Sandisk

Adding storage space to your iPhone is easy — you just need the right SSD. I’ve tested ones that work with Apple’s handset and found three standout options for holding gigabytes of images, video and more without massively bulking up the handset.

So here are the best SSDs for your iPhone. All you need to do now is decide whether you want the tiny drive to emphasize speed, security or affordability.

Sandisk just launched a third generation of the Extreme Portable SSD. It offers 2,000 MBps data transfers, drop protection and more. Capacities go up to 4TB.

The drive will be joined later in 2026 with two more additions to the line of SSDs — one with even faster data transfer speeds, and the other expected to be more affordable.

Sandisk gives its new Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive the crown as “the world’s smallest 1TB USB-C flash drive.” It’s undeniably very, very small — so tiny that you can leave it plugged into your MacBook. That means it can semi-permanently boost the storage capacity of your older notebook — and at quite a good price.

I tested the miniature external SSD with a variety of Apple devices, including my iPhone. Here’s how it stood up to real-world use.

The SanDisk Extreme Fit USB-C Flash Drive packs up to a terabyte of storage, but is tiny enough that you can leave it plugged into your MacBook. SanDisk touts it as “the world’s smallest 1TB USB-C flash drive.”
Outgrown the storage capacity of your older MacBook? This drive could be just the boost you’re looking for.
The mini SSD can even be used with an iPhone, as well as an iPad.

Thanks to generous deals, the portable SSD you’ve been wanting is probably available at well below the usual cost. There are top-quality ones available at low prices — we found deals on portable SSDs from Samsung, Kingston and more. Save up to 33%.

You can easily increase the storage capacity of your Mac, iPad, etc., without over-stressing your credit card.

SanDisk designed its Creator Phone SSD specifically for people recording large amounts of 4K ProRes video with a recent iPhone Pro/Pro Max model. The MagSafe drive magnetically attaches to the back of the handset so it’s out of the way during filming.

It holds up to 2TB of data without making the handset difficult to film with. And transferring data to a Mac for editing is a snap.

I tested the SSD with my iPhone and it worked very well. But the cable is bulkier than it should be.

The SanDisk Creator Phone SSD sets itself apart from rival portable drives with MagSafe. This means the drive magnetically clings to an iPhone where it’s available to hold up to 2 TB of ProRes video as it’s recorded.

SanDisk unveiled the SSD at CES 2025, along with other new storage options.

Western Digital has been showing off its upcoming SD card with a whopping 8TB of storage capacity. And if that weren’t enough, the company’s SanDisk subsidiary is also prepping a tiny microSD card that can hold 4TB.

The days when a bulky external hard drive was necessary to carry around a huge collection of files are almost over.

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.

UPDATE: Published reports indicate this SSD has a high failure rate, which might explain why it’s on sale. Buyer beware.

It seemed only yesterday M1 Max Mac Studio showed up as the new powerhouse in town, ready to take on all tasks. But in today’s featured setup, it’s on the chopping block for failing to handle heavy-duty rendering work for animated films well enough. The designer running the setup eagerly awaits an M2 Ultra Mac Studio.

Meanwhile, he uses Universal Control to pair his powerful desktop with an M1 iMac for basic tasks and relies on massive amounts of external storage for his humongous files.

Wouldn’t it be great if the right job opened the door to building a killer computer setup? It happened for design and product lead Jaime Creixems.

Today’s featured setup is his M1 Max MacBook Pro and Studio Display-driven wonderland, complete with excellent audio equipment and fun sidelights like Lego sets.

If you want to transfer files between devices, an SD card can do the job in a pinch, but not all are created equal. They all vary in speed and capacity, so you have to do your homework and consider your use case before purchasing.

If you’re looking for an all-rounder offering excellent bang for your buck, consider the SanDisk Extreme Pro. For a limited time, this 128GB SanDisk SD card is on sale for $24.99 (regularly $31).

The SanDisk PRO-G40 SSD checks all the boxes professionals are looking for in an on-the-go external drive. It offers up to 2 terabytes of capacity, it’s extremely rugged and supports Thunderbolt 3.

The drive also supports USB 3.2 Gen 2 for wider compatibility.

The SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive Luxe includes both Lightning and USB Type-C connectors so it plugs into almost any computer. You can easily access the same collection of files from an iPhone, Mac or iPad without resorting to iCloud, etc. Even better, the drive is small and comes in an all-metal casing.

I tested the iXpand Luxe with multiple devices. Here’s its strengths and weaknesses.

The SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive Luxe lets you access its files on all your Apple computers, no adapters needed. It supports Lightning and USB Type-C, so it can plug into an iPhone, Mac or iPad. The same goes for many Windows and Android devices.

PNY’s ultra-portable 240GB solid-state drive is ideal for anyone who needs extra storage that they can take with them everywhere. And for today only, you can bag yours from Best Buy for less than half price.

The drive works with both Macs and Windows machines, as well as iPad Pro. Get yours for just $32.99!

Need more storage for your Mac, iPad Pro, Nintendo Switch and more? Check out Amazon’s brilliant Deal of the Day on SanDisk storage, which will save you up to 47% on speedy, reliable external drives and microSD cards.

Budget-minded iPhone owners have gotten used to making do with a meager 16GB of memory on their devices, but it’s annoying and may not be worth the money you’ve saved. But the market has no shortage of iPhone-friendly flash drives to make your life easier, and the new version of the SanDisk iXpand is one of the cooler ones we’ve seen.

Not only does it offer a bunch of different storage sizes and a really slick app to keep everything straight, but the makers also designed it to be as unobtrusive as possible. Basically, you can keep it plugged into your iPhone all the time, and you’ll barely even notice it. And that’s more than we can say about most of the phone accessories we carry around.

The iPhone 7 Plus may boast more storage than any smartphone Apple’s ever created, if the company uses a tiny new chip by SanDisk that packs 256GB of flash storage.

Photos of the new chip destined for smartphones surfaced on an Italian tech blog comparing them to the old 64GB NAND flash chip SanDisk made for Apple in the past.

Check out how little the new chip is next to the old 64GB model:

You can now double the storage space of your MacBook Air by jamming Sandisk’s new 128GB microSD card into an adapter in the SD card slot. Or you can slide it into any number of devices that use the pink-nail-sized storage standard. And if you are using it in a phone or a camera, it’s fast enough to capture HD video recorded straight to the card.