external HD recommendations..

[iapplelove]

Hello all, I’m in the market for an external hard drive for my 2012 cMBP.

Been using a time capsule for the last 7 years (currently using the latest version). Planning on upgrading my router to either a Velop system or even a google WiFi. Either way I will be losing my back up hard drive.

I have not used an external hd in a long time. I saw Best Buy sells a western digital external for Mac but it has mixed reviews.

Just was trying to get an idea what people are using around here. I don’t have much to back up, about 20,000 photos, 1500 songs and mainly iTunes backups for my devices. A 1TB would be fine.

Something easy and simple and works well with time machine? Or should I just go down to the local Apple store and buy what ever they sell? I will be upgrading to a new iMac in 2019 most likely so I would be using this for that machine as well.

Thanks !

 

[ixxx69]

Hello all, I’m in the market for an external hard drive for my 2012 cMBP.

Been using a time capsule for the last 7 years (currently using the latest version). Planning on upgrading my router to either a Velop system or even a google WiFi. Either way I will be losing my back up hard drive.

I have not used an external hd in a long time. I saw Best Buy sells a western digital external for Mac but it has mixed reviews.

Just was trying to get an idea what people are using around here. I don’t have much to back up, about 20,000 photos, 1500 songs and mainly iTunes backups for my devices. A 1TB would be fine.

Something easy and simple and works well with time machine? Or should I just go down to the local Apple store and buy what ever they sell? I will be upgrading to a new iMac in 2019 most likely so I would be using this for that machine as well.

Thanks !

Almost any external hard drive is going to work fine (unless it specifically says it won't work with Mac's of course, but that would be pretty rare). I usually skip the "mac" versions and just buy your typical external hard drive and format it for Mac - takes about 30 seconds to do once you plug it in (macos disk utility app).

Western Digital Passports work great (amazon link).
Seagate Backup Plus work great (amazon link).

I like the single-cable convenience of them being powered through the USB cable so no having to plug them into an outlet.

 

[Clix Pix]

Buy two external drives, not just one, and copy one to the other so that you have backup of your backup.....

Bus-driven portable/mobile external drives are the way to go these days.....as mentioned above, just plug one cable into the machine, no need to plug anything else into a wall outlet. Most offer good capacity size, too, and are easily transportable if traveling or easy to stash in a cupboard if at home.

Although I still use platter/spinner external drives, nowadays they are more for archival storage and I tend to use faster, more expensive external SSD for current backups and such.

As far s recommendations for a platter/spinner mobile drive, take a look at G-Tech’s G-Drive (sold at the Apple store) as these are 1 TB and 7200 rpm, which is somewhat faster than many of the other offerings by other manufacturers, which are often 5400 rpm. If 1 TB will serve your purposes, this may be the way to go. One thing which may be a concern as far as speed goes, though, is whether or not you have USB-2 or USB-3 on your 2012 cMBP computer.... Devices and cables with the latter are backwards-compatible, of course, but the speed is not going to be the same as with USB-3.

Whatever you do, buy two external drives — redundancy is key when it comes to saving and preserving one’s valuable data, music, video and photographic files!

 

[oldhifi]

I have a LACie booting El Captain..

https://www.theverge.com/2015/3/10/8186053/lacie-hard-drive-apple-macbook-2015

 

[artfossil]

I’ve been using OWC drives (macsales.com) for the last 15 years.

 

[treekram]

There are only 3 HDD manufacturers remaining - WD, Seagate and Toshiba. If you buy an external unit with another name, they still use one of these company's HDD. If you buy a new internal HDD with another brand (HGST, Samsung) , they're still manufactured by one of these 3 companies. LaCie is a Seagate subsidiary. Also, if you buy an external unit with no specific information on what HDD is in it, it wouldn't be unusual to have different HDD models in it over time. I would probably just look for the model with decent reviews with the longest warranty. I've bought almost exclusively Seagate over the past few years but coincidentally just bought a WD today. You can probably get a better price than what (if) Apple sells a 3rd-party HDD for. HDD's have become commodity items, IMO, so I would doubt you'd find any HDD without mixed reviews.

 

[iapplelove]

Great advice. Will check out some of the suggestions for sure.

Thanks!

And I will buy two. They are cheap enough and you can’t have too many backups.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"Been using a time capsule for the last 7 years (currently using the latest version). Planning on upgrading my router to either a Velop system or even a google WiFi. Either way I will be losing my back up hard drive."

Velop is a good choice.

Question:
What is the capacity of your current internal hard drive?

My suggestions will be different from others.

First, consider using either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper instead of TM.
Either utility will serve you better than will TM in that "moment of extreme need".

Having said that, I'd suggest you buy a "bare" drive, and a USB3 2.5" enclosure, and "build your own" drive.
All it takes is a screwdriver. Some of them snap together with no tools at all.

Why do it that way?
Because, if you do it yourself, you KNOW what the components are, and you know how it "goes together" (if you ever have problems with it).

For an enclosure, I'd suggest this:
https://www.amazon.com/MiniPro-USB-C-External-Aluminum-Enclosure/dp/B01N52Z26D/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527431780&sr=8-1&keywords=oyen+digital+minipro+2.5"+usb+3.1+external+hard+drive+enclosure
These cost a few dollars more than "run-of-the-mill" USB3 enclosures, but this thing is built like a tank (one is sitting nearby as I type this).

For a drive, pick a 1tb 2.5" bare HDD.
I like HGST (Hitachi) drives more than WD or Seagate.

Just wondering:
Have you ever replaced the cMPB internal drive with an SSD?
IF you still have the original platter-based HDD in there, do this:
1. Get the enclosure above and a bare SSD
2. Use the enclosure to "prep and test" the SSD
3. Once you have the SSD "setup", open the MBP and swap out the drives
4. Now the MBP will run MUCH faster with the SSD, and you can take the old drive, put it into the enclosure, and use it for your backup.

 

[iapplelove]

OP wrote:
"Been using a time capsule for the last 7 years (currently using the latest version). Planning on upgrading my router to either a Velop system or even a google WiFi. Either way I will be losing my back up hard drive."

Velop is a good choice.

Question:
What is the capacity of your current internal hard drive?

My suggestions will be different from others.

First, consider using either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper instead of TM.
Either utility will serve you better than will TM in that "moment of extreme need".

Having said that, I'd suggest you buy a "bare" drive, and a USB3 2.5" enclosure, and "build your own" drive.
All it takes is a screwdriver. Some of them snap together with no tools at all.

Why do it that way?
Because, if you do it yourself, you KNOW what the components are, and you know how it "goes together" (if you ever have problems with it).

For an enclosure, I'd suggest this:
https://www.amazon.com/MiniPro-USB-C-External-Aluminum-Enclosure/dp/B01N52Z26D/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527431780&sr=8-1&keywords=oyen+digital+minipro+2.5"+usb+3.1+external+hard+drive+enclosure
These cost a few dollars more than "run-of-the-mill" USB3 enclosures, but this thing is built like a tank (one is sitting nearby as I type this).

For a drive, pick a 1tb 2.5" bare HDD.
I like HGST (Hitachi) drives more than WD or Seagate.

Just wondering:
Have you ever replaced the cMPB internal drive with an SSD?
IF you still have the original platter-based HDD in there, do this:
1. Get the enclosure above and a bare SSD
2. Use the enclosure to "prep and test" the SSD
3. Once you have the SSD "setup", open the MBP and swap out the drives
4. Now the MBP will run MUCH faster with the SSD, and you can take the old drive, put it into the enclosure, and use it for your backup.

I do still use the HDD that came with the machine. You do give me some ideas to think about.

A few years ago I was contemplating upgrading to a SSD but just never got around to it.

I know sometime early 2019 I’m planning on upgrading to a new iMac but still may upgrade this older MBP.

 

[akash.nu]

If you have the budget then go for a NAS drive. Peace of mind.

 

[RootBeerMan]

I've had good luck with Western Digital over many years and they're usually priced pretty good. They are a good quality drive for the money. I would get bigger than a 1 TB, though. Partition the drive and put your files in one and Time Machine in the other.

 

[iapplelove]

Buy two external drives, not just one, and copy one to the other so that you have backup of your backup.....

Bus-driven portable/mobile external drives are the way to go these days.....as mentioned above, just plug one cable into the machine, no need to plug anything else into a wall outlet. Most offer good capacity size, too, and are easily transportable if traveling or easy to stash in a cupboard if at home.

Although I still use platter/spinner external drives, nowadays they are more for archival storage and I tend to use faster, more expensive external SSD for current backups and such.

As far s recommendations for a platter/spinner mobile drive, take a look at G-Tech’s G-Drive (sold at the Apple store) as these are 1 TB and 7200 rpm, which is somewhat faster than many of the other offerings by other manufacturers, which are often 5400 rpm. If 1 TB will serve your purposes, this may be the way to go. One thing which may be a concern as far as speed goes, though, is whether or not you have USB-2 or USB-3 on your 2012 cMBP computer.... Devices and cables with the latter are backwards-compatible, of course, but the speed is not going to be the same as with USB-3.

Whatever you do, buy two external drives — redundancy is key when it comes to saving and preserving one’s valuable data, music, video and photographic files!

Just an update. Went with 2 G-Drive units, bought at the Apple store.

1 TB each, worked flawless with Time Machine. You can even encrypt them if you chose.

Thanks!