Samsung T7 Portable SSD [+]
Dec 30 2024
When I bought my new MBP a month and a half ago it only had 512 GB SSD internally so I also bought a Samsung T7 Shield Portable SSD with 4 TB for $286 + tax. This is a midrange/consumer-level SSD with 1 GB/s transfer speed and the shield version has a better case that is water and dust resistant. It comes with a cable and plugs into a USB-C ports.
I use it for all my data + big applications (especially Epic, Steam, and CrossOver games). Do not notice it being slow at all reading or writing (even though the internal SSD is 6x faster). Since user Library and such are on the internal SSD I can actually login to my account without the drive connected though there will be problems, but in an emergency I at least have that option.
The drive pretty small, about a half-thick pack of small playing cards (i.e. not poker cards) and fairly light. I can hook it up and put it behind the MBP screen and not notice it. Also have picked up my MBP forgetting about the drive and the cable and connectors are strong enough to not disconnect the drive.
Samsung has Magician Software 8.2 which allows you to do some SSD performance/diagnostic/maintenance functions. It wants to install a kernel extension which by default is now disabled in macOS. Apparently without the extension it doesn't see the connected T7 which doesn't bother me except if I need to update the drive's firmware. Maybe they'll one day have an updated version of Magician Software. Luckily it has a cleanup script to uninstall it.
In any case it's a portable and rugged SSD drive that is fast enough and certainly cheaper than paying for more drive space in a Mac. Don't know about long term reliability but I assume it'll be good since Samsung is good with HD and SSD drives.
I use it for all my data + big applications (especially Epic, Steam, and CrossOver games). Do not notice it being slow at all reading or writing (even though the internal SSD is 6x faster). Since user Library and such are on the internal SSD I can actually login to my account without the drive connected though there will be problems, but in an emergency I at least have that option.
The drive pretty small, about a half-thick pack of small playing cards (i.e. not poker cards) and fairly light. I can hook it up and put it behind the MBP screen and not notice it. Also have picked up my MBP forgetting about the drive and the cable and connectors are strong enough to not disconnect the drive.
Samsung has Magician Software 8.2 which allows you to do some SSD performance/diagnostic/maintenance functions. It wants to install a kernel extension which by default is now disabled in macOS. Apparently without the extension it doesn't see the connected T7 which doesn't bother me except if I need to update the drive's firmware. Maybe they'll one day have an updated version of Magician Software. Luckily it has a cleanup script to uninstall it.
In any case it's a portable and rugged SSD drive that is fast enough and certainly cheaper than paying for more drive space in a Mac. Don't know about long term reliability but I assume it'll be good since Samsung is good with HD and SSD drives.