Here's my MacBook Pro specs taken from About this Mac: Model Name: MacBook Pro Model Identifier: Mac14,6 Model Number: Z179000JZLL/A Chip: Apple M2 Max Total Number of Cores: 12 (8 performance and 4 efficiency) Memory: 64 GB System Firmware Version: 8422.141.2 OS Loader Version: 8422.141.2 Storage: APPLE SSD AP8192Z Memory: Hynix 64GB DDR5 Graphics/Display: Chipset Model: Apple M2 Max Type: GPU Bus: Built-In Total Number of Cores: 38 Vendor: Apple (0x106b) Metal Support: Metal 3 Displays: Color LCD: Display Type: Built-in Liquid Retina XDR Display Resolution: 3456 x 2234 Retina Main Display: Yes Mirror: Off Online: Yes Automatically Adjust Brightness: Yes Connection Type: Internal I received this MBP in late February 2023. After I had "moved in" on my new machine, I attempted to copy approximately 4TB of data (photos, video, music, personal files - I am a full-time creative who dabbles in design, audio/video editing, and soon to start some 3D modeling. I have LOTS of data everywhere). Immediately I was disappointed because I couldn't even get the copy to begin. It would stall on "Getting ready to copy....calculating size..." for days on end. In two days, I think it copied over about 2GB. I began researching issues with slow copy/move/transfer on the new MBPs and found a lot of articles discussing the issue for the M1 Pro and M1 Max. Here's a list of those sources (a few of them point to the same test done by one tester): DP Review: https://www.dpreview.com/news/8848595577/tests-show-thunderbolt-ports-on-m1-macs-don-t-fully-support-usb-3-1-gen-2-speeds#:~:text=Apple's%20M1%20Macs%20are%20equipped,also%20up%20to%2040Gb%2Fs 9to5Mac: https://9to5mac.com/2022/04/18/m1-mac-thunderbolt-4-ports-speed-tests/ https://benfrain.com/the-thunderbolt-usb-c-ports-on-m1-macs-dont-work/ https://pocketnow.com/lenovo-thinkcentre-m90a-pro-gen-4-all-in-one-desktop/ https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/m1-macs-could-have-problem-with-their-thunderbolt-ports/ https://eclecticlight.co/2023/02/28/getting-best-performance-from-thunderbolt-on-apple-silicon-macs-a-practical-guide/ I think I've realized my REAL issue here though. When I migrated my old MBP to this M2 Max with the migration tool, all of my files were brought over. Then, as I restalled software (Dropbox, Drive, One Drive, iCloud), I did not realize that all of those things were synching everything to each other as well as my local drive...causing me in some cases to have anywhere from 4-12 copies of every file, all in different folder locations on the local drive. Short story: My hard drive was full and there was not enough head room for anything to move. It was a traffic jam. So after visiting the Apple Store and the Genius expert, we decided the best course of action would be for me to purchase an external drive and create a brand new folder structure there, and then on the MBP internal drive, I needed to aggregate somehow/merge/update files so that everything was complete, current and not taking up more space than needed. Beyond Compare was mentioned. I looked at that title, but it was really confusing to me how to set it up safely in my particular situation. The software author recommended that I take one source (for example, a Dropbox folder) and use BC to go through it and formulate a clean structure. Then move on to another source folder to do the same until I had worked through all the source folders and distilled them down as much as possible. Then, I could set up BC to compare among the several folders, which would be much easier. I was still scared. The first step was to shut down all the syncing services to stop that madness because my laptop was beginning to lock up - grinding to a halt and overheating. I have been stumped as to what the best solution would be for me as far as an external drive - I NEED speed, but my files can sometimes be 6-10GB. I want to transfer my files quickly - not a week at a time. Eventually, I want to build a server with tons of room to expand (up to 20 drives) where I can store my files and access them from anywhere in the world, but that's another project with a pretty hefty build price on it. This will eliminate my need to subscribe to cloud services and have multiple copies of the same file and different versions on each device. It will also serve as my Time Machine backup and a Plex server. Until I get to that point, though, I need something in the interim to help me restructure my folder structure and eliminate the duplication mess. I was looking at trying to figure out how to make a Seagate Exos 2x18 (12GB/s SAS) connect directly to my new MBP. I guess there's not a logical way to do that. Do you have any suggestions?