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 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 Or maybe you already had an external drive to help extend your MacBook's storage, but now it's either outdated, too slow, or experiencing issues.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. In this buying guide, we'll help you pick the best external hard 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 will give you lightning speed for a traditional drive but comes pre-formatted for Mac only. • If you need instant cross-platform compatibility, and an array of color choices, you'll be covered with the.

• Known for being rough on your electronics? The is rugged and durable, with water resistance in addition to quick read and write speeds. • If you prefer a modern SSD (solid-state drive), the is sure to meet expectations in terms of speed and durability.

Shopping guide for best external hard drives. Last Updated November 2018. Similar to the Toshiba model, but higher priced and slightly bulkier, making the Toshiba Canvio Connect II a better deal. This model's compatibility, storage capacity, and price makes it the best external hard drive available right now.

Who Should (& Should Not) Get This? 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? Word for mac custom page size. • Is 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. Buying an External Hard Drive: What to Consider? 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 2018: 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. This speedy HDD drive offers a good 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 so you can take full advantage of its specs. • Pros: It's a 7200 RPM drive which means you won't be waiting for your files to read or write.

Also, it comes with a good 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.