I want a reliable, good value external SSD for my iMac. It will be used to hold a static archive of files and not for daily backups. Don’t need any more than 512GB. I’m in the UK so being able to buy without importing would be good. Thanks
Except for the Samsung T-series, which is usually recommended (T7 and T9), the Crucial X9 Pro is really good and fast, and I’m very happy with it. I got the 2 TB version on Amazon last Black Friday for less than €100 (now it’s around €170 again). Now I wish I had bought two.
There’s also the Crucial X10 Pro, but it’s not worth the price difference as no Apple device currently supports USB 3.2 Gen 2 2x2 (and Apple is unlikely to ever support that as they have implemented Thunderbolt 4 instead), so transfers from and to the X10 Pro will work with the same speed as with the X9 Pro. (It’s the same thing with Samsung’s T7 and T9, with T9 supporting 2x2.)
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Would you consider buying an external drive caddy, and sourcing your own drive? That way, you can choose the best drive for your purposes.
I will second the Crucial X9 SSDs. I have two 1TB drives for Time Machine, one at work and one at home. So lots of reads and writes – so far they haven’t let me down. My partner uses a Samsung T7 Shield for media storage (hooked up to a base level MBA with the measly 256GB of storage) and she does some light photo editing, and is very happy with it, too.
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If you can find old stock of Samsung T5s that may be better value. They are a little slower than T7s but that’s not saying much as the T7s are blazing fast.
I can get T7/T9 units in New Zealand from several walk-in shops so I would imagine they are freely available in the UK.
I’ve not used other brands at this stage, but they are reliable and truly pocketable if that’s a factor.
Thanks for all the replies. I’ve ordered a Samsung T7.
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