Backup Drive for new iMac - which USB connector ?

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Level 1

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Backup Drive for new iMac - which USB connector ?

I recently purchased a new 24" iMac. To back it up, I purchased a new Seagate One Touch 5TB USB 3.0 portable hard drive.

To my surprise, the end of the Seagate cable connector which is to connect to the iMac is the original (large) size USB. Of course, this does NOT fit into the 24" iMac ports which are USB 3 and USB 4. I realize there is an adaptor I can use to make the connect, however, I'm still confused about what my best strategy should be. i.e.,

do I sacrifice speed or reliability if I use an adaptor?
any recommendations for other back-up drives which would not require an adaptor?

Many thanks for any info you can offer.

Posted on Jun 4, 2022 2:25 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

ku4hx

Level 7

23,586 points

Jun 5, 2022 6:59 AM in response to larrybobba

Speed is a much lesser concern. Once the first dataset is made, subsequent backups will go quite quickly. Of course if you add a large amount of data, its first backup will be slower. I'd opt for HDD size over SSD speed unless the cost of a large SSD is of no concern. Best practice is an HDD 2-3x the size of whatever data you have on your internal drive. For 100% coverage ... 2-3x the size rating of the entire internal drive.

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Answer 2

dialabrain

Level 10

124,685 points

Jun 4, 2022 2:49 PM in response to larrybobba

One option…

USB-C to USB Adapter - Apple

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Answer 3

tbirdvet

Level 6

14,327 points

Jun 4, 2022 4:31 PM in response to larrybobba

The adapter will not impact your speed. For max speed you would want a TB drive and use the TB port on the iMac. But I would use your USB3 drive with the adapter.

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Backup Drive for new iMac - which USB connector ?

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