Best External Hard Drive for Macs in 2019
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Best External Hard Drive For Mac
If you need reliable, fast, and affordable storage for your Mac, look no further than our list of the best external hard drives for Macs.
It's no secret that upgrading the hard drive in modern Macs is incredibly difficult. It's also no secret that you pay out the nose for a computer with upgraded storage from Apple.
That's where these external options come in...
Each external hard drive on our list was developed specifically for Macs, so there's no concern about them being incompatible with Apple's file system. Likewise, several of these options work with Apple's Thunderbolt ports.
With all that said, let's get to the list!
Best External Hard Drive for Mac: G-Technology G-Drive USB 3.0 4TB
With 4TB of storage space, this little guy certainly has the room for all your large photo files. It also happens to be one of the quickest external hard drives for Mac.
You can connect it to your Mac via USB 2.0, USB 3.0, FireWire, or eSATA connections.
The unit is small and slim, so it fits nicely on your desk without being obtrusive. The all-aluminum enclosure looks great, too, and it protects the drive from bumps and drops as well.
Best Feature: Fast file transfers
Worst Feature: The drive is a tad on the noisy side
Price: $109.95 at Adorama
Best External Hard Drive for Mac: LaCie Thunderbolt/USB 3.0 2TB
For on-the-go photographers, it's hard to beat the rugged build and durability of this LaCie external hard drive.
It's shock-resistant, water-resistant, and dust-resistant, so you can take it virtually anywhere with the confidence that your data will be safe.
It's got a USB 3.0 for universal connectivity to Macs or PCs, and, of course, the Thunderbolt port enables lightning-fast transfer speeds of up to 387 MB/s.
Best Feature: Rock-solid build quality
Worst Feature: Just 2TB of space
Price: $149.94 at Adorama
Best External Hard Drive for Mac: Western Digital My Passport USB 3.0 4TB
Like the G-Technology G-Drive unit described earlier, this Western Digital drive has 4TB of space and a USB 3.0 interface.
In addition to the 4TB of internal storage, you also get cloud storage, Western Digital's backup software, and 256-AES encryption to top it off.
Though it isn't the fastest drive on this list, it still offers plenty of features for photographers that need a reliable backup that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
Best Feature: Cloud storage and other goodies
Worst Feature: Sluggish transfer speeds
Price: $129.00 at Adorama
Best External Hard Drive for Mac: Buffalo Technology Thunderbolt/USB 3.0 1TB
Though this external hard drive doesn't sport the massive capacity of others on this list, what it lacks in space, it makes up for in speed.
Using the Thunderbolt port, this little guy can reach speeds twice as fast as 3.0 USB. Granted, those speeds would be faster if this were an SSD drive...
Also included is a USB 3.0 port in case you need to connect the drive to something other than your Mac. And for this price, it's one of the best 1TB external hard drives for Mac you can buy.
Best Feature: Blazing speed
Worst Feature: Traditional hard drive instead of SSD
Price: $158.49 at Adorama
Editor's Tip: Before my recent trip to Norway, I bought a new Macbook (i9, 32GB RAM, Vega 20 Video) and only opted for a 512GB hard drive. For what Apple charges to upgrade to 1TB or 2TB hard drives, it made more sense to invest in an external hard drive for my Mac. I opted for the SYNOLOGY DISKSTATION DS1019+, which has five bays and can expand up to 70TB of total storage space. Though that might be overkill for some, I have a ton of image files and 4K UHD video files as well. With read/write speeds up to 225MB/s, it's got excellent performance, too. Read my full Synology DiskStation 1019+ review to learn more.
Best External Hard Drive for Mac: Buffalo Technology MiniStation Extreme NFC/USB 3.0 2TB
Like it's cousin described above, the Buffalo Technology MiniStation offers compatibility with Mac and PCs for multi-machine convenience.
With NFC, smart card activation, and 256-bit AES security, it gets top marks for safety and security of your data.
On top of that, this drive is encased in a dust-proof and water-resistant case, so it's among the most durable drives on this list.
Best Feature: NFC and security features
Worst Feature: USB 3.0 means it's not exactly fast
Price: $199.99 at Adorama
Best External Hard Drive for Mac: Western Digital My Passport Ultra USB 3.0 4TB
At 4TB, the Western Digital My Passport Ultra is among the highest in terms of storage capacity on this list (though options for 1TB-3TB are available).
Again, Western Digital has made this an attractive buy with cloud storage and 256-AES encryption to keep your files safe.
Though the USB 3.0 isn't the fastest in the world, transfer speeds are still respectable, especially for a traditional HDD.
Best Feature: Built-in encryption and other applications
Worst Feature: Average transfer speed
Price: $159.95 at Adorama
Best External Hard Drive for Mac: Seagate Backup Plus USB 3.0 2TB
Though this external hard drive lacks a Thunderbolt port and the capacity of others on this list, it's still an excellent option thanks to its ultra-slim design.
If space is an issue, it's tough to beat this drive, given that it's just 4.47 x 2.99 x 0.48 inches in size and weighs just 0.35 pounds.
Furthermore, you get 200GB of free OneDrive cloud storage, and you can use Seagate's Dashboard software to run a one-click backup or schedule automatic backups of your files. This drive is also Apple Time Machine-friendly.
Best Feature: Tons of goodies for the price
Worst Feature: No Thunderbolt port
Price: $64.99 at Adorama
Best External Hard Drive for Mac: Fantom Drives GForce 3 Series USB 3.0/3.1 8TB
Though the huge 8TB of storage space might seem like the best feature of this external hard drive, I appreciate its quiet, fanless design more than anything. The aluminum enclosure looks great and keeps the unit cool, too.
You can use this drive with Mac or PC, and with the USB 3.0 connection, you get a respectable 5GB/s file transfer speed. Though that won't blow you away, it's doable for most applications.
Besides, with all that storage, it's hard to deny that this is one of the best external hard drives for photographers.
Best Feature: Huge capacity
Worst Feature: Slow compared to Thunderbolt SSDs
Price: $175.00 at Adorama