External drive for Time Machine on MacBook Pro

Regarding backup, the general recommendation here is called "3-2-1" ... meaning 3 copies of your data - 1 your original data, 2 backups on different media with 1 backup copy kept safely offsite. You need at least 2 backup drives to do that. Why two? Because, as you just found out, one isn't enough.

Regarding external drives you should use SSD drives, not "hard drives." You can find negative reviews about almost anything these days but that doesn't mean there are no good drives out there. Here are a few that I'd suggest:

• Crucial X9 Pro
• Samsung T7 or T9
• OWC Express 1M2

I build my own, actually all you need is a small screwdriver. Currently I prefer Samsung 870 EVO SSDs and I put them in OWC Mercury Elite Pro Mini 0GB enclosures. The Samsung 870's are available in different capacities from 250GB to 4TB. I suggest at least 1TB drives.

Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:

<< Regarding external drives you should use SSD drives, not "hard drives." >>

Could you please provide more information about why you say that.

A number of reasons.

• The OP has a 16 inch M4Pro MacBook Pro. It has TB5/USB4 ports.
• Traditional HDDs have SATA interfaces, even if installed in a TB5/USB4 enclosure they will be limited by the SATA interface ... 5-6 Gbps if the user is lucky. Barely USB 3.0 speed. Nowhere near what an SSD can do.
• Traditional HDDs are becoming fewer & fewer. And most of the HDDs that I see any more are only 5400rpm.
• With a laptop the OP probably wants something portable, not a 3.5" spinning HD that requires a power brick.

To be fair, there still are a few decent HDDs still on the market. One of my longterm faves is the 2.5" WD Black 7200 rpm drive. But it's a SATA drive and requires an enclosure with a power supply.

An SSD would be portable, utilize bus power and take advantage of the TB5/USB4 speeds available on the MBPro.

barb_st wrote:

Thank-you, Martin, for taking the time to reply and for your suggestions. I appreciate it.

As I understand it, there are 2 types of external hard drives, either HDDs or SSDs. Isn't that correct? I'm not sure why you felt the need to clarify. What I'm inquiring about is an external hard drive. That's what they call them. Beyond that, you can chose a HDD or a SSD. Am I right? If not, I'm always willing to learn.

Are you saying I should have 2 physical external hard drives as backup with one of them being off site. Wouldn't my iCloud storage be considered a second off site backup? What do you mean by 2 backups on "different media"? Do you mean 2 external backups, but they should both be external hard drives? Those are the same media. Or, do you mean an external hard drive and iCloud storage as being two different media?

My MacBook Pro has 1 TB of storage. Shouldn't I have a 3 or 4 TB backup?

As a matter of terminology, an "external hard drive" is an HDD. An SSD is an SSD, whether internal or external.

The "3-2-1" backup approach requires 2 separate drives for backup. "Different media" means different drives ... 2 different HDDs or 2 different SSDs or 1 of each.

iCloud is a file sync service, it is not backup.

Since you have a 1 TB SSD in your MBPro, I'd suggest that a Time Machine drive should be at least 2TB. More than that is a matter of personal choice.

<< It doesn't show up on my desktop. >>

Open Disk Utility. Change the tiny 'View" menu to "show all devices". With the drive connected, see if the drive appears there in any way.

it may just need FirstAid/RepairDisk

or it may not be seen at all.

or lots of cases in between.

<< Traditional HDDs have SATA interfaces, even if installed in a TB5/USB4 enclosure they will be limited by the SATA interface ... 5-6 Gbps if the user is lucky. Barely USB 3.0 speed. Nowhere near what an SSD can do. >>

You are quite right, But Time Machine runs at low priority in the background, and it may not be worth paying extra for a drive that is FAST.

[in my opinion] in the very few times you actual need to Restore from it, the speed does not make much difference.

<< With a laptop the OP probably wants something portable, not a 3.5" spinning HD that requires a power brick. >>

I mostly agree with you there. But there are some Rotating Magnetic drives are small devices that can be run with a small power brick, or a "toaster" style non-enclosure.

<< Regarding external drives you should use SSD drives, not "hard drives." >>

Could you please provide more information about why you say that.

what does your G-drive do or not do?

does it show itself in Disk Utility at all?