First MacRumors post . . . wanted to thank everyone who has contributed to this thread, and summarize what I learned (which culminated in my recent enclosure and NMVe purchase):
- NVMe SSDs are so fast that they exceed the limits of Thunderbolt 3 (or 4)
- The following is needed to achieve (close to) Thunderbolt 3 max speeds of nearly 3000 MB/s
- Thunderbolt 3 or 4 ports on both sides
- Thunderbolt 3 or 4 cable
- Your computer system must support PCI Express
- 4 lanes in SSD enclosure
- Sufficiently cooled enclosure so that throttling does not automatically kick in
- Be sure to get an SSD brand that works well with Mac OS and with the enclosure you choose. Samsung Pro and Western Digital's WD_Black series are both SSDs models that successfully work flawlessly and near top possible Thunderbolt 3 speeds with Macs.
- Note: if you get an enclosure that does NOT have Thunderbolt 3 NVMe support, you'll be limited to at most 1/4 of these speeds as it will be USB 3.2 gen 2 (Macs do not support 3.2 gen 2x2)
- External NVMe are surprisingly economical:
- If you want to spend < $150 on an NVMe enclosure, get Acasis or Orico, each of which sell several models that support Thunderbolt 3.
- Though certain SSD models (Samsung 980 Pro, WD SN850x) achieve higher speeds in benchmarks, they cost considerably more and this extra speed is wasted if they will only be used in an external thunderbolt 3 enclosure.
- A particularly inexpensive SSD model that is just about as fast within an external Thunderbolt enclosure: WD SN770 $60 for 1TB, $120 for 2TB.
- There are NVMe enclosures that are way cheaper - even $25 - but they don't support Thunderbolt 3. So if you don't want to spend $100-$150 now on a Thunderbolt 3 enclosure, you start with the cheap NVMe enclosure and switch later if you desire - and just move your NVMe SSD over to the new enclosure.
- For the above reasons, I think NVME is the only sensible external 1GB SSD option for consumers that own a computer system that includes PCI Express and Thunderbolt 3 ports. And my guess is that within a few months, that will be true for 2GB as well, as prices continue to fall.
I purchased a Mac Mini m2 Pro 16GB/1TB recently and decided to supplement with an external drive. I had no need for NVMe speeds. But this thread piqued my curiosity and I was shocked at how inexpensive these crazy fast speeds are. SSD prices have really collapsed in 2023 to the point it doesn't make sense for someone getting a 1GB external SSD to get anything but NVMe at this point.
What I ended up buying (which I never would have discovered without this thread):
Acasis TBU42 hub (spent $20 extra for Acasis 65W power supply)
WD_Black SN770 1GB
I get BlackMagic speeds between 2700-2800 MB/s for both read and write with this setup and my Mac Mini m2 Pro.
I have my Mac Mini, a large UPS, and all the cord tangle very hidden away. The only thing that pokes out of that hidden mess is my Acasis TBU42, from which I power things like my iPhone, Apple Watch, kindle, etc.
Minor comment about TBU42 - the site says that it only supports Thunderbolt - it's ambiguous what that means. Turns out that if you use the USB-C ports it is Thunderbolt only, but if you use the USB-A port it does allow data communication so you can back up your iPhone - found this out experimentally as what it does with my iPhone varies depending on whether I hook it up to USB-C (power only) or USB-A (power + data).