Recommendation for External Drive Backup with Time Machine on MBP 2016 15 Inch Core i7

[Elnlou]

I still have Mojave 10.14.6 OS. I have a Western Digital My Passport for Mac 1TB which works well with Time Machine. However, I need to finally upgrade to either Catalina or Big Sur and I think I will need an upgrade to my external backup set up. I was thinking of WD 4 TB HDD My Passport Portable,USB-C, USB 3.1 but there seems a lot of issues with the cable it comes with in this model. I am also considering the Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2 or 4 TB Portable HDD, USB 3.0. Any strong experience with either model? I've had no problem with my current WD backup device. Seagate seems to have stellar support.

 

[appltech]

Hi! Frankly speaking, i'm not familiar with any of the models you mentioned but it'd suggest to keep a few thing in mind :
- the size of the external. Some people agree it's enough to get an external that's twice as big as your internal drive. There's true to that since Time Machine doesn't backup your entire mac every time, so it may not be necessary to go for big externals unless you like to backup multiple disks on separate computers or set it up as a shared internet drive
- you can further optimize things that are being backed up by Time Machine and use it for important data only
- type of external to mac connection to avoid unnecessary dongles. It looks like an external with usb3 would be a good choice for your MBP 2015, but the ones with usb-c connection will have higher transfer speed

 

[Elnlou]

Thanks for your reply!

 

[jdw13]

Also, if you really want to be cautious like me, then continue to use your old disk for TimeMachine backups. I use two backup disks, and Time Machine will alternate between them. I also use, and can recommend, TimeMachineEditor TimeMachineEditor URL because once an hour seem too often for me since my bias is to use Time Machine for just disaster recovery. (My only connection is to this utility is as a customer. I have always gotten a prompt response from the developer and was well worth a donation from me.)

 

[mikzn]

I still have Mojave 10.14.6 OS. I have a Western Digital My Passport for Mac 1TB which works well with Time Machine. However, I need to finally upgrade to either Catalina or Big Sur and I think I will need an upgrade to my external backup set up. I was thinking of WD 4 TB HDD My Passport Portable,USB-C, USB 3.1 but there seems a lot of issues with the cable it comes with in this model. I am also considering the Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2 or 4 TB Portable HDD, USB 3.0. Any strong experience with either model? I've had no problem with my current WD backup device. Seagate seems to have stellar support.

I have several WD "My Passport" drives and they have never failed me - and they work on all my MBP's from Lion to Monterey - my 2 most used drives are Mojave for legacy apps ( 32 bit) and Monterey ( because I like it)

Going forward (in my case and IMHO) I am only going to purchase new drives that are 1TB and SSD - I am not going to purchase large drives like 2 or 4 TB - my feeling and rational is that I don't like partitioning back up drives (even though macOS Monterey does this automatically - (ie Data partition and System Partition) - so I will not have different back ups on one drive but separate back ups / versions to separate external drive

Also I like to have a "clone" vs back up and USE CCC for this purpose

 

[dogslobber]

Any cheap 2.5" spinner in a dedicated case will cost 50 to 150 bucks at Best Buy. Don't overthink it.

 

[phrehdd]

I had an extra Samsung T5 which has worked quite well for Time Machine. I see no reason to use an electro-mechanical drive as items like this Samsung are not overly expensive for 1tb drives.

 

[fastmax]

However, I need to finally upgrade to either Catalina or Big Sur and I think I will need an upgrade to my external backup set up.

Some important things to keep in mind with Big Sur. Apple has changed the preferred file system from HFS+ to APFS. HFS+ will not support encryption with Time Machine in Big Sur. And APFS is not optimized for spinning disks, so the best option is clearly an SSD for macOS and Time Machine going forward. A very good option for Backup SSDs is a 1TB from Fantom Drives. They are durable and are rated at a speed of 500 MB/s matched with a large enough case size to run cool. If you are set on spinning disks, I wouldn't recommend going up to Big Sur.

I had an extra Samsung T5 which has worked quite well for Time Machine. I see no reason to use an electro-mechanical drive as items like this Samsung are not overly expensive for 1tb drives.

The T5 SSD would also make for an excellent choice in a more compact size drive at similar speeds to the Fantom.

 

[Elnlou]

I have several WD "My Passport" drives and they have never failed me - and they work on all my MBP's from Lion to Monterey - my 2 most used drives are Mojave for legacy apps ( 32 bit) and Monterey ( because I like it)

Going forward (in my case and IMHO) I am only going to purchase new drives that are 1TB and SSD - I am not going to purchase large drives like 2 or 4 TB - my feeling and rational is that I don't like partitioning back up drives (even though macOS Monterey does this automatically - (ie Data partition and System Partition) - so I will not have different back ups on one drive but separate back ups / versions to separate external drive

Also I like to have a "clone" vs back up and USE CCC for this purpose

I would love to be able to keep my current (soon to be old) WD “My Passport” drive, backed up with Mojave OS, specifically to be able to continue to use my legacy 32 bit Public Library Overdrive app to download audio books to Mojave iTunes and then to my 6th generation Ipod. My understanding is that the Mojave OS WD “My Passport” drive would need to be converted to a bootable drive. You make it sound simple but I’m not so sure. My understanding is once you do this the old “My Passport” is bootable, when connected it will show up as a choice between Big Sur drive and Mojave Drive. If I select Mojave I can simply use it as I did previously, even with the Overdrive app? Sorry, I’m trying to visualize.

 

[Elnlou]

Some important things to keep in mind with Big Sur. Apple has changed the preferred file system from HFS+ to APFS. HFS+ will not support encryption with Time Machine in Big Sur. And APFS is not optimized for spinning disks, so the best option is clearly an SSD for macOS and Time Machine going forward. A very good option for Backup SSDs is a 1TB from Fantom Drives. They are durable and are rated at a speed of 500 MB/s matched with a large enough case size to run cool. If you are set on spinning disks, I wouldn't recommend going up to Big Sur.

The T5 SSD would also make for an excellent choice in a more compact size drive at similar speeds to the Fantom.

Thank you for the caution. My concerns are keeping my OS up to date for security reasons. Once you do this you have to make sure the newest OS is compatible with other software like Microsoft Office 2019, your printer, etc. I understand that if these devices/softwares are 64 bit there should be no problem. As of 11/20/21 Mojave will no longer update MS Word, MS Excel, etc. It is vital for me to not only update these but to be able to back them up. I know the correct USB cable is also essential.

So, my plan is to upgrade to Big Sur, purchase the WD 2TB My Passport Ultra for MAC External HD, HDD and reformat out of the box for Time Machine as APFS and Scheme GUID Partition MAP. I understand not to use any of the WD software or drives, etc. as it interferes with Time Machine.

By the way, I don’t have my external drive hooked up to automatically backup on a daily routine schedule. I backup once a week and only hook up the external drive at that time. Does that mean I hardly spin disks and it wouldn’t be a problem? I like to keep it all simple.

 

[fastmax]

So, my plan is to upgrade to Big Sur, purchase the WD 2TB My Passport Ultra for MAC External HD, HDD and reformat out of the box for Time Machine as APFS and Scheme GUID Partition MAP. I understand not to use any of the WD software or drives, etc. as it interferes with Time Machine.

By the way, I don’t have my external drive hooked up to automatically backup on a daily routine schedule. I backup once a week and only hook up the external drive at that time. Does that mean I hardly spin disks and it wouldn’t be a problem? I like to keep it all simple.

The problem is that APFS is not optimized for HDD (rotational drives), so you will degrade the drives backup performance speed by formatting it for APFS. This is well-documented by the developer of Carbon Copy Cloner. You mentioned wanting to upgrade your OS for security and that is definitely a good idea, but if you want to keep the same backup performance you are getting now, you will have to set your new HDD for HFS+ and forgo encryption, which is no longer supported for HFS+ as of Big Sur. So, it's a performance/security tradeoff for users who don't want to upgrade to SSD.

 

[Elnlou]

The problem is that APFS is not optimized for HDD (rotational drives), so you will degrade the drives backup performance speed by formatting it for APFS. This is well-documented by the developer of Carbon Copy Cloner. You mentioned wanting to upgrade your OS for security and that is definitely a good idea, but if you want to keep the same backup performance you are getting now, you will have to set your new HDD for HFS+ and forgo encryption, which is no longer supported for HFS+ as of Big Sur. So, it's a performance/security tradeoff for users who don't want to upgrade to SSD.

You’d think OS upgrades would be for the better all around but it makes everything more complicated in my opinion. We shouldn’t have to make tradeoffs in this process. I appreciate your pointing out this, sometimes I think computer illiteracy is a blessing. LOL

P.S. However I wouldn’t be on MacRumors, asking for advice and receiving from very generous folks, willing to share their very well informed knowledgeable answers, if I didn’t want to be totally computer illiterate.

 

[fastmax]

You’d think OS upgrades would be for the better all around but it makes everything more complicated in my opinion. We shouldn’t have to make tradeoffs in this process.

I know what you mean. It seemed quite unreasonable when I first researched this at the time Big Sur came out. I'm sure it's created a ton of issues and confusion for many non-technical users who just want a simple backup solution with Time Machine and already have standard HDDs kicking around.

 

[Elnlou]

I know what you mean. It seemed quite unreasonable when I first researched this at the time Big Sur came out. I'm sure it's created a ton of issues and confusion for many non-technical users who just want a simple backup solution with Time Machine and already have standard HDDs kicking around.

Exactly! Just look at the reviews for the various backup products for Macs and Big Sur, etc. on Amazon. Confusion is on steroids. ?

 

[mikzn]

I would love to be able to keep my current (soon to be old) WD “My Passport” drive, backed up with Mojave OS, specifically to be able to continue to use my legacy 32 bit Public Library Overdrive app to download audio books to Mojave iTunes and then to my 6th generation Ipod. My understanding is that the Mojave OS WD “My Passport” drive would need to be converted to a bootable drive. You make it sound simple but I’m not so sure. My understanding is once you do this the old “My Passport” is bootable, when connected it will show up as a choice between Big Sur drive and Mojave Drive. If I select Mojave I can simply use it as I did previously, even with the Overdrive app? Sorry, I’m trying to visualize.

I don't know if this helpful or not - a while ago I posted a screen shot of CCC 5 scripts that are easy to set up and includes 3 WD "My Passport" drives except for my clone (Bootable) which is an EVO 860 SSD - one of the WD drives is formatted in MS-DOS FAT32 because I used it to swap files with a windows "boat anchor" that I just recently left at the recycling center along with my G5 Mac Pro (Another very heavy boat anchor)

Long story short CCC 5 works fine with all 3 of my 3 WD drives - FAT 32 / HFS+ and APFS - never had any issues with them being formatted differently

For the clone I use a bootable Evo 860 SSD (APFS)- and when I check the clone (once in a while) I turn off the wifi before booting the clone so that any software on the clone does not "call home" and deactivate (ie microsoft office / outlook)

Anyway - not sure if this other post is helpful - but might be worth a look? - Link to Post