Gear
The SSD Guide
I put a big stack of external SSDs through real-world speed tests on Mac, so you can skip the guesswork and buy the right one.
Loading the latest drive results…
About These Tests
This page compares the external SSDs I’ve tested on Mac, from everyday USB 3.2 drives like the Samsung T7 and Crucial X9 Pro up to Thunderbolt 5 drives like the OWC Envoy Ultra. Every drive gets the same tests: a 100GB copy, a 500GB copy, and sustained read and write speeds. They’re grouped into three speed tiers (USB 3.2 10G, USB4 and Thunderbolt 3/4 40G, and Thunderbolt 5 80G) so you can see what each class is good for. Thunderbolt 5 speeds need a Thunderbolt 5 Mac: M4 Pro, M4 Max, M5 Pro, M5 Max, M3 Ultra, or M5 Ultra.