production software and powerful graphic design software.

This is because where HDD drives use spinning platters to save data, SDD drives use NAND memory chips instead. The internal hard drives in all new Macs use SSD technology because unlike mechanical drives, SSD have no moving parts meaning they’re far faster, quieter, more efficient and durable. SSDs used to be the most expensive hard drives on the market and while they’re still more expensive than mechanical HDD external hard drives, they’re a lot cheaper than they used to be. SSDs (Solid State Drives) are the best external hard drives for Macs and so here we’ve looked at the best external SSD for Mac of 2023 including for the latest M1 and M2 Macs.

External thunderbolt ssd drives for mac