Luckily SanDisk offers 256GB Ultra Dual USB-C Drive, which contains plenty of storage while allowing you to use a newer MacBook without dongles. If you’re looking for as much space as you can get at a great value and reliability, the PNY Turbo 256GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive will have you covered with a sleek design and an expansive 256 GB of storage. ADDITIONAL STORAGE SPACE. Introducing our new flash storage cards (SDXC) for the MacBook Pro Retina. These flash storage cards are a quick and easy way to gain the additional space you need without adding any bulk. Simply insert this SD card into the card reader slot and instantly boost your storage capacity, with up to 256GB available. Discover the world of external hard drives for Mac. Compare portable, USB and external hard drive models for office and home and shop online.

1. External Drives For Macbook Pro
2. External Backup For Macbook Pro
3. External Flash Storage For Macbook Pro 2015
4. External Flash Storage For Macbook Pro 2017

Your MacBook Pro was designed to complete a wide variety of different tasks with ease and speed. Apple is well known for leading the pack in new technological advancements and always seem to utilize cutting edge components and design in all of its products. Regardless of which model year of MacBook you might have, chances are when it was new, it was at the top of its class in function and form.

Storage is an important factor to consider with any computer. Regardless of how many nice features your MacBook Pro has, if you run out of storage, it can cause unwanted issues. Some people even believe that you can never have too much storage capacity on a computer. Your MacBook Pro came with built-in storage but depending on your model, it is possible to add more storage capacity to your computer.

Why Add More Storage?

More storage is a good thing. The more storage capacity you have on your computer, the more programs, apps, files, and data you can run and store. If you run out of storage space, you might have to delete files or programs in order to make room for new ones. While you can always place this data on something like an external hard drive, it can be a pain to run out of storage capacity on your computer.

When you reach the limits of your computer’s storage capacity, you might also start to notice issues with performance. Things can start to run slowly and freezes can occur as your computer struggles to keep everything operating effectively without enough storage to do so. By adding more storage, you can avoid these potential problems while keeping all of the files and data you wish and not having your performance suffer.

Adding Storage – Things to Consider

When you buy a new MacBook Pro, you usually have options for what storage capacity you want to be included on your computer. More storage costs more money so oftentimes, buyers don’t get a high amount of storage. While this cost may seem significant, the extra storage can really help with performance and other important operations on your computer so it’s always good to consider a storage upgrade if you can afford it.

Another thing to consider is that not all MacBook models can have storage added to them internally. You can always use external storage methods, which we will discuss below, but some Apple computers won’t allow the additional storage capacity to be added after the machine has been manufactured. This is another reason to get the most memory you can afford at the time of purchase.

How to Add Storage to MacBook Pro

There are several methods to gain additional storage capacity on your MacBook Pro. Some of these options are only available for certain model years and newer model MacBooks cannot actually add storage internally. The newest models come equipped with an SSD (Solid State Drive) storage which cannot be upgraded. These are the model years that can be upgraded which have and SSD:

• MacBook Pro Retina 2015 or earlier.
• MacBook Pro non-Retina 2016 or earlier.
• If you have a different style MacBook or want to learn more about this upgrade, check out this link.

If you can’t upgrade your SSD, there are other methods to increase the storage capacity of your computer including:

1. External Storage

You can use external storage methods to add storage to your MacBook Pro. The most common way to do this is by using an external hard drive. These drives connect directly to your computer using an appropriate cable and will give you as much extra storage as you want or need. You can transfer files and data quickly and easily from your computer to this external hard drive to gain extra storage.

2. SD Cards

On older model MacBooks, you can use an SD card to gain extra memory. These cards aren’t as common as they used to be, but that means they are really cheap. If your computer has an SD card input, all you have to do is slide an SD card in and you can easily gain a couple hundred GB or more in storage capacity.

3. Cloud Storage

Another option to add storage to your computer is through the cloud. This is a good way to backup files or data and allows you to gain almost endless amounts of storage, although you will have to pay for it. One downside to cloud storage is that it can be slow to download or upload files depending on your internet speed. You can get up to 2TB of cloud storage with Apple’s iCloud and that is a considerable amount to work with.

4. Network Storage

This isn’t a very common method for increasing storage these days, but it does work and can offer an increase in storage capacity if you have another computer or hard drive laying around the house. By utilizing the storage capacity on another device, you can connect it to your MacBook pro and gain added space. The downside to this method is that you have to be on the same network as the added device so you might not be able to leave your house.

Final Thoughts

I still think that the easiest way to add storage to your computer is to start with a lot of it from the get go. This means upgrading the storage on your MacBook Pro from the time you buy it. You don’t have to go with the absolute highest amount of storage available but you should get more than the basic option. All of these added storage options will cost some money so getting more from the start is a good option.

If you don’t want to pay as much upfront, you can use any of the methods above to gain added storage on your computer. I find the easiest method to do this is an external hard drive and usually carry one with me everywhere I take my computer, just in case. It also functions as a backup for any important files or data you have.

How much storage do you have on your computer? Do you think it will be enough or will you need to upgrade?

Because Apple is so stingy with storage — you get just 128GB in the entry-level MacBook Air and MacBook Pro — having a good external hard drive for Macs is important for offloading your large video and photo files. Better yet, a good external drive will let you create a full system backup copy of your drive. With dozens of external drive options, how do you find a good external hard drive for Mac?

The hard drive answer starts with two key connectivity options: USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt.

External Drives For Macbook Pro

USB 3.0 is a widely-used standard that will let you plug your hard drive into most any Mac or PC with a USB port. USB 3.0 is much faster than USB 2.0 (so avoid USB 2.0 drives).

Thunderbolt is a newer connectivity standard for all Macs, and it’s useful for connecting different kinds of peripherals, including displays — even in a daisy chained way. For professional use, you can get excellent flexibility and speed, but for most people, in most situations, USB 3.0 will work great.

Best External Hard Drive for Macs: Go Portable

Next, I prefer to choose portable external hard drives over desktop versions because they are just so much easier to pack. In addition, I very much prefer bus-powered drives, that is, drives that will run off power from your USB 3.0 port or Thunderbolt port connections. That way you don’t need an external power cord to worry about.

Solid State vs Hard Disk Drives

Solid State Drives (SSD) are much faster than spinning Hard Disk Drives (HDD). SSD drives are usually more durable, too — but SSDs are much more expensive. For example, a 256GB SSD drive might cost close to $300 while a 1TB HDD drive can offer four times as much storage capacity for only $69.

So why choose an SSD external drive? 1) You have the money, and 2) you plan to work with large video and photo files directly from your external drive. (For most people, though, the sheer value of an HDD drive usually wins out.)

Formatting Notes

To get the best performance out of an external drive for a Mac, you’ll want it to be formatted in the Apple HFS+ format, a.k.a. “Mac OS Extended, Journaled.” When you buy, look for HFS+ . . . and you’ll be good to go — just plug it in and start transferring files or backups. If you get a drive that is, say, formatted in FAT32, you can use it with your Mac but you might experience problems with iPhoto or Aperture photo files sometime down the road. If you’re totally Mac-focused, don’t mess with FAT32 and just use Disk Utility on your Mac to reformat the external drive before you use it (and then download an HFS+ driver for your Windows machine if you need to access the drive from Windows). But, you probably bought a Mac because it’s so easy, so just look for HFS+ from the start and save yourself the headache.

Here’s Some Excellent External Hard Drive Options:

Seagate Backup Plus Slim 1TB Portable External Hard Drive for Mac — This USB 3.0 drive is super slim, portable, and you can usually get 1TB of storage at a compelling price point.

WD My Passport for Mac 2TB Portable External Hard Drive — This USB 3.0 drive is portable and available in options up to 2TB of storage.

Seagate Backup Plus 4TB Desktop External Hard Drive for Mac — This whopping 4TB drive is not portable, comes with a separate power cord, but hey, it’s loaded with 4TB of space.

LaCie Porsche Design Slim 120GB SSD Drive — You get 120GB, but it’s super-fast SSD gigabytes. Ships unformatted, so you’ll have to format it first.

LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt Series 256GB Solid State Drive — Both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt and 256GB of fast SSD speed, all in a portable, rugged enclosure.

External Backup For Macbook Pro

Consider the Ease of a USB Flash Drive Instead:

The new USB 3.0 “thumb” drives based on solid state flash storage have grown in capacity while prices have fallen — so much so that they offer a rival option to larger SSD external drives. Plus, their sheer portability should be enough to make any MacBook owner take a closer look.

Check out these two models, both of which are available up to a whopping 256GB.

What About Using Your SDXC Card Slot for More Mac Storage?

If you want more on-board, nearly built-in storage, you have two cool options, both of which are tiny flash-based drives in the shape of camera memory cards. They plug into the SDXC card slot on your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro.

The TarDisk Pear system is a tiny drive that you can combine with your built-in drive to create a single “fused” storage system on your MacBook Air or Pro.

For all intents and purposes, the Transcend JetDrive Liteacts like a little USB thumb drive — but it fits flush into the SDXC card slot instead and appears on your Mac like an external drive that is always on, always available. It appears as a separate storage option to your Mac’s operating system. Quite handy.

External Flash Storage For Macbook Pro 2015

The TarDisk Pear system, on the other hand, also uses the SDXC card slot but it combines with your built-in storage to form a single “fused” drive. If you want a near-permanent — but easy storage solution for your MacBook Air or Pro, the TarDisk Pear system might be your best bet.

External Flash Storage For Macbook Pro 2017

Of course, if you use your SDXC card slot for loading photos, you can pick up a small USB-based card reader like the Kingston Digital MobileLite G4 Card Reader to easily load photos and video off of your SD camera cards through a USB port.