How to Choose the Best External Hard Drive for Your Mac

Choosing an external hard drive for your Mac can be overwhelming, especially with so many options available in the market. With capacities ranging from a few hundred gigabytes to several terabytes, and prices starting from under $100, buying an external hard drive isn't necessarily that simple. There are a bunch of factors worth considering before making a purchase, including everything from reliability to portability, design, capacity, speed, and connectivity.

In the past, hard drive longevity used to be measured with an estimate of 'Mean Time Before Failure' (MTBF). However, this metric was not very useful as it only predicted the average time a drive would last before failing due to manufacturing defects. Unfortunately, MTBF numbers were often inaccurately high, and desktop drives typically promised higher MTBFs than laptop drives, but there were exceptions.

Today, hard drive makers switched to a different but even less useful metric: Annualized Failure Rate (AFR), which estimates the percentage of total drives made that will fail in a year due to manufacturing defects. An AFR of '0.73%' suggests that 7,300 out of 1,000,000 drives will likely develop problems in the first year due to defects rather than abuse.

When choosing an external hard drive for your Mac, it's essential to consider factors such as reliability, durability, and capacity. Some hard drives are really cheap but have a higher chance of failing after a year or two of heavy use. On the other hand, some high-end drives may offer advanced features like USB-C connectivity, RAID support, and encryption.

In this article, we'll discuss the big issues you need to consider when buying an external hard drive for your Mac, and guide you towards the best options available in the market. Whether you're looking to store a decade worth of digital photos alongside a giant media library or simply want a reliable backup solution for your Mac, we've got you covered.

For under $139, you can buy an external hard drive with plenty of storage capacity and advanced features. For example, the Seagate USB 3.0 hard drive offers a massive 5-terabyte capacity and is available at an affordable price point. With so many options available in the market, buying an external hard drive has never been easier than it is today.

By considering these factors and doing your research, you can find the best external hard drive for your Mac that meets your specific needs and budget. Whether you're a professional photographer or simply someone who wants to backup their important files, an external hard drive is a great way to ensure your data is safe and secure.

External hard disk on mac