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User profile for user: larrybobba
larrybobba Author
User level: Level 1
48 points

Backup Drive for new iMac - which USB connector ?

I recently purchased a new 24" iMac. To back it up, I purchased a new Seagate One Touch 5TB USB 3.0 portable hard drive.


To my surprise, the end of the Seagate cable connector which is to connect to the iMac is the original (large) size USB. Of course, this does NOT fit into the 24" iMac ports which are USB 3 and USB 4. I realize there is an adaptor I can use to make the connect, however, I'm still confused about what my best strategy should be. i.e.,

  • do I sacrifice speed or reliability if I use an adaptor?
  • any recommendations for other back-up drives which would not require an adaptor?


Many thanks for any info you can offer.

Posted on Jun 4, 2022 2:25 PM

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User profile for user: ku4hx
ku4hx
User level: Level 7
23,586 points

Posted on Jun 5, 2022 6:59 AM

Speed is a much lesser concern. Once the first dataset is made, subsequent backups will go quite quickly. Of course if you add a large amount of data, its first backup will be slower. I'd opt for HDD size over SSD speed unless the cost of a large SSD is of no concern. Best practice is an HDD 2-3x the size of whatever data you have on your internal drive. For 100% coverage ... 2-3x the size rating of the entire internal drive.

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User profile for user: ku4hx
ku4hx
User level: Level 7
23,586 points

Jun 5, 2022 6:59 AM in response to larrybobba

Speed is a much lesser concern. Once the first dataset is made, subsequent backups will go quite quickly. Of course if you add a large amount of data, its first backup will be slower. I'd opt for HDD size over SSD speed unless the cost of a large SSD is of no concern. Best practice is an HDD 2-3x the size of whatever data you have on your internal drive. For 100% coverage ... 2-3x the size rating of the entire internal drive.

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Backup Drive for new iMac - which USB connector ?

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