External SSD advice for Photos, USB-C, 2Tb

[MrMister111]

Any recommendations for an external SSD drive USB-C to be used for the M1 iMac of 2Tb size.

What speed etc is recommended to access Photos smoothly.

I want the external drive to be encrypted for security in case ever stolen.

I’m not sure on the format it would need to be as well or anything so need advice on that to.

Thanks

 

[alFR]

I've been happy with the Samsung external drives: I have a 1TB T5 and a 2TB T7. They're tiny, light and very fast: the T7 is faster than the T5 (USB 3.2 Gen.2 vs. USB 3.1 Gen.2) but either would be plenty fast enough for what you're wanting. They come with Samsung software for setting a device password but I haven't bothered using that, I just format the drive as APFS (encrypted).

 

[Boyd01]

I have three 2tb Samsung T7's and 3 of the older T3's in smaller capacites, they have all been great. I also just wipe them and format as APFS, there have been some threads where people had issues with the included Samsung software. There also used to be a version of the Samsung drives with a fingerprint sensor for security. Never had an interest in that, so not sure if they still exist.

 

[MrMister111]

I have three 2tb Samsung T7's and 3 of the older T3's in smaller capacites, they have all been great. I also just wipe them and format as APFS, there have been some threads where people had issues with the included Samsung software. There also used to be a version of the Samsung drives with a fingerprint sensor for security. Never had an interest in that, so not sure if they still exist.

Samsung T series SSD seem to be popular, not sure on speed difference between T5 and T7. Looks like the 2Tb T7 I’d need is about £220.

 

[Boyd01]

This is what I get. However, you should do a bit of research on the M1. Have seen more than one thread here that suggested USB 3.0 SSD's do not perform as well on the M1 Mini, the examples I saw were worse than I'm getting on the 2018 Mini. Depending on the details, makes me wonder if the T5 wouldn't be about the same speed?

I don't have a T5, however my three older T3's are only about half as fast as this. That is over USB-A on my 2012 and 2014 Mini's however, not USB-C.

 

[cr2]

Check Costco (or other places) for Black Friday deals. I have been using Sandisks for a few years. Prices have come down a lot! 1TB for about $100 and 2TB for about $200.

 

[MrMister111]

Wonder what the problem is then with M1 chip. Not good if so, wonder if there is a bottleneck. Surely Apple should have tested this with the minimal ports on M1 computers. Is it specific to Samsung or all external SSD’s?

Is it safe to buy 2nd hand SSD? I wouldn’t for an old still HDD as could be worn out, whereas SSD are memory chips, so presume a lot better and last longer?

Thanks

 

[KaliYoni]

SSD are memory chips, so presume a lot better and last longer?

Something to keep in mind with SSDs, memory cards, and USB memory sticks is that solid state storage only lasts for a finite number of write operations. Essentially, each "cell" of memory degrades a little every time something is written to it. This means that larger capacity drives have the potential to last longer because writes are spread over a larger number of cells.

So a used SSD's remaining life will depend a lot on how the previous owner(s) used it (backups? primary boot drive? frequently used file storage?) and how close to capacity the drive was kept.

 

[MrMister111]

So managed to get a 2Tb T7 ordered, for good price from Black Friday deal, on back order.

So as I say I want it encrypted as going to use my Photos library on it and want it safe.

So should it be APFS (Encrypted) format? Do I just plug in and format as APFS (Encrypted).

Are the issues still happening on M1 Mac’s that people mention? Also some say its not very fast using APFS (Encrypted).

Thanks