How are y’all with MacBooks doing Time Machine backups?

[davidg4781]

I was a mini user for about 6 or 7 years but it recently died. I’m very heavily leaning towards a MacBook but wondering what’s the best way to do Time Machine backups.

I currently have Linksys Velop for WiFi and both nodes have Ethernet ports. Will I be able to just get a NAS, hook that up, and let the MacBook do its thing? Do the latest M1 MacBooks still have Power Nap?

 

[chabig]

1. If your NAS specifically supports Time Machine, then you can use it.

Backup disks you can use with Time Machine - Apple Support

Which devices can work as a Time Machine backup destination?

support.apple.com

2. M1 machines do not have "Power Nap" because the same functionality is native to the M1 chip. Power Nap was a technology to wake a power-hungry Intel CPU periodically to accomplish background tasks. The M1 has four power efficient cores that perform the same functions. Thus, System Preferences makes no mention of Power Nap and there is no setting to turn it on or off. It's always on.

 

[Minerbot360]

I have my M1 MacBook Air set up with a WD Drive connected to my home network as a local device. The MacBook just automatically backs up every hour that it is home when plugged in. I heard someone before saying that they were able to do time machine backups with an SD card in their older MacBook which is a cool idea, but if you're going to get any newer device, that is out the window. I'd just make sure that your NAS device supports time machine backups, because some don't.

 

[HDFan]

If your NAS specifically supports Time Machine, then you can use it.

NAS TM backups are problematic. Even when it works it is very slow, and my backups keep getting corrupted. Some people are successful though. My backups are large (2-4 TB) so that may be a factor.

A direct attached device is your best bet, as part of a 3-2-1 backup strategy. Do not rely on TM as your only backup.

 

[MultiFinder17]

I have an old Mac mini in a corner of my office with a couple of large external HDDs attached to it as my home server. Media and Time Machine are mostly what it's used for, and it works great.