Most external hard drives (HD) are. You can, but not out of the box. Hard drives advertised as being compatible with Windows and Mac OS may have misled you into thinking you could actually use one hard drive for both computers. Photo by Sharon Vaknin/CNET If you need to expand your storage space with an external hard drive and you use both Mac and PC, youll likely run into a few obstacles.You will need to use an adapter to plug a Thunderbolt 2 device into a Thunderbolt 3 port.Not sure what ports you have? Apple offers up a handy guide to identifying the ports on your Mac. If you’re buying a drive with Thunderbolt, check which version it supports. The next best thing is a USB-C drive, which will still give you great transfer speeds.Some earlier Macs use Thunderbolt 2 ports, which are shaped differently and don’t double as USB ports.The low price and good reviews may be enough to make that worthwhile for you. If you have a newer Mac laptop that only comes with Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, you’ll need an adapter to hook this drive up. You can also choose from some fun colors besides basic black.The standard version uses USB 3.0, which is widely supported on a lot of Macs. It’s portable enough to toss into your briefcase or backpack. It has 1 terabyte of storage, with options to move up to 2, 3, or 4 terabytes. A solid all-around choiceThe Western Digital 1TB My Passport drive ticks a lot of boxes.
Best External Storage 2016 Mac OS May HaveYou get a ton of storage that includes a two-port hub on the front for hooking up your USB gadgets or charging your phone. Get a hub with your driveThe 8 TB Seagate Backup Plus Hub for Mac would make for an ideal companion for your home computing setup. You can also choose from various connection types, including USB-C. The drives are available in 1 TB, 2 TB, or 4 TB options. Adobe update management tool for macYou have your choice of Thunderbolt 3 or standard USB ports.You may also like: Scam alert: No, that’s not Apple callingThis might not be the sort of drive you’ll want to pack up and carry around with you, but it gives you a ton of backup room and fast data transfer speeds for your Thunderbolt 3-equipped Mac. The upright drive is geared for sitting on a desk without taking up too much space. This drive means businessThe LaCie d2 Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.1 external hard drive is an investment, but you get 6 terabytes of storage and an enterprise-level design for that price. Then click on “Use as Backup Disk.”Time Machine will make regular backups and automatically delete the oldest ones to make room for the newest. Apple recommends leaving the “Encrypt Backup Disk” option checked. When you connect an external storage drive, your Mac will ask if you want to use it to back up with Time Machine. Quick tip: Use Apple’s Time Machine to back up your computerApple’s built-in Time Machine system gives you an easy way to back up your important Mac data, and setup is simple. You may even want two different drives: one to live on your desk and one that you can take with you when you need it.Backing up your data is always a smart move, and these drives help make it simple.
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