User profile for user: Megan Cain
Megan Cain Author
User level: Level 1
90 points

External hard drive question?

Hello!

I created a post last week asking about my iMac( late 2015,27 in model) being on its last legs. I also mentioned in my post that I have the time capsule model that is flat. Someone guessed that the time capsule may be about 12 years old. So here’s my question….

whats the best external hard drive now? I’m asking because it is likely that my time capsule may be unreliable now. I’m also thinking that it may be a good idea to go ahead and buy a new external hard drive to back up my computer so when I’m ready to get a new computer I will be ready with a backup. Another question I have is if there is an external hard drive that is compatible with both computers. I know that newer Mac’s used thunderbolt ports, but the 2015 iMac is older technology. I tried to watch a couple of YouTube videos to get some hard drive suggestions, but there seem to be so many options out there.🤷‍♀️

thank you,😃

Megan

Posted on Apr 3, 2025 10:19 AM

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User profile for user: rkaufmann87
rkaufmann87
User level: Level 10
146,990 points

Apr 3, 2025 10:26 AM in response to Megan Cain

There is no best in anything, hard drives, cars, homes, pizzas ect. That is why we have choices available to us to pick the best suited product for our needs.


You indicated you intend to use the External Hard Disk for backing up, what many experienced users on these forums prefer is the OWC Mercury Elite Pro. Why, simple..... high quality, great support from the vendor, simple to replace the HD (takes less than a minute and only requires a screw driver), very reasonable pricing. They also make them in capacities from 2-24 TBS so you have a good selection. Remember, if you are going to Time Machine to backup to get a drive that is about 2-4x the capacity of the internal storage used on your computer.

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User profile for user: Servant of Cats
Servant of Cats
User level: Level 7
24,112 points

Apr 3, 2025 4:24 PM in response to Megan Cain

A hard drive or SSD with a USB 3.0 or 3.1 Gen 2 interface will be compatible with both Macs. (Converting from USB-C to USB-A or vice versa is straightforward where these two USB protocols are involved.)


You may want to get, and make backups to, two drives - since even backup drives can fail.


If you will be making Time Machine type backups, get a drive that has several times the capacity of the ones you plan to back up (to allow for storage of old versions).

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External hard drive question?

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