External SSD drive for new MacBook Pro?

You have to use the right cables to get the best performance. Samsung X5 with the Thunderbolt 3 cable is the fastest SSD I have. There may be newer drive coming out for the TB4 protocol but I haven’t seen any. For regular USB-C, which is plenty fast for most things, the Samsung T5 and T7s are very good. For size I love the SanDisks, though I wish they came in colors so you could tell the sizes apart. 2 TB in your pocket, half the size of a phone, is amazing. There are probably a lot of others, but that’s what’s been working for me.

"I wish they came in colors so you could tell the sizes apart"

Small self adhesive coloured labels?

I don't find the T7s hot compared to other drives. Fast enough depends on what you're doing. I can't speed test it at the moment because the only T7 I have with me has been forced into Time Machine duties. (TM has problems in Monterey.) SSDs should be formatted APFS.

Thanks Ian. That’s probably what I should do. The textured rubber grippy surface might make it difficult. The drives do get warm, though not as hot as the comparably designed Crucial SSD.

Mine is formatted APFS