Adding Completely Portable Attached Storage to MBP

[minton]

I'm going to be buying a new MB / MBP when they're updated in June. I'd like to add some bus-powered storage in the 1TB+ range:

1. Seagate 4TB slim drives are pretty cheap ($109 currently).
2. Samsung's very sleek USB-C SSD drive's are starting to come down to the affordable range (~$360 for 1TB currently).

Although these are bus-powered, there's an issue of carrying your laptop around with them still attached.

Possible solutions:

• Velcro. Sacrilege for many and I've already done it before (it works, but it's ugly). Put the fuzzy side on your laptop, the loop side on your drive and attach it close to the bottom of your lid (too high and it'll strain it).
• An underside dock where you can keep one or more drives. Like OWC's DEC, except that OWC wants to overcharge you for the 4GB of storage they're going to sell you (can't bring your own).
• Some type of sleeve (?) Seems like there might be a sleeve or case out there that has an expansion pod for an external drive.

In a perfect world, we'd just be plugging M.2 SSD's into the undersides of our MBPs (remember when Apple used to let us upgrade our own RAM?)

But that's going to take a few years for prices to drop and Apple to finally ... eh, I don't want to get sidetracked on a rant. So anyone have any ideas for external drive portability?

 

[Clix Pix]

Samsung T3 external SSD; comes in various capacities from 250 GB to 2 TB......

 

[ZapNZs]

I like the Velcro idea myself if network attached isn't suitable for your individual needs. I'm not holding out a lot of hope that SSD pricing is going to decrease at least through 2018 tho

I would LOVE to see a product the size of the Hyperdrive that connects to the other side of the MBP and had 3D NAND inside of it...hypothetically they could fit at least several TBs inside of it provided they are using 3D.

 

[minton]

This video has got me thinking in a different direction.

• LG or Acer for the USB-C capable monitor, gives you an extra display, charging and a hub.
• Whatever slim bus-powered external drive you want.
• 3M double sided sticky tape to mount the drive to the back of the monitor.

You can see it at the :40 mark of the clip below. He's using the LG 27" 27UD88 Monitor.

 

[Clix Pix]

Definitely the external SSD is the way to go -- gives you flexibility, speed and storage...... I use my Samsung T3 2 TB for complete backup and a Samsung T1 1 TB for what I call the "supplementary drive". Just finished updating both, actually, and then clearing excess stuff off my 512 SSD in the 15" rMBP. In a couple of weeks I'll be going on a trip and I'll be taking my 12" rMB -- but also the very lightweight, small Samsung SSD "supplementary drive" in the off-chance that I might want or need to retrieve something from there that isn't on my 12" rMB. The beauty of this is that the files are available to whichever machine I happen to be using and is a whole lot faster in my experience than dealing with iCloud, although I do have some things in iCloud Drive as well.

I don't keep my Samsung SSD external drives plugged in all the time or attached to any one machine since I do use them on more than one computer. When they're not in use they're unplugged and in a protective case and stored in a cabinet.