Does this sound similar to you?

You thought you had enough disk space when you originally bought your MacBook Pro, but soon you realized that storage is being filled up quicker than you can clear old files.

Or maybe you already had an external drive to help extend your MacBook’s storage, but now it’s either outdated, too slow, or experiencing issues.

We may be in the age of cloud computing and remotely stored files, but it’s always helpful to have a portable hard drive you can count on both for file backups and to work off as needed.

Speed is one of the major considerations for buying the best external hard drive for MacBook Pro or Air. If you compare the speed of HDD and SSD, you will find that SSD is the best in terms of speed, You can have an HDD that achieves 7200 RPM (Generally means 150 MB/sec), usually, all the modern HDD works on 7200. The best Thunderbolt 3 SSD and hard drives for your MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, or iMac. The Plugable Thunderbolt 3 NVMe External SSD is a solid state drive that offers one terabyte. Online shopping for Electronics from a great selection of USB Flash Drives, Internal Hard Drives, Internal Solid State Drives, External Hard Drives & more at everyday low prices. Replace or upgrade the hard drive on your MacBook Pro 13' Unibody Mid 2010. Best Buy customers often prefer the following products when searching for Hard Drives For Macbook Pro. Browse the top-ranked list of Hard Drives For Macbook Pro.

In this buying guide, we’ll help you pick the best external drive for your MacBook Pro so you can access all your files without sacrificing speed or performance.

Quick Summary

Here’s a brief overview of our recommendations depending on your specific needs and preferences:

• 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? The Silicon Power 1TB Drive is rugged and durable, with water resistance in addition to quick read and write speeds.
• If you prefer a modern speedy solid-state drive, the Glyph Atom RAID 1TB SSD is sure to meet expectations in terms of speed and durability.

Do I Need An External Drive for My Mac?

External drives are a worthwhile investment for more than just power users, but it can be hard to determine if you need one or not. Consider this:

• Do you regularly work with large files such as videos and edited images, or run other creative files such as video games?
• Is your MacBook Pro running slower due to being overburdened with files?
• Have you ever wanted to backup your Mac just in case of any data disaster?
• Are you using a cloud storage or online backup service but fear of security and reliability issues from the provider?
• Are old files being stored on your computer because you occasionally reference them but can’t completely delete them?

Answering yes to any of the above scenario questions is a fairly good indicator that an external hard drive would benefit you.

On the other hand, an external hard drive is probably not the best option for for those of you who only have a small volume of unimportant files to save, which might be better served by using a cloud storage program like Dropbox or Google Drive or by offloading their old files onto a large USB flash drive.

Best External Drive for MacBook: What to Look For in 2020?

Storage Capacity

If you’re purchasing an external hard drive, it’s because you need the space on your MacBook, so it doesn’t make sense to cut corners on how much exterior space you purchase. However, it’s still important to consider exactly how much space you need. Consider how quickly you create large files (such as photo imports) and if you plan on keeping them in a long or short term to decide your actual need.

Formatting

While many newer drives come formatted to work on both Mac and PC, it’s best not to choose one that is single-system compatible as it will limit the drive’s versatility (though you could manually format an external drive for both PC and Mac compatibility, it’s an extra effort and requires you to be a bit geeky). For added convenience, you should look for drives that come pre-formatted for Mac, which means you don’t have to install a special program and do it yourself.

HDD or SSD

There are several kinds of external drives based on the electronics that make them work. An HDD is the traditional spinning disk of data, whereas an SSD is newer technology that has no moving parts and store information inside the electronic components. An HHD, or Hybrid Hard Drive, uses a combination of these methods. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages when it comes to speed, durability, price, and information safety, so make sure you know which you prefer.

The Best External Drives for MacBook Pro in 2020: Our Picks

Kindly note that the products chosen below are mainly based on our personal preferences and the guidelines as shown above. They are by no means made in the order below.

1. G-Technology 10TB G-DRIVE USB-C Desktop External Hard Drive

This speedy HDD drive offers a huge chunk of storage at an uncommonly high RPM. It will stand up to daily use in editing and media programs and connects to your computer via USB-C so you can take full advantage of its specs.

Pros:

• If you have set up Apple Time Machine, this drive will be ready for easy file backup so you won’t be waiting for your files to read or write. Also, it comes with a great amount of storage space.

Cons:

• The disk is pre-formatted for Mac, you won’t be able to use your files on a secondary computer such as a Windows PC unless you reformat it to NTFS file system.

2. Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB

Available in four different sizes, this hard drive from trusted brand Seagate comes in several colors. Approximately the size of your phone, it packs a punch for its size and is very portable.

Pros:

• It can be used on both Mac and PC without reformatting. Also, it offers fast connection via USB and weighs about 5 ounces.

Cons:

• Largest TB size option is not compatible with Mac.

3. Silicon Power 1TB Rugged Armor A60

An extremely versatile and sturdy drive, this model is compatible with more than just your MacBook. It’s water resistant, with read and write speeds at the standard 120 mbps.

Pros:

• It can be used with several gaming consoles and Apple Time Machine in addition to your Mac.
• It’s also durable and available with the modern USB-C which is especially useful if you’re using the newest MacBook Pro.

Cons:

• It appears somewhat unprofessional, also the drive is a bit on the heavy side as it weighs around 8 ounces.

4. Glyph Atom RAID 1TB External Solid State Drive

Available with USB and USB-C connections and pre-formatted for Mac, this SSD from well-known brand Glyph provides extremely fast speeds that will support your casual and power use. It looks clean and functions beautifully.

Pros:

• It comes pre-formatted for Mac with easy reformats for PC or cross-platform compatibility, significantly faster than comparable drives from Samsung and other brands, available in several colors and two connection types.

Cons:

• It’s the heaviest drive on our list at 11 ounces, and a bit on the pricey side as well.

Useful Tips & Resources

Picking a hard drive can be difficult, especially if you aren’t sure whether you need one. One way to help decide is to try a cloud storage platform such as Google Drive or Dropbox before you decide to buy an external drive. Both platforms are free to start with and they offer terabyte storage options for paying customers and using one may help you decide if you need more constant access to your files or simply a place to store them.

If you know you want an external drive but aren’t sure what storage type you need (HDD or SSD), perhaps this guide from PCWorld will help you decide which best fits your requirements.

Also, It’s worth noting that some external drives available on the market are formatted for PC only, but you can reformat it to Mac OS Extended, or for cross-platform compatibility (with NTFS) if you need to use your external drive for your MacBook Pro and a PC as well. This tutorial is definitely worth checking out:

Final Words

Regardless of your final choice of external drive, having one will definitely improve your workflow and computer performance. You’ll be able to use your files more effectively and improve your MacBook’s performance. Which external drive have you used in the past or are considering purchasing? Let us know.

When most of us think of where our Macs store data, we are used to saying “the hard drive”. But the truth is, not all drives are physically spinning HDDs anymore, and the Solid State Drive (or SSD) is becoming an increasingly common upgrade for MacBook Pros of all ages.

Because SSDs have a number of advantages compared to HDDs, they are more speedy, reliable and quieter — yes, you won’t hear the click sound from a spinning hard drive. However, SSDs are also a little bit expensive than HDDs though the price difference is diminishing.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through picking the best SSD drive to upgrade your MacBook Pro’s old hard drive or existing SSD and point out how we chose the favorite products along the way.

Quick Summary

Need a brief summary of our top picks? Here’s the best SSD replacement for your MacBook Pro depending on your specific needs.

• For general users who want a quality, affordable SSD, you won’t go wrong with Crucial MX500 — which has exemplary read and write speeds, with awesome energy-saving features that will keep your MacBook from overheating or using up excessive amounts of battery.
• For those of you who want to shop an SSD from a reputable brand, get SanDisk Ultra 3D — which will be able to keep up with your work all day, every day with all-around improvements to your booting, loading, and processing times.
• For power users who want a drive that’s durable and built to last, pick up Samsung 860 PRO — which allows you to make the most of every gigabyte, and meet your need with a great warranty and optimized processing technology.

Best Internal Hard Drive For Macbook Pro 2012

Who Should Get This?

It’s a digital world, and we all like to have the shiniest gadgets on the market. But do you really need to install a new internal flash storage and dump the old hard disk drive? Well, it all depends and here are our suggestions.

You should consider upgrading your MacBook Pro with an SSD if:​

• You work with large files regularly.
• Your MacBook starts up very slow or performs sluggishly in general. This is common for old MacBook Pros such as 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 models.
• The internal hard disk drive is showing its age and might die out any day. Here’s a guide that shows how to determine if it’s failing.
• You often use resource-intensive apps such as Adobe Photoshop for photo editing, or Premiere Pro for video editing, etc.
• You need the greater reliability of file storage or want to minimize negative experiences with overheating and potential damage.
• You want to upgrade your MacBook without purchasing an entirely new machine.

You may NOT need an SSD replacement if…

• You mainly use the Internet and document editing functions on your Mac and do not make use of heavier applications.
• You use your Mac fairly carefully or do not keep important or sensitive files on the drive.
• You are using a new MacBook (with Retina display), because “removing the SSD is possible, although it’s not an easy job. For starters, the bottom aluminum side is harder to remove. Then, the SSD is kept in place under the speaker module and has a very strong tape covering the interface port.” as pointed out in BGR.

Internal SSD Upgrade for MacBook Pro: What to Consider?

Capacity

When making a purchase, you may find yourself willing to compromise on storage capacity because of the cost compared to an HDD. Don’t do this! Because storage capacity is a key factor that determines how much use you get out of your new drive, and as computers progress, you’re going to want to have the space to keep up. Additionally, using external drives can slow down your Mac, so it’s best to splurge for extra space now rather than regret it later.

Reading and Writing Speed

Every disk drive is rated with a certain set of speed that describes how fast it can read and write files. The range of a good product usually stays between 500MB/s and 550MB/s. The higher these numbers are, the better. Please note that the advertised numbers are not representative of real-world conditions though, in which you’ll probably experience speed about two-thirds of those rated.

Memory Type – MLC and SLC

SSDs have two types of memory: multi-level cell and single-level cell. The first is cheaper to make and stores more information, but the later has a lower rate of error. However, some SSDs come with error-correcting features to minimize this difference, so it’s up to you to decide which best fits your needs.

Reliability

While judging a book by its cover is generally frowned upon, when it comes to flash storage, it’s perfectly acceptable to judge performance and reliability from the brand name alone. Well-known companies usually have good reputations for reliability and quality control of their products, and you’ll want that name-brand security when it comes to something as critical to daily functions.

Best SSD for MacBook Pro (Internal Upgrade): Our Picks

Note that the SSD drives we recommend below are rated based on our own opinions and preferences. They are by no means made in this order.

1. Crucial MX500 250GB 3D NAND SATA 2.5 Inch Internal SSD

If you are on a budget and need dependability and security for your data, this drive from Crucial fits the bill. Its energy efficient features will protect your MacBook from overheating or draining of the battery. This is an SSD that should meet most users’ needs. In our opinion, 250 GB is the best choice, but you may also choose a larger one such as 2TB.

• Pros: It has four different capacities available for you to choose from. The drive is speedy as it’s rated for read and write speed of 560MB/sec and 510 MB/sec respectively. Also, the drive includes energy adaptive features to prevent overheating and excessive battery use — this is especially helpful if you’re still using an old MacBook with a battery under fairly poor conditions.
• Cons: It’s not the fastest drive on the market and some users may need a spacer to make this fit correctly inside their MacBook.

2. SanDisk Ultra 3D NAND 500GB Internal SSD

SanDisk is a world-famous storage solution provider that offers many types of products especially memory cards, flash drives, etc. If you’re a photographer, chances are you’re using or have used an SD card manufactured by SanDisk. What you may not know is that the company also offers solid state drives. If you need a drive that will perform well under pressure, then Ultra 3D NAND SATA III from SanDisk can definitely fill that need. With lightning-fast read and write speeds, improved startups, and shorter loading times all around, this drive will keep up with you throughout a busy working day.

• Pros: It’s very fast as rated at 560 MB/sec in reading and 530 MB/sec in writing. The drive also comes with specialized caching methods to enhance performance while maintaining a cool and quiet operation. Plus, there are a variety of available storage capacities to choose.
• Cons: It doesn’t come with a cloning software which means you need to take some time to transfer the data from the old drive to the new one.

3. Samsung 860 PRO V-NAND 1TB SSD

Boasting a 5-year warranty, cloning software, and a respected name, it’s hard to know where to start with this Samsung drive’s best attributes. You’ll benefit from increased speeds for loading applications and saving files, as well as a variety of options for storage capacity to meet your specific needs.

Best External Hard Drive For Macbook Pro 2010 Windows 10

• Pros: It’s extremely dependable and known for use among heavy users, will work efficiently with your MacBook (reads 560 MB/sec, writes 530 MB/sec), and includes an outstanding warranty. Also, it uses 3D V-NAND to increase speed and rated for 150 terabytes written — more than enough to outlast your MacBook Pro itself.
• Cons: Some users reported that they had problems with the built-in data migration software.

Useful Tips and Resources

Whenever you consider making any significant changes to your MacBook Pro, it’s always a good practice to make sure you have a recent backup of all the important files. See this Apple guide for different ways to back up a Mac machine. Therefore, when it comes to replacing your Mac’s internal hard drive with a new SSD, you’ll want to make sure that everything is backed up properly in case any potential risk.

Best External Hard Drive For Macbook Pro 2013

The SSD installation process is fairly simple to computer geeks, but general users may find it challenging. That’s why this guide from CNET is worth checking out, it features a step by step tutorial on how to upgrade the internal drive and walks you through the precautions and help you stay on your feet.

Using a MacBook Pro with Retina display (most models after the year 2013)? These Macs don’t officially support being taken apart so you should consider carefully whether or not you want to go through with it. However, if you do decide to take a look under the hood, LaptopMag has a great tutorial on how to do so without jeopardizing your Retina MacBook in the process.

Also, if you decide to replace the old drive and install a new SSD all by yourself (aka, DIY), make sure you get the right screwdrivers ready as you need them to open the bottom case of your MacBook Pro. The RION Pentalobe 6 Pentalobe 5 Phillips Tri-wing Screwdrivers is a great choice.

Macbook Air External Hard Drive

Final Words

It may seem like SSDs have been slow to take off, but they really are the drives for many laptop computers in the future. They’re generally faster, more durable, and more efficient than any similar-sized HDD, and you can count on them to store your files and applications safely.

If you’ve decided to make the internal SSD upgrade for your Mac, tell us what your experience was like. We’d love to hear which drive you chose and how your MacBook Pro functioned afterward.