Buying Guide
Best External SSDs for Mac
All modern Macs use USB-C, and every portable SSD on this list includes a USB-C cable. For MacBook Pro users working with large projects, the Samsung T9 (2,000 MB/s) connects via USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 for near-internal speeds. For everyday backups and file transfer, any drive here will serve well.
Top picks — ranked by value score
| # | Product | Capacity | Read | Write | TBW | Warranty | Score | $/TB | Price | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Samsung | 2TB | 2.0 GB/s | 1.9 GB/s | — | 3 years | 46.2 | $240.00/TB | $479.99 | $479.99 |
| 2 | Samsung | 1TB | 2.0 GB/s | 1.9 GB/s | — | 3 years | 44.5 | $249.99/TB | $249.99 | $249.99 |
| 3 |  Samsung | 1TB | 1.1 GB/s | 1.0 GB/s | — | 3 years | 35.2 | $234.99/TB | $234.99 | $234.99 |
| 4 | 1TB | 1.1 GB/s | 1.0 GB/s | — | 3 years | 36.1 | $229.99/TB | $229.99 | $229.99 | |
| 5 | 2TB | 1.1 GB/s | 1.0 GB/s | — | 5 years | 54 | $150.00/TB | $299.99 | $299.99 | |
| 6 | 1TB | 1.1 GB/s | 1.0 GB/s | — | 5 years | 47.4 | $187.90/TB | $187.90 | $187.90 | |
| 7 |  SanDisk Extreme 1TBBest value SanDisk | 1TB | 1.1 GB/s | 1.0 GB/s | — | 5 years | 71.6 | $48.99/TB | $48.99 | $48.99 |
Prices updated daily from Amazon. Value Score combines price/TB, speed, endurance, and warranty.
Frequently Asked Questions
What external SSD works best with MacBook Pro?
For MacBook Pro, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 drives like the Samsung T9 deliver the highest speeds (up to 2,000 MB/s) when connected via the USB-C ports on M1/M2/M3 MacBook Pros. For everyday use, any USB 3.2 Gen 2 drive is more than adequate.
Does macOS work with any external SSD?
Yes. macOS natively supports exFAT, FAT32, and HFS+/APFS formatted drives. For Time Machine backups, you'll want to reformat the drive to APFS or HFS+, which takes a few minutes. All drives on this list are compatible with macOS out of the box.