Best External SSD to use with 2019 MBP for stricly mp3/mp4 music files

[MrCorky]

Hi all. Last weekend I purchased a base model 13inch mpb and am trying to figure out which external SSD would work best with the mojave ios as i've been reading various different horror stories about compatibility issues with different SSD software. I'm not interested in time machine or transferring videos. The
main reason I want the external SSD is for mp3/mp4 files. I know Itunes can't be installed on the SSD but I have about 250 gigs worth of music I'd like to install and run from the SSD. Any suggestions for Mojave compatible external SSD's for this purpose?

Thanks in advance!

 

[chabig]

There is no "best". All SSDs are compatible with MacBook Pros. Pick one that you can afford and think is pretty. The type of files you keep on it is irrelevant.

When you get one, do not install any manufacturer provided software. It is not necessary. The first thing you should do is connect it to the your computer, open Disk Utility, and format the drive to rid it of any manufacturer garbage. Use APFS is it will only be connected to your MacBook Pro. HFS+ is ok if you need to share the drive with Macs running older operating systems.

 

[MrCorky]

Thanks Chabig. I guess it's between the sandisk or samsung model's as they both seem to be getting the highest ratings for mpb external ssd's and are priced around the same. I really don't care about how the looks as long as there's no hiccups and the drive's reliable. Would leaving the drive in exfat be a problem for mojave? I have a windows computer I'd like to transfer some music files to as well. Is added security the main benefit of the APFS format?

 

[chabig]

Both Samsung and Sandisk are respected names. I have two Samsung T5 drives and they are good. Samsung ships with their own software that they want you to install. Again--don't. If you want to share the drive with a Windows machine, EXFAT is a good option. APFS does support native encryption but you're talking about music, so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[mikzn]

FWIW - I have 3 of the Western Digital Portable External Hard Drives - 2 of them as media drives - duplicates using CCC - one for travel - one for home - pretty good reviews on amazon for these drives and I have never had an issue with any of them.

250 gigs is a lot of music - worth having 2 back ups - IMHO - in case one you back up one with a bad copy.

I keep the music and iTunes library on the external drives and can connect to other Mac's with same the ratings and play counts etc. Also kept the format of the drives HFS+ for connecting to my older macs (one is a G5 with OS9 stuff)

If you travel a lot and these drives are small and portable - nice to have the complete library with you and another safe at home.

Same as Chabig mentioned - I wiped everything off the drive and formatted with Mac utilities first step before using them.

 

[Fishrrman]

I'd base this buying decision on price, rather than "speed".
The "fastest" external SSD is going to make NO DIFFERENCE at all for accessing and playing back mp3 files. Even a 5400 platter-based hard drive would do fine.

If your storage needs are presently about 250gb, then I suggest you buy a drive with DOUBLE that capacity. This allows for "future growth".

If you want to buy "put together and ready-to-go", look at a Samsung t5 or a Sandisk Extreme. There are others "out there", too.

If you are a "do-it-yourself" guy, buy a "bare" 2.5" SSD (again, I'd base this pretty much on price), and a USB3 external 2.5" enclosure to put it into.

Final thought:
If this drive is to be a "primary storage" drive (by that I mean it will contain stuff that is not present on your internal drive), YOU NEED TO BUY A SECOND DRIVE on which to "back it up".

I NEVER recommend Time Machine for this.
I ALWAYS recommend either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper for cloned backups.

 

[MrCorky]

Thanks Mikezn Putting itunes on the SSD is a great idea. Never even considered doing that. Will keep things a lot neater for sure and would be great for travel. I'll def look into getting a back up ssd as well since i've been down that road twice with my Imac hard drive crashing and losing years worth of music. I'm gonna check out the western portable digital drive as well but I think i'm splitting hairs at this point. Is there any lag/slowdown with playing music and running itunes strictly off the external SSD? Also just out of curiosity do you reformat your ssd's to exfat or the proprietary mac format?


Fishrrman- My plan was to get a 500 gig drive and yea it will probably end up being the samsung t5 or sandisk extreme. Yea I'm def not a fan of time machine

 

[Fishrrman]

"Also just out of curiosity do you reformat your ssd's to exfat or the proprietary mac format?"

If you're going to use the drive with a Mac (only), then format it "for the Mac".

For external drives (whether they be HDD or SSD), I recommend HFS+ (Mac OS extended with journaling enabled, GUID partition format).