Which external SSD drive should we buy?

[wrochna]

We've recently bought a MacBook Pro M1 Max Pro Retina 16”, 10 CPU, 24 GPU, 64 Gb (2011) and we're going to edit videos, movies (max. 3-4 layers) on it with DaVinci Resolve 19 from external SSD drive.


Our question is: regarding the external drive, what features should we look for if we'd like to use the advantages, the speed of this computer?

We guess it's about...
1. The reading/writing speed. What is the minimum speed we should stick to?
2. Liability/Quality. We've heard good stuff on Lacie and Samsung but we're open to new ideas.
3. Anything else?
For the moment we're planning to buy a 2 Tb drive.
Many thanks,

Marcell and Réka

 

[apostolosdt]

Since you’re to connect it to a portable Mac, I suggest you should also consider durability.

 

[wrochna]

Since you’re to connect it to a portable Mac, I suggest you should also consider durability.

Yes, that's a good point. If durability I guess Lacie would be the answer. Or something else?

 

[Ifti]

From all the drives I have tested (and I've been through a fair few!) I have personally settled on the OWC Express 1M2. Not cheap, but fantastic performance, reliability, and completely silent. I use them for my own editing and they have been great. I say 'them' because I have several - they're that good!

If you want something cheaper, but still with good performance, then the Acasis TBU405 is good - comes in both actively and passive cooled variants (although I would choose the active cooled one if you dont mind a little fan noise)

If you want even smaller, the Sharge Disk SSD is also great, but you will have some fan noise and the performance wont be as high.

If none of those take your fancy, I've tested a fair few here:

Internal/External Drives & Storage / NAS / DAS / Docks & Hubs

NAS Drives, External RAID Arrays, External Disk Drives, and getting the most of your external media - its all here!

www.youtube.com

 

[apostolosdt]

Yes, that's a good point. If durability I guess Lacie would be the answer. Or something else?

LaCie is known for its high standards and produces durability-centered ext disks. Another option is Samsung's T7 series, that also comes as standard and durable versions. I use all of them mentioned with to complaints so far.

Notice that T7 can also run a macOS externally; that would free one from buying MBP with large internal disk, but would also avoid straining the precious internal disk from writing/reading apps. (I also do that with Sonoma and Sequoia.)