How much battery power will an external hard drive use?

I have a G-Tech 1TB G-DRIVE USB 3.0 Mobile Hard Drive I run from my MacBook Air. When running on battery power how much with the hard drive use. What will it do to the battery life?

G-Tech 1TB G-DRIVE USB 3.0 Mobile H-OTHER, iOS 6.0.2

Posted on Dec 31, 2012 10:54 PM

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1 reply

Dec 31, 2012 11:02 PM in response to akmwildcat

The system will limit how much power goes to the USB port, so it is best to have either an external/wall-powered drive or to use a powered USB-hub (pugs into wall outlet) so the MBA only has to provide communications.


Faster talking to the drive (when it is self=powered) will take slightly more juice than when communications are silent. Powering that drive via USB id limited by power-distribution system and may shut down that USB port,

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How much battery power will an external hard drive use?

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