Today, it is easier to buy a Mac external hard drive. You can find a variety of traditional drives at affordable prices that can provide you with extra space. Generally, Macs are not equipped with large disk space, you will surely need one if you have a lot of files especially photos.
Nevertheless, buying the ideal Mac external hard drive is not a simple task. There are several factors to consider before making a purchase such as portability, design, reliability, speed, capacity and even connectivity.
Some external hard drives in the market come at cheap prices but have a higher chance of failing in just a year or two of heavy use. If you are planning to buy a Mac external hard drive, there are considerations to bear in mind to find the right one for your needs.
Overview of External Hard DrivesWhat Should Consider When Buying A Mac External Hard DriveWhat are the Benefits of Having A Mac External Hard DriveIt's A Wrap
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Overview of External Hard Drives
Majority of hard drives are guaranteed to function flawlessly for one to two years regardless of your usage whether for occasional backups to continuous video streaming. Most can last longer if not used daily. Nevertheless, if you use a typical drive mechanism 24 hours a day for up to 2 years, it will surely burn out. Remember that hard drives have a set longevity period.
It is recommended to buy an external hard drive with a specific purpose. If you are planning to buy one to store or back up photos, videos or important files, it is best to opt for a desktop-sized hard drive from a brand with a good track record for reliability and do not hesitate to pay more for it. Take note that what matters the most is not how your drive looks but guaranteed to work for a long time.
For those who want to buy an external hard drive to store games, applications or iTunes movies that can be downloaded at any time or for intermittent backups, you can opt for an affordable variant that is more portable or has a fancy look.
Quick Tip
Once you have chosen the ideal Mac external hard drive that best suits your needs, you should also make sure that your device is free from unwanted junk. With this task, you need FoneDog PowerMyMac to clean your device.
FoneDog PowerMyMac is an all-around application that provides you with a variety of tools to cater to any possible issues you might face. A specific tool that you need in PowerMyMac is “System Junk” which is found in one of its three modules, specifically the Cleaner module. With this tool, it can efficiently delete files to speed up your device while optimizing it at the same time.
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The “System Junk” tool is specially designed to clean up your system junk such as System Logs, System Cache, Application Cache, Localization and User Logs to improve overall performance and free up disk space on your device.
Let us take a close look at how to use the “System Junk” in the PowerMyMac.
- Open the program and check the overall status of your system on the main interface.
- Tap on the “Cleaner” button to see the tools under this module. This is where you will find the “System Junk” tool.
- Tap on “System Junk” and start a scan which covers System Cache, Application Cache and other system junks on your device. On the left circle, you will see the progress of the scan. If needed, you can re-scan the system just in case.
- After the scan, simply choose the system files that you want to remove.
- Tap on the “Clean” button to delete the chosen system junk files on your Mac. All the unwanted files will be deleted. In some cases, you will be prompted to key in your password.
- Tap on the “Confirm” button after you click on “Clean”. Wait for the cleaning process to finish.
What Should Consider When Buying A Mac External Hard Drive
Capacity And Price
Nowadays, you can easily choose a suitable hard drive capacity. Most of the external drives today offer at least as much space as the standard Mac (1TB). There are a variety of options to choose from.
When it comes to capacity, it all depends on your specific needs. As for the price, it increases depending on the capacity it offers.
Remember that the longer-lasting hard drives might cost more than the basic variants. These hard drives generally last longer which is a good factor to consider. Furthermore, do not be surprised if a solid state drive (SSD) has a higher price tag and offers a lower capacity than a mechanical drive. For now, SSDs are just starting to become mainstream internal drives for computers and their capacities are not yet enough for some users.
Dependability
When it comes to the reliability of a Mac external hard drive, it is best to focus on two more concrete factors – the overall reputation of the manufacturer and warranty length of the drive.
An external hard drive with a 3-year warranty is the best you can acquire from a consumer-grade drive from a top-quality manufacturer, regardless of whether it is a mechanical drive or SSD.
Portability And Design
Generally, there are 5 main forms of external hard drives – regular desktop drives, enterprise-class desktop drives, slim laptop-class portable, laptop-class portable, and flash drives. For the enterprise-class and regular desktop drives, they utilize the 3.5” hard drive mechanisms and are non-portable since they simply sit on your desk, rely on wall power and not easy to carry around.
The flash drives are the miniature, keychain-sized variants but have limited capacity. In addition, they can become quite expensive if they offer laptop-drive capacities.
For those who need a portable hard drive with decent storage capacity at a good price, you should opt for a laptop-class drive with a 2.5” hard drive mechanism.
What are the Benefits of Having A Mac External Hard Drive
Although some computers nowadays are equipped with a large internal hard drive, those who have Macs might find the hard drive capacity limited, especially for those who have a lot of files.
There are several reasons why it is a good idea to invest in a Mac external hard drive. Several manufacturers out there produce good-quality hard drives and choosing the right one for your needs might not be an easy task.
Let us take a close look at some of the benefits of having a Mac external hard drive.
- Storage capacity. One of the main reasons for utilizing an external hard drive is to increase storage capacity. Depending on the number of files that you have, an external hard drive will surely come in handy.
- Backup drive. With an external hard drive, it can function as an emergency backup drive. Remember that hard drives might crash and die, so having a backup is vital if you are using your Mac for work or for personal needs.
- Better performance. If you have an external hard drive as the boot drive, it can hasten the overall function of Macs that have sluggish internal drives. Once you decide to utilize an external hard drive as a boot drive, you should choose one with 7200 rpm drive which includes a high-capacity cache buffer.
- Most of the hard drives today are small and lightweight, making it easy to bring one wherever you go. This is a useful feature if you want to take your data such as your iTunes library during a long trip or vacation. Simply plug your hard drive into your Mac, boot up your computer using the hard drive as the boot drive. If your main concern is portability, you should opt for a smaller variant.
- Long life span. Generally, if your drive starts to malfunction or dies, you cannot utilize the computer anymore, but if your external drive malfunctions, you can still utilize your computer. In addition, having your external hard drive fixed might take less time and an affordable option than fixing the internal drive on your Mac. When an external hard drive is utilized as the main drive, it lessens the wear on your internal drive, making it last longer.
Overall, there are several reasons why it is best to use a Mac external hard drive. Make sure you decide first on the storage space that you need, portability and your budget to find the ideal external hard drive for your needs.
It's A Wrap
Depending on your specific needs, you will surely find the right Mac external hard drive with the help of the steps discussed above.
Aside from having an external hard drive for your Mac to store files or serve as a backup drive, do not forget to eliminate any unwanted files with the help of FoneDog PowerMyMac. With this tool along with your external hard drive, your Mac is free from unnecessary files while functioning optimally at the same time.
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