There's room for years of images and videos on the new Samsung T5 EVO solid state drive. Photo: Samsung
Samsung just launched the T5 EVO, a consumer-oriented solid state drive that provides up to 8 terabytes of storage, the most currently available in a portable SSD.
And the lower-capacity versions cost less than the equivalent Samsung T9 pro-grade drives that also hit store shelves recently.
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Quickly repurpose an NVMe SSD into a Mac external drive with this enclosure from Hyper. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Have an M.2 NVMe drive you want to use with your MacBook or iPad? Put it in the HyperDrive Next USB4 NVMe SSD Enclosure and you can access the contents at speeds up to 40Gbps.
I plugged a solid state drive of mine into this very rugged enclosure to put it to the test.
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The Samsung T9 puts terabytes of storage in your pocket. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The Samsung T9 solid-state drive is small enough and tough enough to go almost anywhere. And it’s available in capacities up to 4 terabytes.
I put the recently launched SSD to the test with a range of Apple devices and came away pleased with the design and performance. That said, Mac users can’t take advantage of one of its best features.
The Samsung T9 SSD is small but holds terabytes of data. Photo: Samsung
The just-launched Samsung T9 solid-state drive is small enough and tough enough to go almost anywhere. And it’s available in capacities up to 4 terabytes.
The USB-C drive offers high-speed data transfers, and support for USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 allows files to move even faster … but not for Mac users.
Add up to 2TB of storage to your Mac or iPad with this pocket-size SSD. Photo: Kingston
Kingston just took the wraps off the XS1000 External SSD. It’s about the size of pack of gum but holds up to 2 terabytes of data. And it can transfer files at high speed, too.
Or there’s the already announced XS2000, which is twice as fast. Just not for everyone.
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Unlock the 256-bit encryption on the Kingston IronKey Vault Privacy 80 by tapping in a passcode on the convenient touchscreen. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The Kingston IronKey Vault Privacy 80 External SSD includes a touchscreen and hardware encryption to protect user data. Unlock it by tapping in a password or numeric passcode onto the touchscreen.
It’s available in capacities ranging from 480GB to nearly 2TB. And it’s accessible from just about any device with a USB port — no special software needed.
I went hands-on with the secure SSD. Here’s why I like it.
Add 4TB of data to your Mac and/or iPad with this SanDisk SSD, which is no longer overpriced. Photo: SanDisk/WD
The SanDisk 4TB Extreme Portable SSD cost a jaw-dropping $699 when it launched. You can now pick it up for a third of that original cost: $229. Amazon also offers similar deals on smaller-capacity versions for a limited time.
These external drives promise data-transfer speeds up to 1,050 MBps over a USB-C connection, and work with Mac and iPad.
★★★☆☆
UGR Tech‘s 2TB SSD definitely isn’t top quality, but it works. And it puts less strain on your credit card. Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
The UGR Tech Portable SSD External Hard Drive 2TB offers a lot of storage for an exceedingly low price — it’s available from Cult of Mac Deals for just $34.99. I could even call that a suspiciously low price, because rival USB-C drives sell for about four times as much. So I ordered one and tested it out.
I discovered why the external SSD is so very cheap, but also that it’s not a scam or a ripoff … as long as you understand the significant speed limitation of this 2TB drive.