Solid-state drives – aka SSD – used to be really expensive, but prices have really fallen in the last few years, and you can now pick up fast, reliable SSDs that cost only slightly more than their hard drive counterparts.
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 travelling. That’s reflected in the drives 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.
Even the slowest SSDs are generally faster than mechanical hard drives, but there are still speed differences, with entry-level models providing speeds of around 500MB/s, while more advanced models can step up to 1000MB/s or even 2000MB/s. Other features to look out for include IP-ratings for weather protection, and password protection for your important files. Just remember to check that any apps provided by the manufacturer work with Macs.
SSDS VERSUS 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.
2.5-INCH OR ULTRA‑PORTABLE?
SSD performance varies from around 300- to 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.
2.5-inch 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
