Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

What is the best external hard drive for imac?

I am looking for an external hard drive for my Mac. Plan to port all my photos and videos there and then clean them up. and use for general backup. Assuming in the neighborhood of 5 TB to 8 TB.


Which hard drive do you recommend for speed, reliability, etc. Started to look at LaCie and G Technology (which I understand are really Seagate and Western Digital repectively)


What would you get?


iMac 27″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Jan 15, 2022 6:59 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 16, 2022 4:46 AM

I've used LaCie, Seagate, Samsung, Western Digital and a couple of other lesser known brands. Performance has been excellent for all of them. Hard drive technology is mature and this shows, to me at least, in the form of the two failures in the last seven years and low prices.


The only problems I had were with drives over the 5 years old and brand did not seem to be a factor: one Lacie and one Seagate. Actually the LaCie enclosure failed, not the drive. When removed from its enclosure, it has run flawlessly.


My "problem" is SSDs are cheap enough to ditch the HDDS and go purely solid state. A little bit more costly, but going from a nominal 120 MBps to 450 MBps (USB-A) or 980MBps (USB-C./Thunderbolt) was too attractive to ignore.

17 replies
Sort By: 
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 16, 2022 4:46 AM in response to MacFan78

I've used LaCie, Seagate, Samsung, Western Digital and a couple of other lesser known brands. Performance has been excellent for all of them. Hard drive technology is mature and this shows, to me at least, in the form of the two failures in the last seven years and low prices.


The only problems I had were with drives over the 5 years old and brand did not seem to be a factor: one Lacie and one Seagate. Actually the LaCie enclosure failed, not the drive. When removed from its enclosure, it has run flawlessly.


My "problem" is SSDs are cheap enough to ditch the HDDS and go purely solid state. A little bit more costly, but going from a nominal 120 MBps to 450 MBps (USB-A) or 980MBps (USB-C./Thunderbolt) was too attractive to ignore.

Reply

Jan 15, 2022 8:36 AM in response to MacFan78

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities.


LaCie and G-Technology are both excellent brands.


What year is your Mac? Since LaCie drives only ship with a USB-C cable now, they should only be used on iMac (2017) or later. If you have an earlier Mac OR a 2017 or later, a G-Technology drive will work for both. They ship with both cables.


Here's an excellent LaCie drive: LaCie 8TB d2 Professional Desktop Hard Drive - Apple.

Here's an excellent G-Technology drive: G-Technology 10TB G-DRIVE USB-C External Hard Drive - Apple.


Jack

Reply

Jan 15, 2022 7:50 AM in response to MacFan78

Many experienced users on this forum recommend drives with their own power supply (rather than a more portable bus powered HD) for long term reliability. I actually use both, Seagate "Made for Mac" 4 TB drive that I bought several years ago at an Apple store and a Western Digital USB drive. Both have worked well for me. I use the Seagate only for Time Machine back up and the WD drive for a clone of my Mac's HD that I keep off-site. The OWC Mercury Elite Pro is the most recommendation on this forum. It is a little to the high side of priced competitively but reportedly rugged & reliable. If I were to in the market for another I would buy that drive. When you get a new drive I recommend reformatting the drive for use with your Mac (vs using any included software).

Reply

Jan 15, 2022 2:06 PM in response to MacFan78

And I went to "About This Mac", "Specifications" and this is what it says:


iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014) - Technical Specifications


Connections and Expansion

§  Headphone port

§  SDXC card slot

§  Four USB 3 ports (compatible with USB 2)

§  Two Thunderbolt 2 ports

o   Mini DisplayPort output

o   Support for DVI, VGA, and dual-link DVI (adapters sold separately)

§  10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)

§  Kensington lock slot


So I need to figure out the USB-C part based on what I have


Reply

Jan 15, 2022 7:15 PM in response to MacFan78

I build my own…


External cases I get from Other World Computing,

either a three and a half for platter drives,

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ME3QHKIT0GB/


or a two and a half for solid state drives…

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MSTG800U3K/

Get a power supply for the two and a half…

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MOTGPWR/


Drives I get from NewEgg…

Platter - Western Digital Black

https://www.newegg.com/black-wd6003fzbx-6tb/p/234-000G-000W5


Solid State - Samsung 870 EVO

https://www.newegg.com/samsung-1tb-870-evo-series/p/N82E16820147793

Make sure the seller is NewEgg


Hint - Don’t over tighten the screws.

Finger tight, and the drive vibration and noise will be reduced…



Reply

Jan 15, 2022 2:03 PM in response to MacFan78

MacFan78 wrote:

Thank you!

I have an iMac 27" with display that I purchased in late 2015/2016 with a 3.5 GHZ Quad Core Intel i5 processor.

Any preference between the LaCie or G-Technology that you recommended (whether 8 TB or 10 TB doesn't matter to me)?

Using this Apple Support article as a guide, About System Information on your Mac - Apple Support, please let us know what exact year your Mac is.


Thanks!


Jack

Reply

What is the best external hard drive for imac?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.