At a Glance

Expert’s Rating

Pros

• Frequent updates and new features
• Good performance on multi-core Apple chips
• Slick, easy-to-use interface
• Powerful new AI features and tools for developers

Cons

• Most editions require a subscription
• AI features not available in all editions
• Virtual machines require a lot of memory and processor power
• Windows On ARM is expensive

Our Verdict

Parallels Desktop is one of the best options for Mac users who need to run Windows, Linux – and even macOS – as a virtual machine on their Mac.

Price When Reviewed

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Best Pricing Today

Parallels (1 year)

$99.99

Parallels (Perpetual License)

$219.99

Price When Reviewed

Standard – $99.99 annual subscription or $219.99 perpetual license; Pro – $119.99 annual subscription; Business – $149.99 annual subscription

Best Prices Today:

Parallels (1 year)

$99.99

Parallels (Perpetual License)

$219.99

The Mac is no longer dismissed as an insignificant niche market that struggles to compete with Microsoft Windows. But, even so, there are still times when many Mac users need to run apps and software that are only available for Windows PCs. Perhaps your employer uses particular business software that’s only available for Windows, or you may need to use a website that relies on some Windows-only technologies. Many developers need to test their apps and services on both Macs and PCs and, of course, there are all those A-List games that only run on Windows as well.

It used to be easy to install Windows on Macs, thanks to Apple’s Boot Camp software and the fact that from 2006 to 2020 all Macs used the same Intel processors as Windows PCs. However, with the advent of M-series Macs, Boot Camp is no more, so if you want to run Windows on a Mac you need to consider one of the various virtualization options that we feature in our round-up of the Best Virtual Machine software for Mac.

The advent of Apple’s own chips, aka Apple Silicon, also means that the standard version of Windows, designed for X-86 chips, won’t run on Arm-based chips like Apple’s M-series. If you want to run Windows on an M-series Mac you need the Arm version of Windows. 

Our top solution for running Windows on a Mac is Parallels Desktop. Read on to find out why in our full review of Parallels Desktop for Mac. Skip to the section about the latest version of Parallels Desktop if you are already familiar with the software and want to know what’s new.

What is Parallels Desktop for Mac 

Parallels Desktop is referred to as a virtualization program, because it allows you to create a virtual machine on your Mac – sometimes known as a VM – which is essentially a piece of software that simulates the physical hardware of a Windows PC (process also known as emulation) and lets you run Windows on your Mac.  

One of the benefits of a solution like Parallels Desktop is it allows you to run Mac and Windows apps side by side, without having to reboot your Mac to switch between the macOS and Windows (which you had to do with Boot Camp).

Parallels gives you a lot of control over how you integrate Windows on your Mac. You could choose to keep Windows and macOS completely separate, with a full Windows desktop window floating on the Mac desktop, or the Windows VM can be expanded to full-screen size to hide the Mac desktop. But you can also use Coherence mode to run your Windows apps on your Mac so that they integrate fully with your Mac apps–you can even add them to your Dock.

You can run more than Windows as a VM on your Mac with Parallels Desktop. You can create a VM that runs Linux, or even a VM that runs a different version of macOS itself. This can be useful for developers who need to test a website or an app on different versions of the macOS, although it’s currently only possible to create VMs that run Monterey (macOS 12.0) or later on Macs with Apple Silicon. However, Intel-based Macs can go right back to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion–we have the details of how to find old versions of macOS here.

Another useful feature of Parallels is Rollback mode, which lets you run Windows (or Linux, or macOS) like a kiosk. What this means is that nothing is saved and after you have finished working and restart the computer the VM will return return to it’s original state, this is perfect for developers who can experiment and then return to a clean slate.

Installing Windows using Parallels Desktop

Parallels makes installing Windows really easy. Since Parallels Desktop version 18 it has been possible to download and buy the ARM version of Windows 11 directly within Parallels. You do need to buy a license for the ARM version of Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise in order to create a Windows VM on Macs with Apple Silicon processors – unfortunately, the less expensive Home edition isn’t supported – although it’s also possible to use an existing license if you have one available. Microsoft doesn’t differentiate between Windows On Intel and Windows On Arm, so a Windows 11 license can be used for either version.

This is a big deal because the Arm version of Windows isn’t normally licensed to individual users. Fortunately, Parallels has worked closely with Microsoft to simplify the process of creating VMs that use the ARM version of Windows. Just select the File/New command to create a new VM (or press the ‘+’ button in the program’s main Control Centre window) and it will present you with a big button labeled: Get Windows 11 From Microsoft. 

Windows 11 On ARM allows you to run most older software and apps that were originally written for the Intel version of Windows, so you shouldn’t have any compatibility problems when running virtual machines that use Windows On ARM.

Parallels Desktop 20.2.0 added the ability for Macs with Apple Silicon to run the original Intel version of Windows. That will be useful for developers who want to work on both ARM and Intel platforms. The feature is available in the Pro, Business and Enterprise editions.

Older Intel-based Macs can still run Windows 10 via Parallels, although older versions of Windows are no longer supported.

Read our guide to How to use Parallels Desktop to run Windows on a Mac for more information. 

Parallels Desktop system requirements 

Since your Mac is effectively running two operating systems at the same time–the macOS and Windows–so you’ll need a reasonably fast Mac with plenty of memory, disk space and – above all – processor power in order to run your virtual machines efficiently. 

Fortunately, modern multi-core processors like Apple’s M-series of chips can run routine apps such as the Windows versions of Microsoft Word or Excel using virtualization with no trouble at all, and faster Mac models can do a pretty good job running 3D games or high-end tools for design and graphics work.

You do need plenty of memory to run the macOS and Windows alongside each other though. Parallels Desktop generally recommends a minimum of 1-2GB for each VM, but that really is the absolute minimum, and it’s in addition to the memory that your Mac needs just to run the macOS, so if you’ve got a Mac with just 8GB of memory then you’re not going to get the best possible performance when running Windows in a VM.

Juggling memory and processor cores can be confusing for less experienced users, but Parallels Desktop can help by recommending settings that will be suitable for running different types of Windows apps and software. On high-end Macs, such as the Mac Studio, you can configure your virtual machines to use up to 62GB of memory and 18 CPU cores for improved performance. Unfortunately, Parallels informed us that the multiple GPU cores on Apple Silicon chips are controlled solely by the macOS itself, so Parallels doesn’t currently allow you to also specify the number of GPU cores used by your virtual machines.

Parallels Desktop update: What’s in Parallels Desktop 26 for Mac?

New versions of Parallels Desktop are always released to coincide with the latest updates to the macOS every year (with occasional mid-year updates, such as the recent v20.2, also thrown in for good measure). This year’s release arrives just ahead of the new macOS 26 – aka Tahoe – and it also adopts Apple’s new version numbers, which means that the latest version is now called Parallels Desktop 26. And, along with the existing Standard, Pro and Business Editions, there’s also a new Enterprise Edition for larger organisations.

As you’d expect, Parallels Desktop 26 is fully compatible with macOS 26 Tahoe, and includes technical updates that allow it to run smoothly with the new system for handling background processes that has been introduced with macOS 26. And, when creating a Windows virtual machine (VM), it’s also compatible with the latest Windows 11 25H2 as well. Windows virtual machines can also display the storage space that is available on the host Mac, making it easier to avoid slow-downs due to lack of storage on the VM.

Users of the Business Edition now have more detailed control over virtual machines deployed throughout their organisation, ensuring that settings such as shared folders, access to USB devices, and network usage can be enforced for all users. There’s more help for IT managers who want to use Parallels’ Single Application Mode, which allows them to install a single Windows app on their virtual machines, which then appears to run on the Mac desktop like a native Mac app, without exposing the full complexity of the Parallels Desktop interface. It’s also possible to manage Windows updates within virtual machines by using the Jamf Pro management system, and the Business Edition has been audited for compliance with the latest SOC 2 Type II security standards.

What was new in Parallels Desktop 20 for Mac?

Parallels Desktop 20 arrived in September 2024, bringing support for macOS Sequoia and new features in that version of macOS. 

Parallels 20 included a number of new features that are only available to Mac’s running Sequoia. With Sequoia as your Mac’s main operating system – rather than just a guest running in a virtual machine – you have the ability to sign into a Mac virtual machine (VM) using your Apple ID, which will allow you to use your Apple email and other Apple services. And it is possible to use the Apple Intelligence-powered Writing Tools feature within Windows apps that arrived on Macs with an macOS 16 update.

There were performance improvements when using Parallels’ file-sharing features to exchange files between your main Mac and your virtual machines. Macs with Apple Silicon also gained the ability to quickly save and restore snapshots of VMs (although the snapshots feature was already available when running Parallels on Macs with Intel processors in the past).

Parallels Desktop 20 was compatible with the 24H2 Windows 11 On Arm update which featured an improved Prism emulator to provide as much as 80% performance improvement when running some older Windows apps that were written for Intel processors. Prism is similar to Apple’s Rosetta, which allows old Mac apps that were written for Intel processors to run on modern Macs with Apple Silicon – and, strictly speaking, this is an improvement provided by Microsoft within Windows 11 24H2, but it still benefited Parallels users by speeding up older Windows apps running within a virtual machines. 

As mentioned above, Parallels Desktop 20.2.0 added the ability for Macs with Apple Silicon to run the original Intel version of Windows.

What was new in Parallels Desktop 19 for Mac?

Parallels Desktop 19 arrived in August 2023 and introduced a redesigned interface with windows and dialogue boxes that adopted the curved lines and candy colors of macOS. More serious eye candy also arrived with support for 3D graphics in Windows using OpenGL 4.1, improving compatibility and performance for some important graphics and design programs, such as ArcGIS Pro, VectorWorks and VariCAD. The 2023 update also brought Touch ID to Windows virtual machines, allowing users to sign in to a Windows VM using both Touch ID and a personal Microsoft account.

Apple changed the printing system used in Sonoma, so Parallels Desktop 19 also introduced a new Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) to allow users to print documents from a virtual machine using their normal printer.

Parallels Desktop 19.2 brought a faster option for cloning VMs. That’s useful for developers and professional users who may need to create multiple VMs based on an existing template. It also improved the ability to use Sign In With Apple to sign in to a Parallels account using hardware security keys that users may have created on their Mac. The introduction of Sonoma changed the way the macOS handles Windows disk formats, causing some VMs to become unstable when running from an external hard drive or SSD, so version 19.2 also fixed this problem to improve the stability of VMs on external drives.

And, in March 2024, the program was updated to version 19.3. This fixed graphics problems that had affected a number of well-known Windows games, such as Dark Souls II and Genshin Impact. Gamers should be aware, though, that (at the time of writing) Parallels is still working on support for Microsoft’s DirectX 12 graphics software, and Parallels Desktop is still limited to games that use DirectX 11.

Parallels Desktop Pro vs Standard, Business vs Enterprise

Parallels Desktop has traditionally been available in three separate versions, with the Standard Edition designed for home users and education, the Pro Edition for developers, and the Business Edition for corporate users. However, 2024 sees the arrival of a new Enterprise Edition, which is due for release ‘later this fall’ (with pricing available on request). 

Features for developers

Parallels states that it is seeing more and more Mac users running the macOS as a guest operating system on a VM, especially developers who need to test their apps with different versions of the macOS. 

Parallels therefore supplies configuration options when creating VMs that run the macOS, providing greater freedom to configure the number of processors and the amount of memory used. Developers get a command-line interface to speed up testing, advanced networking features, and the ability to share folders and volumes between different versions of the macOS. There’s even some TLC for Linux users, with improved handling of Mac trackpads, and faster installation for the popular Ubuntu version of Linux.

The version 20 update to Parallels Desktop Pro brings an assortment of new features for developers including the Parallels AI Package (available in all editions, apart from Standard). This will allow developers to create a ready-made virtual machine that includes 14 different sets of AI tools, along with code samples and instructions. It’s even possible to use ordinary language commands – such as “Parallels, start my Windows 11 VM”. These tools are designed to help all developers, including students and smaller teams, so that they can start experimenting with AI quickly and easily. There is also improved support for Microsoft’s Visual Studio development tools, which now includes the use of Microsoft’s CoPilot AI features within Windows. (www.parallels.com/products/desktop/ai/)

Version 19 brought several new features specifically aimed at developers including an extension for using Visual Studio code that makes it easier to organize and use multiple VMs, and improved support for creating VMs that run different versions of macOS.

As we mentioned above, Parallels has confirmed it is working on a feature that will also allow Macs with Apple Silicon to run the original Intel version of Windows. This will be a breakthrough for developers who want to work on both ARM and Intel platforms. 

Features for businesses 

The Business Edition of Parallels Desktop includes several features to help IT departments in large organizations quickly roll out Parallels virtual machines to multiple users. There are improved security features, and, since version 19, those with the Business edition of Parallels Desktop can use their VMs with corporate management systems such as Hashicorp Packer and Microsoft’s InTune.

The Enterprise Edition, coming later in 2024, will include a Management Portal that makes it easier to install and manage virtual machines for large numbers of users within an organisation. This Edition will also provide SOC Type 2 reports, which are used to maintain security standards within large organisations.

Features for gamers

Gamers who want to run Windows games on a Mac can do so via Parallels Desktop, and are able to use game controllers with those games. 

There has been support for DirectX 11 since Parallels Desktop 15. There is no DirectX 12 support yet. 

Version 4.1 of OpenGL is also supposed. 

Parallels Desktop for Mac pricing 

Parallels Desktop is available in three different editions: Standard, Pro and Business.

The Standard edition is mainly aimed at home and educational users and costs $99.99/£89.99 per year, with additional discounts also available for students and education users. That annual subscription fee includes any new versions and updates that may be released in the future. It’s also possible to buy the standard edition with a perpetual license for a one-time fee – unfortunately this has increased from $129.99/£104.99 to $219.99/£154.99 with the 2025 edition. That price is a one-time fee that allows you to use the Standard Edition forever – with no recurring subscriptions – although you will need to pay an additional fee for any upgrades that are released in the future.

The Pro Edition and Business Edition are only available with a subscription, with the annual pricing remaining unchanged. The Pro Edition aimed at developers costs $119.99/£99.99 while the Business Edition is $149.99/£119.99. Pricing for the new Enterprise Edition is available on request (parallels.com).

It’s worth mentioning that there’s also a version of Parallels Desktop that is sold on the Mac App Store–however, Apple imposes some serious technical limitations on this version so it’s probably best to buy Parallels Desktop directly from Parallels itself.

Can you use Parallels for Mac for free?

The Parallels website offers a 14-day free trial so that you can see how Parallels Desktop works before buying the full version. Just remember that you do still need to buy a license for Windows 11 Pro or Enterprise, which starts at a rather hefty $199.99/£219.99.

Can you use Parallels Desktop on more than one Mac? 

To use Parallels desktop on two or more Macs you will need to buy additional licenses. If you are just moving to a new Mac you can uninstall the software on the first Mac and install it on the new Mac. 

Should You Buy Parallels Desktop?

Parallels isn’t the only option available for running Windows on a Mac, but its constant cycle of regular updates has ensured that it continues to outpace rival virtualization programs, such as VMWare Fusion. It’s also more straightforward to use than alternative technologies, such as CrossOver from Codeweavers. 

Parallels keeps up with the latest developments on Macs with Apple Silicon to ensure that it remains one of the best options currently available for running Windows and Windows software on a Mac.

Should you update to Parallels Desktop 26? 

If you have an existing subscription to Parallels Desktop then, of course, you automatically get all the new features included in version 26 as part of your subscription. It’s a shame, though, that the perpetual license option for the Standard Edition has increased in price, as there are many people who only need Parallels Desktop for occasional use and don’t want to pay for a recurring annual subscription.

Gamers who want to play Windows games may also want to look at alternative options, such as the popular CrossOver from Codeweavers. However, Parallels Desktop 26 remains the best option for business and education users who need access to a wider range of Windows productivity software – especially as rivals, such as VMWare’s Fusion, are falling behind with fewer regular updates.

At a glance

Expert’s Rating

Pros

• Wide range of photo editing tools, including AI-powered ones
• Cross-platform editor offering desktop, web, and mobile apps
• Regularly updated
• Compatible with dozens of plugins
• Handy guides and tips for beginners
• Supports online collaboration

Cons

• Bloated desktop app(s)
• Relatively expensive
• No lifetime license

Our Verdict

Adobe Photoshop remains the best photo editor for professionals out there. It’s stable, reliable, feature-rich, and actively developed; it won’t disappoint.

Price When Reviewed

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Best Pricing Today

Price When Reviewed

Full Photoshop: $22.99 a month, $263.88 a year for Photoshop; Photography Plan: From $19.99 a month, $239.88 a year.

Best Prices Today:

Adobe Photoshop Free Trial

Free

Adobe Photography Plan (per month)

$19.99

Adobe Photoshop (per month)

$22.99

Adobe first launched Photoshop exclusively for the Macintosh in 1990. Since then, the software has grown to become the default photo editor for creative professionals on all platforms. Today, the app is available on all major operating systems and continues to keep up with the latest industry trends—including the current AI boom.

While many rivals have put out alternative photo editing apps, very few brands have managed to gain a fraction of Adobe’s relevance in this space. Nevertheless, Photoshop is expensive, and whether it’s worth the recurring fees will depend on your personal budget and needs.

Adobe Photoshop is available on macOS, iOS, iPadOS, Windows, Android, and the web. While all clients serve the same main purpose, the actual feature set differs based on the platform you’re using. For example, some of the desktop tools are currently unavailable on mobile and on the web. As such, this review focuses on the Mac version of Photoshop.

Getting started with Photoshop

Unlike Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop is not available on the Mac App Store. To install the macOS client, you’ll first need to download the Creative Cloud app launcher from the web, which then automatically installs over half a dozen other Adobe apps for maintenance and such. It’ll flood your Launcher (or App Library on macOS Tahoe) with unnecessary icons and overload your Mac with background processes that could drain the battery and impact its performance. It’s a nightmare. The alternative is using the web version of Photoshop, but it’s missing some features.

Despite the bloatware, Photoshop performed fluidly on my M2 MacBook Air running the macOS Tahoe developer beta. Compared to the web app, the native Mac client’s UI looks a bit outdated, but it works. You get to tweak the theme and other preferences, but a modern redesign is objectively overdue.

If you’re new to Photoshop, you’ll likely appreciate the tips and video guides bundled with the app. Thanks to these explainers, you can find out exactly what each primary tool does and quickly get to know how the complex software operates.

Before looking into the traditional Photoshop features, let’s explore the newest features that are powered by artificial intelligence. Adobe Firefly is the company’s AI engine, and it’s baked natively into Photoshop. While using AI in photo editing can be a controversial topic, certain smart tools help creatives achieve more in less time—without necessarily stripping the original photo of its artistic essence.

For example, noise reduction tools and blemish erasers have been around for eons. The AI-powered Photoshop app merely upgrades these existing features to enhance the output. So, you get to circle intrusive objects and have AI generate a suitable background that blends with the rest of the image. You similarly get to upscale or expand photos while minimizing pixelation. It’s the subtle kind of AI that maintains the input’s realism.

Otherwise, you get some wilder AI features in Photoshop for those who want to completely transform their content. For example, you can generate images from scratch using text prompts and insert them realistically (shadows and all) into your project. You also get to try different variants of the same object to see what visually works best in a particular context.

Likewise, you can isolate the subject in your shot and have AI generate new backgrounds or sky styles, making it easier for marketers to take product shots. Similar to Lightroom, you can also apply AI-made filters that uniquely adapt to your individual photos.

Like most AI features, the output can sometimes be unpredictable. However, the features have generally worked reliably for me, and they are undoubtedly more accurate than asking ChatGPT to edit a photo in a specific way. It’s worth noting, though, that certain generative features consume Adobe Firefly credits. If you run out of AI tokens, you can buy additional ones via a separate Firefly subscription, which starts at $9.99/£9.98 a month.

Photoshop classic features

Even before the AI boom, Adobe Photoshop topped the photo editing charts due to its advanced capabilities. For starters, the software utilizes a longstanding layering system, making it easy to isolate edits and apply changes without affecting the original image. If you’re unsure about a certain change or effect, you can easily deactivate, reorder, or delete the respective layer without impacting the rest of your project.

Other non-AI features include different brush styles for doodling, cloning tool, a ton of fonts for inserted text, cropping, blending, color balance adjustments, smudging, masking, healing, distorting, warping, edit changelog, numerous export options, etc. And with support for third-party plugins, you can supercharge the software further with more specific tools that Adobe doesn’t natively offer. There’s a reason why the word Photoshop has become the go-to verb for any altered image—it’s incredibly powerful and basically limitless in its abilities.

In terms of performance, I didn’t encounter any major bugs or lags while using Photoshop on my MacBook. If it feels sluggish, you can head to the app’s settings and tweak some relevant options to make the experience smoother. For example, you can pick between on-device and cloud processing for certain AI features. Similarly, you can accelerate some tools by prioritizing speed over accurate results and dictate how much RAM the software can put to use.

Photoshop pricing and availability

To access Photoshop on macOS (or any other platform), you’ll need to pay for a subscription after your 7-day free trial expires. Adobe offers three main tiers:

Photoshop: The vanilla tier offers Photoshop access on all platforms, in addition to 100GB of cloud storage, for $34.49/£32.98 a month and cancel at any time. If you have long-term photo editing needs, you can opt for the $275.88 annual plan with monthly $22.99/£21.98 billing. Canceling the latter plan early will incur additional fees, however. To maximize your savings, you can pay $263.88/£262.51 upfront for one year of access.

At the time of writing Adobe has 50% off for the first three months in the UK, meaning you can get it for £9.98 a month for three months, before paying the full price for the rest of the term.

Photography bundle: This discounted tier unlocks Photoshop, Lightroom, and 1TB of cloud storage for $29.99/£28.99 a month (cancel at any time). Similar to the vanilla tier, you can choose an annual plan to save some bucks and get it for $19.99/£19.97 a month. Whether you’re opting for monthly billing or paying it all in one go, this bundle will cost you $239.88/£238.42 a year.

Creative Cloud Pro bundle: If you rely on other Adobe software, you can pay $104.99/£99.89 a month for the all-encompassing Creative Cloud Pro bundle (cancel at any time). This unlocks Photoshop, Lightroom, Acrobat, Illustrator, and over a dozen other apps. The annual plan is a monthly $69.99/£66.49 payment, while an upfront payment would discount it to $779.88/£773.86 for the year.

Adobe U.S. has 40% off for the first year bringing the price down to $41.99 a month paid monthly on the annual plan.

Adobe U.K. has 50% off for three months bringing the price down to £32.66 a month for three months.

Eligible students can apply additional discounts when subscribing to the Creative Cloud Pro bundle.

The price structure doesn’t make a lot of sense, and the Photography bundle is the best value even if you just want Photoshop. You’re still be getting around 10x more cloud storage for a significantly lower fee compared to the vanilla Photoshop tier.

For more information on Adobe pricing and the latest deals read Adobe Creative Cloud pricing: How to get the best deal.

Should you subscribe to Adobe Photoshop?

Whether you’re polishing a portrait, designing a poster, preparing marketing materials, or creating a digital banner, Photoshop will be able to handle your needs. And due to its popularity, you can find hundreds of solid tutorials on YouTube and other sites if you’re new to the platform. The app caters to both basic edits and advanced workflows, so no matter what your experience level is, you can find ways to utilize Photoshop effectively.

The only reason you may want to avoid using Photoshop is its revenue model. It’s not cheap, and for many reasons, some users avoid services with recurring subscription fees. Fortunately, there are plenty of Photoshop alternatives that are completely free, such as Photopea, or charge a one-time fee, including Apple-owned Pixelmator. While their feature sets—especially the AI-centric ones—aren’t identical to that of Photoshop, they can still produce similar results.

However, if your job revolves around manipulating images or you’re a prospective artist, then Adobe Photoshop is absolutely worth the price tag. Ultimately, Adobe Photoshop remains the best photo editor for professionals out there. It’s stable, reliable, feature-rich, and actively developed; it won’t disappoint.

Solid-state drives – aka SSD – used to be really expensive, but prices have really fallen in the past few years, and you can now pick up fast, reliable SSDs that cost only slightly more than their hard drive counterparts. Even the slowest SSDs are generally faster than mechanical hard drives.

As well as being faster than conventional hard drives, SSDs are lighter and sturdier too, making them ideal for use with a laptop when you’re traveling. That’s reflected in the drives that we review here, most of which are small and light enough to slip into your pocket. However, the latest SSDs can also offer up to 8TB of storage, which makes them a good option for use with a desktop Mac in an office as well. And they can help to reduce cable clutter too, as they generally take their power from a USB port on your Mac, rather than requiring a separate external power supply.

In this article we’ve included the best external SSDs for everything from blazing-fast performance, to budget options, to portability, and more. 

Best SSD for Mac 2025

LaCie Rugged SSD Pro5 – Fast and rugged

Pros

• Supports Thunderbolt 5 
• Impressive performance
• Rugged design with IP68
• Five-year warranty

Cons

• Expensive
• Requires M4 Pro or Max

Price When Reviewed:

2TB: $399.99; 4TB: $599.99

The Pro5 looks almost identical to the previous-generation Rugged SSD Pro, which uses Thunderbolt 3. The only visible difference between the two drives is the fact that the Pro5 is wrapped in a dark-blue rubber sleeve, rather than the somber black of its predecessor.

That rubber sleeve is designed to provide extra protection for the drive, and the Pro5 is even sturdier than before, with an IP68 rating for water and dust-resistance. LaCie claims the Pro5 can survive immersion in 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes, survive being dropped from a height of 3m (10ft), and survive being run over by vehicles weighing up to two tonnes. There’s a five-year warranty too.

It measures 17mm thick, 98mm wide and 65mm deep and weighs 150g, which is a little more than its 100g Rugged Pro predecessor. It comes in 2TB or 4TB capacities. It’s not cheap, starting at $399.99/£359.99 for 2TB or $599.99/£579.99 for 4TB.

The Pro5 does use a standard USB-C connector, so it’s still backward-compatible with older Macs, but if you want to get the full performance of the Thunderbolt 5 interface you’ll need a MacBook Pro or Mac mini with M4 Pro or M4 Max processor as these are the only chips to support the standard. The older Rugged Pro is still on sale, so make sure you look for the Pro5 model if you want Thunderbolt 5 performance. We found that the standard USB-C cable we use for our Time Machine back-up drive didn’t provide enough power for the Pro5, so it might be worth investing in a spare Thunderbolt 5 cable.

The Rugged SSD Pro5 is the fastest Thunderbolt drive we’ve tested so far, and along with its rugged, portable design it’s an excellent option for creative users who want to exploit the full speed of their new Thunderbolt 5 Macs.

Read our full

LaCie Rugged SSD Pro5 review

SanDisk Extreme Pro SSD with USB4 – Impressive, affordable performance

Pros

• USB4 provides good performance
• Competitive price
• Rugged design

Cons

• Lacks full Thunderbolt support
• Large

Price When Reviewed:

$280 for 2TB, $430 for 4TB

Since parting ways with Western Digital SanDisk has launched a collection of new products. Among these were SanDisk’s Extreme Portable SSD, an affordable entry-level drive included below, and the Extreme Pro With USB4.

The Extreme Pro With USB4 is available with 2TB or 4TB of storage. It resembles its predecessors, featuring rounded corners, orange trim, and a cut-out for attaching a lanyard. A USB-C cable is included. 

It’s a little larger than previously: 11.9mm thick, 58.7mm wide, and 140mm long. Making it almost as large as the iPhone 16e and heavier than it. The drive’s main body is made of forged aluminium, wrapped in a silicon sleeve for added protection. SanDisk claims it can survive a 2m drop and is IP65 water and dust resistant. They also provide a five-year warranty.

The Extreme Pro With USB4 is larger than other SanDisk drives, measuring 11.9mm thick, 58.7mm wide, and 140mm long. It’s almost as large as the iPhone 16e and heavier than it, but still small enough to fit in a pocket or bag. Its sturdy design makes it suitable for travel and outdoor work. 

The main attraction is USB4 performance. SanDisk quotes a maximum write performance of up to 3700MB/s and read performance of up to 3800MB/s. We tested the drive with a MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt 4, achieving strong performance of 3400MB/s for both read and write. 

We also tested the drive with a new Mac mini with Thunderbolt 5 and were surprised to see a significant jump in write performance to 4400MB/s, which remained consistent despite repeated tests. Read performance remained unchanged at 3400MB/s.

Professional users requiring top performance with large video or graphics files may prefer a solid-state drive with full Thunderbolt support, but the Extreme Pro With USB4 offers impressive performance at an affordable price, making it suitable for most users who need a fast, sturdy portable drive for Time Machine backups.

Read our full

SanDisk Extreme Pro SSD with USB4 review

OWC Envoy Ultra – Thunderbolt 5 fast

Pros

• Fast 6GBps reading & 5GBps writing via Thunderbolt 5
• Rugged and weatherproof

Cons

• Expensive
• Requires M4 Pro/Max Mac for full 80Gbps performance
• Limited compatibility

Price When Reviewed:

2TB: $399.99; 4TB: $599.99

Best Prices Today:

$349.99

You can take full advantage of the Thunderbolt 5 ports on your M4 Pro Mac mini or M4 Pro/Max MacBook Pro and possibly circumvent Apple’s avaricious storage upgrade pricing with OWC’s Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 external SSD.

Thunderbolt 5 itself is backwards compatible with older Thunderbolt specs, but it’s not nearly as backwards compatible as we’d like. For example, to utilize a Thunderbolt 5 drive your M-series Mac need to be running macOS Sonoma or later. Thunderbolt 3 Macs with Intel chips must run Sequoia or later. But only the M4 Pro and M4 Max chips will give you the full Thunderbolt 5 experience.

You may have seen 120GBps quoted in some articles as Thunderbolt 5’s top speed, but that’s only unidirectional for displays. Bi-directional, as with storage, is limited to 80Gbps. Benchmarks showed anywhere from 5.2GBps (Blackmagicdesign’s Disk Speed Test), to 6.5GBps reading (AmorphousDiskMark), to near 7GBps reading and 5.57GBps writing (ATTO). It’s fast.

The OWC Envoy Ultra is a larger chunk of black metal, measuring about 0.75 inches thick, 2.8 inches wide, and 5 inches long. The Envoy Ultra weighs in at 10.5 ounces or so. It has a captive cable, which is for weatherproofing (it’s not IP-rated). This does make it a bit harder to put away. Alas, writing was considerably slower, only around 1.5GBps.

The Envoy Ultra costs $400/£356 in its 2TB form and $600/£598.49 at 4TB. It carries a three-year warranty.

If you want, and can afford the absolute fastest storage for your new Thunderbolt 5 Mac, then this is a heck of a lot cheaper than Apple’s rapaciously priced internal storage and nearly as fast.

Read our full

OWC Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 SSD review

SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD – Compact and portable design

Pros

• Rugged design
• Competitive price
• Good performance
• USB-C interface, with USB-A adaptor included

Cons

• No Thunderbolt support
• Not completely water-resistant

Price When Reviewed:

1TB: $99.99; 2TB: $149.99; 4TB: $249.99; 8TB: $549.99

Best Prices Today:

$99.9

Western Digital (1TB)

$99.99

$102.99

$104.99

$104.99

$104.99

$137.99

$203.34

This SanDisk model offers a sturdy design and up to 8TB of storage. The external design hasn’t changed over the years, it still comes in a perforated black case made out of silicon that provides plenty of protection, and there’s the same hook for a lanyard.

The 8TB version is slightly larger than the previous model, but it’s still slim and light. There aren’t many rival drives that provide that much storage in such a compact and portable design.

This model uses the same USB-C connector as its predecessor, with support for USB 3.2 (Gen 2). There’s a USB-C cable included in the box, and even a USB-A adaptor! Speeds are 1000MB/s and 1050MB/s for write and read performance respectively, as previously. And our tests found that the two drives produce very similar results when running the Black Magic Disk speed test, with the Extreme Portable reaching 946MB/s for write performance and 910MB/s for read performance.

The main difference is that this update for 2025 is even tougher than before, boasting an IP65 rating for resistance to water and dust. This model provides more storage capacity too, starting at 1GB and going up to 8TB.

SanDisk has several portable solid-state drives that look similar and have similar names. The Extreme Pro Portable looks identical and has a faster USB4 interface, but only offers up to 4TB storage. The less expensive Portable SSD, isn’t particularly fast. Check the name before you buy.

It’s a good option for anyone that needs to store large, high-res photo or video files on their MacBook when they’re working outdo.

Read our full

Sandisk Extreme Portable SSD (2025) review

Kingston XS1000 – Affordable and lightweight

Pros

• Very competitive price
• Pocket-size design
• Weighs only 28.7g

Cons

• No Thunderbolt interface
• No bundled software
• Cable is USB-A-to-USB-C

Price When Reviewed:

1TB – $84.99; 2TB – $139.99

Best Prices Today:

$79.99

$79.99

We liked the sturdy little XS2000 drive that Kingston launched back in 2022, but it was pretty expensive and used a version of USB known as USB 3.2 Gen 2×2, which isn’t fully supported on the Mac at the moment. Drives that use ‘Gen 2×2’ will still work with a Mac, but the Mac won’t get the full speed that the drive is capable of.

However, the XS1000 is a more conventional USB-C drive, using standard USB 3.2 Gen 2, so it’s a good, affordable option for Mac users who just want a compact, lightweight backup drive.

The XS1000 is one of the smallest and lightest SSDs that we’ve seen so far – in fact, it looks more like a little USB thumb drive, rather than a high-capacity backup drive. It measures just 13.5mm thick, 32.5mm wide and 69.5mm long, and weighs only 28.7g, so you can easily slip it into your shirt or trouser pocket when you’re traveling. It’s not quite as rugged as the more expensive XS2000 – which had an IP55 rating for water and dust resistance – but the plastic and metal casing feels sturdy enough to cope with a few knocks when you’re traveling, and Kingston provides a five-year warranty as well.

It’s very competitively priced too, costing $84.99/£74.99 with 1TB of storage, or $109.99/£99.99 with 2TB. The drive’s USB interface provides a quoted write speed of 1000MBs, while the read speed is slightly higher at 1050MB/s. It didn’t quite match those speeds in our tests, but its write speed of 875MB/s and read speed of 950MB/s will still be fine for routine back-ups with Time Machine. Our only complaint is that Kingston only includes a USB-A-to-USB-C cable with the XS1000, so you’ll need to buy an adaptor or a new cable if your Mac only has USB-C. Professional users might prefer a faster drive, or a more rugged design, but if you just want an affordable backup drive that can go traveling with you then the XS1000 is great value for money.

Adata SE920 USB4 SSD – High performance

Pros

• High data transfer rates
• Good fan

Cons

• No transport bag
• No rubber feet

Price When Reviewed:

1TB: $140 I 2TB: $200 I 4TB: $380

Best Prices Today:

$159.99

The Adata SE920 External SSD is a high-performance USB4 SSD for those who need rapid data transfer speeds. 

It combines passive and active cooling with a compact metal housing for passive cooling, and a micro-fan with openings for active cooling. The user can actually activate the fan by pressing on the housing. 

If you are working on a project such as a video or image edit, or another task that could require a lot of drive access over a period of time, then switch on the fan. The rest of the time you can probably leave it. 

The SE920 is primarily designed for Windows users, evident from the formatting in the NTFS file system and the backup software for Windows, but this shouldn’t be a problem for experienced Mac users. The SE920 is quickly reformatted in APFS using the macOS Disk Utility.

Data transfer rates measured with Aja System Test Lite were impressive. The SE920 achieved 2992MBps for writes and 3161 MBps for reads. Data rates are stable over a longer period and the thermal design works perfectly.

All this comes at a good price. We recommend the SE920 to any content creator.

Read our full

SE920 External SSD review

SanDisk Pro Blade System – For professional and creative users

Pros

• Thunderbolt 3 interface (compatible with USB-C)
• Ultra-rugged design
• Professional-level performance

Cons

• Very expensive
• Doesn’t support Thunderbolt 4

Price When Reviewed:

$49.99 for dock I $159.99 w/1TB Mag I $219.99 w/2TB I $339.99 w/4TB

We normally organize reviews of portable drives and desktop drives separately, but the new SanDisk Pro Blade is a modular SSD storage system that is very much designed for professional and creative users, and allows you to switch between portable and desktop modes as required.

You can start by buying the Pro Blade SSD Mag, which is a solid-state storage module that is available in 1TB, 2TB or 4TB sizes (the 1TB was discounted from $179.99 to $119.99 at the time of our review). The SSD Mag is pre-formatted in APFS format for Mac users, and is tough enough to withstand being dropped from a height of 3 meters or 9.8 foot, and withstand 4000lb (1814kg) crush pressure, making it ideal for outdoor use. However, the SSD Mag modules can’t connect to a computer on their own, so SanDisk provides two options for portable and desktop use.

For portable use you can buy the Pro Blade Transport, which is a compact case for the SSD Mag, and is equipped with a USB-C port for connecting to your Mac. The Transport measures just 130.4mm long, 71.5mm wide and 16mm thick, so you can easily slip it into your pocket or a carrying case just like any other portable drive. It’s also possible to connect the Transport to a camera that has a USB-C interface so that you can record high-res video rather than having to carry lots of smaller SD memory cards.

When you get back to the office you also have the option of inserting the SSD Mag modules into the Pro Blade Station ($499.99/£490.99). This desktop storage system doesn’t include any built-in storage of its own, but it has four slots that allow you to insert SSD Mag modules (not included) providing up to 16TB of high-speed solid-state storage. The Pro Blade Station has two Thunderbolt 3 ports, with one used to connect your Mac, while the other port can be used to daisy-chain additional storage devices if required. The Pro Blade Station is fairly expensive – given that it doesn’t include any storage of its own – but it gives you the option of creating a high-speed, high-capacity SSD storage system for use in your office, whilst also being able to remove the individual SSD Mag modules and use them as portable drives whenever you need to.

Western Digital – which owns SanDisk these days – claims that the Pro Blade Station can provide read and write speeds of 3000MB/s and 2600MB/s respectively. Our tests actually recorded a read speed of 2600MB/s and write speed of 2300MB/s, but that’s still one of the fastest SSD drives we’ve ever seen, making it a good option for creative users who need a fast storage system that they can use both in the office and on the road.

Read our full

Sandisk Pro-Blade Transport review

LaCie Rugged SSD Pro

Pros

• IP67 ruggedized
• Fast NVMe/Thunderbolt 3 performance
• Operates via Thunderbolt 3 or USB 3.0

Price When Reviewed:

$419.99 (1TB), $739.99 (2TB), $1049.99 (4TB)

LaCie’s Rugged drives have been popular with Mac users for many years, thanks to their combination of high-performance and that now-familiar orange sleeve that helps to keep the drive safe when you’re working outdoors. However, the Rugged range has mostly used conventional hard drives in the past, which are slower than the latest solid-state drives, as well as being bigger and heavier. Welcome the Rugged Pro SSD, which is primarily aimed at creative users. (We look at the LaCie Rugged SSD Pro5 above, which is a newer model that supports Thunderbolt 5).

The Rugged SSD range starts at around $180/£180 for a model with 500GB storage, but we were able to review the SSD Pro, which stands out from the rest of the range with its matte-black sleeve. It’s pretty expensive, costing $419/£249.99 with 1TB of storage, and a hefty $739.99/£379.99 for the 2TB model and $1,049.99/£999.99 for 4TB, but it justifies that price with an even tougher design and the latest, super-fast solid-state drives designed for professional video work. (U.K. prices dropped in 2024 but US prices don’t seem to have followed suit. Luckily you can get good deals at various resellers).

Switching to a solid-state drive means that the SSD Pro is now the smallest model in the Rugged range, measuring just 3.8in/98mm long, 2.5in/65mm wide and 0.6in/17mm thick. It only weighs 100g/3.5oz, so you can easily slip it into your pocket or bag when you’re traveling and barely even notice that it’s there.

Despite its compact design, that new black sleeve is seriously tough and rated IP67 for resistance to water and dust, allowing it to survive in 3.2 foot/1m of water for up to 30 minutes. It can cope with being dropped from a height of 9.8 foot/3m, and can even resist the weight of a two-tonne car driving over it. It includes a five-year warranty in case anything does go wrong, which includes one visit to LaCie’s data-recovery labs if you need to retrieve important data.

The Rugged SSD Pro includes just a single Thunderbolt 3/USB-C interface, but most of its high price is down to the use of the latest NVMe solid-state drives, which provide top performance for high-end video applications, such as editing 8K or super-slow-motion video files (which can be enormous, as they shoot at up to 240 frames per second on the latest iPhones). The drive didn’t disappoint, recording consistent write speeds of 1780MB/s, and an even faster 2480MB/s for read speeds – with both figures leaving just about every other SSD drive we’ve ever tested trailing in its wake. And, when backing up our iTunes music library, the Rugged SSD Pro blew us away by backing up 5GB of music files in just five seconds – look away for a couple of seconds and you’ll miss it!

Of course, not everyone will need that sort of performance – especially at this price – but if you work with high-res video and need a fast, tough drive for outdoor work then the Rugged SSD Pro is in a class of its own.

Read our full

LaCie Rugged SSD Pro review

LaCie Portable SSD

Pros

• Small and stylish
• Solid construction

Price When Reviewed:

500GB – $129.99; 1TB – $209.99; 2TB – $369.99

Best Prices Today:

$64.99

The LaCie Portable SSD is an option for people who don’t need James Bond levels of security. Available with 500GB, 1TB or 2TB of storage, the Portable SSD has a new design compared to its predecessor. Rather than sharply angular corners and edges of the now discontinued LaCie Mobile SSD, the compact Portable SSD has smoothly round corners – perhaps following Apple’s recent fetish for rounded corners on icons in Big Sur and Monterey.

It’s smaller and lighter than previous drives from LaCie too, measuring just 0.4in/10.6mm thick, 1.9in/50mm wide, and 3in/80mm long, and it weighs a mere 1.5oz/45g, so it’s ideal for carrying around with your MacBook or iPad when you’re traveling.

The drive has a single USB-C interface, and includes a USB-C cable, but the low cost means that there are no added extras, such as an adaptor for older Macs that have USB-A (3.2) connectors.

LaCie hasn’t cut any other corners, though. The Portable SSD has a solid, sturdy design that should be able to cope with a few bumps in a backpack or briefcase, and it performs very well too.

LaCie quotes read and write speeds of 1000MB/s, but repeated tests with the BlackMagic speed test app showed the Portable SSD comfortably cruising along at around 1,300MB/s with no trouble at all.

That combination of speed, compact design and competitive pricing makes the Portable SSD a great option for anyone that needs a portable backup drive for their Mac or iPad.

Read our full review.

Samsung T5 EVO

Pros

• Compact, lightweight design
•  Sturdily built
•  Provides up to 8TB storage
•  Competitive price

Cons

• Modest performer
• Only supports USB 3.1 (Gen 1)

Price When Reviewed:

2TB: $189.99; 4TB: $$229.99; 8TB: $479.00

Best Prices Today:

T5 EVO isn’t as fast as some of its SSD rivals, but it’s great as a general-purpose backup device and provides a faster and more portable alternative to a conventional hard drive. Unlike many solid-state drives, it provides up to 8TB of storage, making it a good option for people who need a lot of storage space for their work files, photos and videos. It’s competitively priced, starting at $189.99/£146 for 2TB of storage.

The drive is compact, just 17mm thick, 40mm wide and 95mm long, and weighing 102g. There’s a chunky metal ring on one end that can be used to attach the drive to a backpack or belt.

It doesn’t have the armor-plated protection of Samsung’s T7 Shield, but the T5 EVO doesn’t cut corners on build quality. The drive is metal and then wrapped in a rubber sleeve to provide extra protection. It doesn’t quote an IP rating for resistance to water and dust though.

It’s not the fastest back-up drive you can buy, and while there’s a USB-C port for connecting to a Mac or PC, it only supports the relatively old USB 3.2 (Gen 1) standard, and Samsung quotes fairly modest speeds of 460MB/s for both read and write performance. Our tests showed that the drive’s write performance was right on the nose with a speed of 460MB/s when running the Black Magic disk speed test, although read performance was slower at 370MB/s.

T5 EVO will be a great option for laptop users who want to ditch an old hard drive and replace it with a more portable solid-state drive that provides plenty of storage.

Lexar Armor 700

Pros

• Competitive price
• Up to 4TB storage
• Rugged, weather-resistant design

Cons

• No Thunderbolt support
•  Full speed requires USB 3.2 Gen 2×2

Price When Reviewed:

1TB: $150 I 2TB: $230 I 4TB: $400

Best Prices Today:

$209.99

Lexar makes a wide range of memory cards and solid-state drives that are very much aimed at creative users, and its Armor 700 drive provides fast, high-capacity storage in a rugged design that will be ideal for outdoor photo-shoots or filming.

As the name suggests, the Armor 700 is sturdily built, boasting an IP66 rating for water and dust protection. This means that the drive can withstand powerful jets of water (but not complete immersion under water), and is tightly sealed to prevent dust or other particles from penetrating the drive. It’s also wrapped in a shock-resistant rubber sleeve that can cope with being dropped from a height of three metres. The drive is available with 1TB, 2TB or 4TB of storage, so it provides plenty of storage for your Time Machine backups when you’re on the road. Lexar also includes an app called DataShield that allows you to create an encrypted folder on the drive for storing sensitive files and data.

The Amor 700 is equipped with a USB-C interface, with a USB-C cable and USB-A adaptor included in the box. Lexar states that the drive provides read and write speeds of up to 2000MB/s, but it does require a device that supports USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 in order to achieve those speeds (yes, USB standards are a complete mess these days). Apple doesn’t support that specific version of USB, which means that Macs, iPhones and iPads with USB-C will only get a maximum speed of 1000MB/s. Our tests actually recorded scores of 910MB/s for write performance and 925MB/s for read performance, but that’s more than adequate for routine backups when you’re out and about. Lexar also states that this is fast enough to record 4K ProRes video from an iPhone 15 or 16, and the Armor 700 is still competitively priced when compared to rugged drives such as LaCie’s Rugged SSD.

Professional users who really need top performance may prefer a drive that supports Thunderbolt – such as LaCie’s high-end Rugged Pro – but Thunderbolt drives are still very expensive, making the Armor 700 a good option for people on a tighter budget. You can’t buy direct from Lexar, though, so it’s worth shopping around online to find the best price.

Pros

• Good data transfer rate
• Quiet fan

Cons

• Data rate drops during long data transfers
• No operation without fan

Best Prices Today:

$154.10

The Verbatim TurboMetal SSD is a classic NVMe drive with a length of around 106mm, a 55mm wide and 18mm thin metal housing, and weighs 150g.

Like many USB4 enclosures, it uses an active fan and cooling slots for cooling. The fan is temperature-controlled and starts automatically when the temperature rises.

Verbatim specifies a USB4 data transfer rate of 3600MBps for writing and 3700MBps for reading. However, we achieved 2664MBps for writing and 3123MBps for reading on an M3 MacBook Air in a 4K test with Aja System Test Lite. These are not bad values, but the best USB4 drives we’ve measured achieve slightly higher writing speeds but not higher reading speeds. The M4 Max Mac Studio showed much better values, with 2869MBps for writing and 3499MBps for reading.

In a 30-minute endurance test with the Backmagicdesign Disk Speed Test, the fan started after 10 minutes. The TurboMetal got too warm after around 9 minutes in the data transfer rate, which dropped significantly to below 1000MBps. Shortly after starting the fan, the temperature of the SSD levelled off again, and the data transfer rate rose to its original value. The runs only when it has to.

During the endurance test, the data transfer rate dropped briefly but stabilised immediately. DriveDX measured the temperature at around 46 degrees Celsius after using the fan, which remained on.

The TurboMetal Portable SSD is available in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities with a 20cm USB4 cable. It’s formatted as FAT32, so Mac users should reformat it to APFS. The included software is only for Windows.

The TurboMetal SSD is a discreet USB4 drive. The data transfer rates are suitable for everyday use, but some SSDs offer better speed. The regular dips indicate thermal protection, but they shouldn’t affect most applications.

Read our full

Verbatim Turbometal Portable SSD review

SanDisk Professional Pro-G40

Pros

• Thunderbolt 3 interface (compatible with USB-C)
• Ultra-rugged design
• Professional-level performance

Cons

• Very expensive
• Doesn’t support Thunderbolt 4

Price When Reviewed:

1TB – $299.99; 2TB – $449.99; 4TB – $699.99

Best Prices Today:

$184.99

$269.99

$269.99

$269.99

Many portable drives use a standard USB-C port for connecting to a Mac or PC, but SanDisk’s Pro-G40 opts for a high-speed Thunderbolt 3 port to provide maximum performance for professional users who need to work with large video and graphics files (and, of course, it’s backward-compatible with USB-C as well).

The Pro-G40 was first released in 2022, and was already on our list of the best SSD drives for Mac, but this current model provides both improved performance and higher capacity for your work files. The design hasn’t changed though, with a compact, portable drive that measures just 12mm thick, 58mm wide and 111mm long. It weighs just over 120g – depending on the capacity you choose – so you can slip it into a jacket pocket or into a carrying case alongside your MacBook with no trouble at all. The drive is also extremely tough, with a sturdy metal case that is rated IP68 – one of the highest ratings possible – for resistance to water, dust and other particles. Western Digital, which now owns the SanDisk brand, also claims that the drive can survive drops from a height of 3m, and can withstand crushing pressure of up to 4000lbs. The drive even includes a five-year warranty as well.

The 2022 version of the Pro-G40 provided read and write speeds of 2700MB/s and 1900MB/s respectively when using the Thunderbolt cable included in the box, but the current model is rated at 3000MB/s for read and 2500MB/s for write speeds. Our tests showed it to be absolutely spot-on for write performance, consistently hitting 2500MB/s. The read performance didn’t quite hit the quoted 3000MB/s, settling at just over 27000MB/s, but that’s still far faster than most USB-C drives, and provides the sort of performance that professional users need for backing up their work files.

That combination of high performance and ultra-rugged design does mean that the Pro-G40 is quite a bit more expensive than many USB-C drives, so it’s probably overkill if you just need an affordable portable drive for backing up personal files. However, professional users will be pleased to find that the price of the Pro-G40 has been reduced recently, with the 1TB model now costing $299.99/£294.99, while the 2TB version is $449.99/£441.99. And, as mentioned, there’s a new 4TB version to provide extra capacity, priced at $699.99/£687.99.

Read our full

SanDisk Professional PRO-G40 review

SanDisk Desk Drive

Pros

• Good performance
• Up to 8TB capacity
• Compact design

Cons

• Requires mains power
• No additional ports

Price When Reviewed:

4TB: $379.99; 8TB: $699.99

The lightweight, compact design of solid-state drives makes them a great option if you need a portable back-up drive to use with your MacBook when you’re traveling. However, portable SSDs do tend to have limited storage capacity, often with a maximum of just 1TB or 2TB. In contrast, the SanDisk Desk Drive provides both high-speed SSD performance and high capacity too, starting with a minimum of 4TB for $379.99/£359.99. If that’s not enough then you can also step up to 8TB, for $699.99/£663.99.

As the name suggests, the Desk Drive is very much designed for desktop use in an office, and it’s larger than most conventional SSDs, standing 40.2mm high and 99.2mm on each side, and weighing 268g. The drive itself is still small and light enough to slip into a backpack or traveling bag along with your MacBook, but it does require a mains power supply as well, so this isn’t a drive that is going to leave the office very often (we did try to power it through a USB-C port on our MacBook Pro, but that didn’t work).

It’s also a little disappointing that the Desk Drive just has a single USB-C port for data transfer. At this price, a couple of extra ports would have been a useful bonus, especially for MacBook models that only have a couple of USB-C ports of their own.

We didn’t have any complaints about the Desk Drive’s performance, though. SanDisk quotes a speed of 1GB/s, although the results we got were closer to 925MB/s and 910MB/s for write and read speeds respectively. That’s not as fast as some high-end SSDs that are designed for professional users – such as SanDisk’s own Pro Blade system – but it’s still a lot faster than a conventional hard drive, and the Desk Drive will be a very good option for people who simply need a fast backup drive that provides plenty of storage for photos, videos and work files.

Seagate OneTouch SSD

Pros

• Ships with USB cables that cover both USB-C and USB-A
• Sturdily built

Cons

• Doesn’t offer hardware encryption options

Price When Reviewed:

500GB – $94.99; 1TB – $169.99; 2TB – $309.99

Best Prices Today:

Seagate’s OneTouch hard drives are a popular choice with many users. The OneTouch SSD is the smallest and lightest portable drive we’ve ever seen and is available in black, silver or blue.

When sitting flat on the desk it measures just 2in/50mm wide, 2.7in/70mm deep and a mere 0.4in/10.6mm thick. And it weighs only 2.6oz/74g, so you can easily slip it into your pocket and carry it around with your laptop or iPad when you’re traveling. It’s sturdily built too, with Seagate claiming that it can withstand being dropped from a height of 6.5 foot/2m.

The OneTouch drive has a USB-C interface, but Seagate includes both USB-C and USB-A cables so that you can use it with most Macs and PCs straight out of the box.

It works with Apple’s Time Machine for automatic backups, but Seagate also includes its own ToolKit app, which has a ‘sync’ option for backing up specific folders. The drive also includes a one-year free subscription to the Mylio photo-organizer app, and four months with Adobe’s CC Photography plan, normally $9.99/£9.98 a month on an annual plan (read our guide to getting the best deal on Adobe Creative Cloud).

The drive is available with 500GB, 1TB or 2TB of storage, so it provides plenty of room for backing up large libraries of photos, videos or music. It doesn’t quite match Seagate’s quoted speed of 1GB/s, but it recorded read and write speeds of 835MB/s and 915MB/s respectively in our tests, which still put it among the fastest solid-state drives that we’ve tested recently. And, with its ridiculously light and compact design, the OneTouch will be ideal for backing up all your important files when you’re on the move.

LaCie Rugged Mini SSD

Pros

• Compact, rugged design
• Up to 4TB storage
• 3-year warranty

Cons

• Expensive
• No Thunderbolt interface
• Requires USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 for maximum performance

Price When Reviewed:

500GB = $89.99; 1TB $129.99; 2TB – $234.99; 4TB – $439.99

Continuing LaCie’s Rugged range of hard drives and SSDs. These have long been popular with people who need a sturdy back-up drive that can cope with rough weather and conditions when working outdoors, but the Rugged drives have always tended to be rather large and bulky – like the Rugged SSD Pro (above) – so LaCie has produced a more compact option in the form of the new Rugged Mini SSD.

As you might expect, the Rugged Mini looks very much like its rugged relatives, with LaCie’s distinctive bright orange rubber sleeve helping to keep the drive safe. But, of course, it’s a lot smaller than previous models, measuring just 17.3mm thick, 66.9mm wide, 105mm long. It only weighs 114g as well, so you can easily slip it into a jacket pocket or backpack when you’re traveling.

Despite that compact design, the Rugged Mini is still tough enough to cope with some rough treatment. It’s rated IP54 for water and dust resistance, so it should be able to cope with life outdoors if you’re working on location for a photo- or video shoot. And, thanks to that rubber sleeve, it can handle drops of up to 3m and even survive being driven over by a 1-tonne truck. And if that’s not tough enough, the drive comes with a three-year warranty that includes LaCie’s Rescue Data Recovery Service, to help restore any lost data.

The drive’s USB-C port will work with any Mac or PC that also has USB-C or Thunderbolt. But, like a number of drives that we’ve seen recently, it uses a version of USB known as USB 3.2 Gen 2×2, which isn’t fully supported by Macs at the moment. This means that Macs won’t be able to get the full 2000MB/s speeds supported by that interface, and our tests confirmed this, recording write and read speeds of 900MB/s and 970MB/s respectively. We’ve seen stronger performance from some rival drives, but those speeds should be perfectly adequate for routine backups when you’re on the road, and the sturdy design of the Rugged Mini makes it a good option for people who need a drive that they can use outdoors on a regular basis.

Pricing is a little confusing, though. In the US, the Rugged Mini costs $84.99/£74.99 (1TB), $109.99/£99.99 (2TB), and $159.99/£149.99 (4TB). We’ve seen much lower prices from Amazon and other online retailers, so it’s definitely worth shopping around before buying.

WD My Passport SSD

Pros

• Lightweight
• Offers USB-C and A
• Hardware encryption

Cons

• Expensive
• Remarkably short cable
• Software issues

Price When Reviewed:

500GB – $59.99; 1TB – $74.99; 2TB – $179.99; 4TB – $319.99

Western Digital’s Passport drives have always provided portable, lightweight designs, and the My Passport SSD combines compact design with strong performance and additional security features.

Available in a variety of colors, the My Passport SSD provides up to 4TB of solid-state storage, although the 1TB model that we review here costs $74.99/£94.99.

The drive measures just 0.35in/9mm thick, and weighs 1.6oz/46g, so it’s small enough to slip into a jacket pocket when you’re on the move. However, it’s also tough enough to survive being dropped from a height of two metres.

The drive is equipped with a USB-C interface, but WD includes a USB-C cable and a USB-A adaptor with the drive, so you can still use it with older Macs that don’t have USB-C. The solid-state drive provides good performance too, recording a write speed of 935MB/s and read speed of 908MB/s, making it a great option for backing up your important files on the move.

It’s secure too, as WD’s Discovery app allows you to set a password for the drive in order keep your files safe. There’s a second app as well, called WD Unlocker, which is built into the drive itself, and allows you to enter the password so that you can use the drive with another Mac or PC if you need to.

When the drive was first introduced there were complaints that the WD apps hadn’t been properly updated to 64-bit code for the latest versions of the macOS, but we tested the drive with our office Macs and didn’t encounter any problems.

Read a full review over on our sister site Tech Advisor.

Samsung Portable SSD T7 Shield

Pros

• Rugged & shock resistant
• Password protection
• USB-C cable and a USB-A adaptor included

Cons

• The standard T7 is cheaper and may be sufficient for your needs.

Price When Reviewed:

1TB – $129.99; 2TB – $219.99; 4TB – $389.99

Best Prices Today:

$99.99

$109.99

$109.99

$109.99

There are three versions of Samsung’s T7. The standard T7 is a compact, lightweight SSD that looks very similar to the old T5 – although it boasts higher performance, so make sure you check the model numbers before buying. We tested the T7 Shield, which is a more rugged model, wrapped in a sturdy rubber sleeve designed for outdoor use. Both of those models can use Samsung’s Portable SSD app to add password protection for your files, but there’s also a third model called the T7 Touch that has a built-in fingerprint sensor for extra security and convenience.

Available in black, blue or silver, the T7 Shield costs $129/£110 with 1TB of storage, but we are seeing great discounts now it’s been out a while. It has a USB-C interface for connecting to your Mac, but Samsung includes a USB-C cable and a USB-A adaptor so that you can use it with older Macs that have USB-A. The rugged protective sleeve means that it’s a little larger than the other T7 models, measuring 0.5in/13mm thick, 2.3in/59mm wide and 3.4in/88mm long, and weighing 3.4oz/98g. Even so, it’s still small enough to slip into a jacket pocket or backpack with no trouble at all, and many people will appreciate the extra protection that it offers.

The T7 Shield is rated IP65 for water- and dust-resistance, and Samsung claims that the shock-resistant rubber sleeve can survive drops from a height of three meters.

It’s a good performer too. Samsung quotes read and write speeds of 1,000MB/s, but our tests with the Blackmagic disk tool actually recorded a read speed of 1,780MB/s, and a write speed of 1,300MB/s, which makes the T7 Shield a great backup option for people who need to work outdoors with their laptop.

OWC Express 1M2 USB4 SSD

Pros

• Very high data transfer rates
• High-quality housing
• Good cooling without a fan

Price When Reviewed:

1TB: $219.99 I 2TB: $299.99 I 4TB: $529.99 I 8TB: $1,299.99

Best Prices Today:

$229.99

$229.99

$229.99

$229.99

The OWC Express 1M2’s cooling fins alone account for around half of the overall height of this external SSD. The aluminum housing is quite large at 5.2 by 2.8 by 0.9 inches (13.2 by 7.1 by 2.3 centimeters) and the very high-quality metal housing also has sufficiently large rubber surfaces on the underside.

To test for speed, we used two benchmarks, Aja System Test Lite and Blackmagicdesign Disk Speed Test. The results are impressive: 2736MBps (write) and 2980MBps (read) in Aja System Test Lite. The values with Blackmagicdesign Disk Speed Test were around 100MBps higher–it cracked the 3000 MBps mark in the read test.

Read our full

OWC Express 1M2 USB4 SSD review

How we test Mac SSDs

We test SSD drives with our Mac running the latest version of macOS. We format the drive before we begin and then we run benchmarks and perform real-world operations to determine its speed relative to other similar drives. We also look at longevity and durability – we want to make sure that a drive won’t die after a few months of use, so the build and construction matters. Portability is also considered, assuming the drive is designed to be portable.

Why you should trust Macworld

At Macworld been putting Mac hardware through its paces for decades. We know how to root out the strengths and weaknesses of a SSD drive using a combination of rigorous benchmark testing and real-world hands-on use.

How to choose an SSD: Buying advice

You’ve read our recommendations of the best SSDs for Mac owners on the market right now. But how did we reach these decisions, and what general advice should you follow when selecting the best SSD for your needs?

SSDs vs hard drives

Cost per gigabyte is the main stumbling block. You might pay $200 for a 1TB portable SSD, whereas a 1TB external hard drive costs around $25.

This is because hard drives use relatively cheap spinning platters to store data. SSDs employ NAND memory chips. They are pricier, but also faster and allow for much smaller enclosures.

If you decide in favor of hard drives, see our roundup of the best Mac hard drives.

Which connectors to choose

Another thing to take note of is whether the SSD connects via Thunderbolt 5, 4 or 3, and USB 4 or USB-C, USB 3 or USB 3.2×2. The latter is one to avoid if you are a Mac user because Apple supports only 10Gbps with USB 3.2, meaning 3.2×2 20Gbps SSDS are constrained to half their potential.

There are some SSD drives that support the new Thunderbolt 5 standard, which brings speeds of up to 80Gbps if you have a Mac with M4 Pro or M4 Max. We’ve looked at some Thunderbolt 5 equipped SSDs below.

How fast can you expect SSD file transfers to be? The top external SSDs can read and write at up to around 550MB/s.

However, to get these speeds you need a port on your Mac or MacBook that can handle this bandwidth.

If you’ve got a Mac model with a Thunderbolt/USB-C port, you’re set. While external SSDs use USB 3.1 standards rather than Thunderbolt, the port also supports USB 3.1 Gen 1 and Gen 2, which is what we’re after.

Most modern Macs have a Thunderbolt 4 port, but some MacBook Pro models already have Thunderbolt 5 (Pro and Max versions) as does the Mac mini with the Pro chip, and the Mac Studio. Thunderbolt 4 is almost exactly the same as Thunderbolt 3 was, but it has stricter implementation requirements and some changes for PC users which just bring it into line with what Mac users already had. Thunderbolt 5 is the highest-performing interfaces for external storage. We explain everything you need to know about Thunderbolt 5 vs Thunderbolt 4 and 3 vs USB4 separately. Thunderbolt 5 is a big step up from Thunderbolt 4. Bandwidth doubles from 40Gbps to 80Gbps, display connections go as fast as 120Gbps. That’s up to three times more bandwidth than previous existing connectivity solutions.

How much storage do I need?

Recent external SSDs tend to come in three or four capacities: 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB and you might even find 8TB.

You’ll want to think carefully about the capacity you need, as the cost difference between 500GB and 1TB models is usually stark. There aren’t the same relatively minor price leaps seen in 1-4TB hard drives.

We can’t answer this one for you, but it’s a good idea to do a quick mental calculation. For example, 4K footage from a Panasonic Lumix GH4 camera eats up 4GB every five minutes. Video editors who work in 4K need a lot of storage.

However, if you just need to back up or carry around some movies and photos, a smaller-capacity model may well do the trick. Check out your Mac’s own storage capacity and use that as a guide. We recommend about twice that number because it allows you to make a full back up and store some incremental backups too.

Just don’t assume that the lowest-cost drives provide the best value. It’s usually the case that the higher the capacity the better the price per gigabyte is. The best value is usually the highest capacity, but that also means a higher price, so you probably want something in the middle of that, depending on your needs.

2.5in or ultra-portable?

SSD performance varies from around 300-500MB/s read speeds all the way up to 3000MB/s, but there are three basic physical forms of SSD. And two can be considered portable.

‘Naked’ SSD boards plug directly into PCIe or SATA interfaces. These are the kind you might use to replace the SSD in a laptop, or add to a desktop. They are not really portable.

2.5in SSDs offer a mix of portability and internal use, and are the cheapest way to get a portable drive. They have a plastic casing, avoiding damage to the components, but use SATA connectors rather than USB.

You can buy an enclosure to get more protection and that all-important USB or Thunderbolt interface, or even just use a SATA-to-USB cable. We use one of these cables in the office to ferry around test files on a 2.5in SSD.

For the ultimate portable experience you need a ‘pocket’ SSD, though, not one based on 2.5in drive dimensions. These are designed to be used with USB or Thunderbolt connectors, not those found inside a Mac or MacBook.

You’ll mostly find this kind below. They are incredibly small and convenient. However, they are more expensive than 2.5in-style drives, so you may want to consider the larger type if lower spend is a top concern.

Shock-proof and rugged?

Other features to look out for include IP-ratings for weather protection and password protection for your important files.

SSDs are more durable than hard drives. They have no moving parts, and won’t be damaged if they are moved or knocked while writing data. While modern hard drives have some level of shock protection, it’s still a big issue.

You can treat an SSD pretty mean before it starts complaining.

Some portable SSDs even offer water resistance. You can also get ruggedization in a specialized drive enclosure, if you choose to go down the 2.5in drive route.

This is a huge portability benefit. But if they are sat still all day, are SSDs more reliable than HDDs? Hard drives tend to fail mechanically. For example, the motor that spins the platters might burn out. SSDs’ memory cells age, which can lead to failure. Both kinds require specialist recovery. As ever,
back up important data.

However, for our purposes, as people who occasionally have to fling drives in rucksacks and plug them in while sat in an airplane seat, SSDs are the clear winner.

Software

Just remember to check that any apps provided by the manufacturer work with Macs and well as Windows PCs.