best external hard drive time machine over network

USB-C equipped Macs can work well from a USB-C (USB 3.1) equipped hard drive, especially if the disk inside of the enclosure is an SSD. If you opt for a USB-only device, pre-2015 Macs will be slower when booting from that device. However, we frequently get asked for a recommendation, so here's a list of some hard drive enclosures that we have tested with good results. It would be nearly impossible for us to curate an exhaustive list of every enclosure/Mac combination that does and does not work.

Most hard drive enclosures will work just fine for your backups, however, some cannot function as a bootable device. Backing up to a FireWire device is fine, but if you need a bootable backup, you should use a device that can be attached to your Mac via USB or Thunderbolt. it's older than 2012), a USB device may boot your Mac, but performance will be considerably slower than your Mac's internal hard drive.Ĭatalina users: Apple no longer supports booting a Mac from a FireWire-attached device. Thunderbolt+USB). If your Mac does not offer native USB 3.0 support (e.g. We generally recommend purchasing an enclosure that offers multiple interface options (e.g. Any of these interfaces will work fine for backing up and safeguarding your data. Many hard drive enclosures have Firewire, USB, Thunderbolt or a combination of interfaces for connecting the hard drive to your computer.

Best external hard drive time machine over network