macOS Big Sur incredibly slow when accessing NTFS-formatted drives (via Tuxera NTFS)

[zoom25]

I also wanted to add and confirm that 2020.2 is slow on both 2018 15" MacBook Pro (Intel) and 13" M1 MacBook Air (Apple Silicon). Both computers running the latest Monterey 12.0.1

 

[zoom25]

Looks like there is a 2021 version coming out with support for Monterey:

This was updated 1 day ago:

https://macsupport.tuxera.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4406039424146-Microsoft-NTFS-for-Mac-by-Tuxera-release-notes

VERSION 2021 (pending, 2021)

• Support for macOS Monterey
• Improvements to caching layer for improved performance with SSDs and hard drives
• Disk Manager: Check and Repair can be started for volumes that are not mounted
• A notification is shown if known conflicting drivers are detected
• User manual is now included in the menu
• Various bug fixes

 

[gilby101]

Do people not use NTFS drives with Macs?

Only a small minority. The preferred (and supported) way of transferring to/from Windows is to use exFAT.

Almost nobody uses NTFS for Mac only external drives. For Mac only external disk use APFS (SSD or HDD), or perhaps HFS+ on a HDD where your usage is not suited to APFS on a HDD.

 

[zoom25]

Only a small minority. The preferred (and supported) way of transferring to/from Windows is to use exFAT.

Almost nobody uses NTFS for Mac only external drives. For Mac only external disk use APFS (SSD or HDD), or perhaps HFS+ on a HDD where your usage is not suited to APFS on a HDD.

It's been long time since I last looked up exFAT, but I remember people complained about it being not trustable unlike journaled systems like NTFS or APFS. Corruptions used to be an issue with exFAT. I've never had any issues with any of my NTFS drives over the years.

I tend to use all my drives between different systems, but I might consider a SSD drive for Mac only use and format it APFS for Lightroom/FCPX, if things don't improve.

 

[gilby101]

It's been long time since I last looked up exFAT, but I remember people complained about it being not trustable unlike journaled systems like NTFS or APFS. Corruptions used to be an issue with exFAT. I've never had any issues with any of my NTFS drives over the years.

Agree. exFAT's use is mostly in having a supported format for data transfer, not for continuous use. The trouble is that there isn't a robust disk format which is usable across all operating systems. I have never thought that NTFS was usable (or suitable) on macOS except for occasional use.

You might want to consider changing to keeping disks permanently attached to particular computers (or a NAS) and use local LAN for access by all computers. Keeping them in fixed locations also helps with backup.

but I might consider a SSD drive for Mac only use and format it APFS for Lightroom/FCPX, if things don't improve.

For Lightroom/FCPX I would definitely use an APFS formatted SSD - the faster the better for FCPX and for LR catalogues.

 

[zoom25]

For Lightroom/FCPX I would definitely use an APFS formatted SSD - the faster the better for FCPX and for LR catalogues.

I'm wondering how the Samsung T5 and T7 experience would compare to editing off the internal on my 2018 15" MacBook. For most projects, I can edit off the entire project from the internal and then after exporting, store it elsewhere on a spinning and free up the internal by deleting the project.

I'm wondering if moving the projects to a T5/T7 from the internal to work off from will be close enough or not? Or if I'll need something like a nvme Samsung X5 with 2800 and 2300 MB/s read and write speeds to match the internal.

I'm definitely going with a massive internal for my next Mac.

 

[gilby101]

Something like a Samsung X5 will nearly match the speeds of the internal - a T7 (~1000B/s) will not. But whether you need an X5 (and can justify the cost) for your work is another matter. For LR it is easy to keep catalogues on internal and photos on external - my external is a T5 (~500MB/s) . For FCPX you will need to do your own analysis - or someone else might comment.

 

[zoom25]

Something like a Samsung X5 will nearly match the speeds of the internal - a T7 (~1000B/s) will not. But whether you need an X5 (and can justify the cost) for your work is another matter. For LR it is easy to keep catalogues on internal and photos on external - my external is a T5 (~500MB/s) . For FCPX you will need to do your own analysis - or someone else might comment.

Yeah, I also found this article quite useful: https://fcp.co/hardware-and-software/2471-iain-anderson-on-ssds

Aside from external preassembled SSD's like T5, T7, and X5, I'm also trying to evaluate Thunderbolt 3 (maybe 4) enclosure solutions with internal SSDs. The Samsung 980 Pro looks insane at 7000 MB/s read and 5100 MB/s write. Something like that wouldn't get outdated for years to come with almost editing setup.

I've been thinking about this with current Macs that I have in mind, but if I do end up spending some money on it, then I'd also like to have a decent solution that scales well with future machines in mind. I've been waiting for the updated Apple Silicon 27" models.

Either I'll stay on the cheaper side for the time being just to meet my needs and workflow, or I'll go all in. Based on what I'm reading and seeing based on specs, some of the midrange to mid-high end options do charge quite the premium but still aren't as reflective in the performance.

Let the Black Friday countdown commence.

 

[jagan]

Paragon's site for Paragon NTFS for Mac lists it as fully compatible with Monterey (Intel and M1).
If some of you are having problems, you should contact Paragon and let them know.

https://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/#

 

[zoom25]

Tuxera NTFS 2021 much improved.