What Is The Best Cheeses For Mac N Cheese

• What Are The Best Cheeses For Macaroni And Cheese

1. With the cheese, I use a 10 oz block of sharp kosher cheddar and 6 oz of black pepper Toscano pecorino cheese and a little bit of Parmesan. Add plenty of black pepper and adjust salt to your cheese's saltiness.
2. A baked Mac n Cheese will have much less flavor and creaminess than straight from the pot, but lots of people seem to like it. Read the best cheeses to make mac.

From authoritative recipes to a survey of the 20 best places to get mac and cheese in New York City, to a segment on Good Morning America featuring cheese, bacon, garlic, noodles, Emeril Lagasse, and a well-meaning North Carolinian, everything's coming up cheesy noodles in 2008. 'world's Best' Macaroni & Cheese. 3 recipe photos. Dish the mixture into a buttered 9-13 pan and sprinkle with extra grated cheeses and cayenne. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, until you have beautiful, browned edges.

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Macaroni & cheese is one of the most perfect dishes in human history. What could surpass shapely noodles swimming in a thick, silky cheese sauce? While many of us likely fell in love with the boxed variety as kids, now that we’re mature adults it’s time for some real indulgence. The simple mac & cheese of childhood is merely a blank canvas, waiting to fulfill all your fromage fantasies.

Not all cheeses are meant for mac & cheese, though. It’s all about getting the right ratio of the melters and the flavor-enhancers. Some cheeses get all gooey, others liquify into cream, and then there’s the kind that won’t melt at all. The best mac & cheese combines all three types.

The holy trinity, in my opinion, combines a lot of Cheddar, a little cream cheese, and a Parmigiano-panko crust. But you didn’t come here for a traditional trio, now did you? No -- you came for something sensational that will take us through the coming winter like a newfound love affair. Here are some of the sexiest cheeses to sprinkle into your next mac.

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These young, high-moisture cheeses tend to be the best melters. Grate them up and use alone or as a canvas for crazy combinations. Make sure that melters like these guys make up at least two-thirds of the total cheese used.

Scamorza

Like provolone and mozzarella, scamorza is a member of the pasta filata family of cheese. Pasta filatas are made by heating up curds in hot water, then kneading and stretching them together. This hand-pulled technique makes for the perfect cheese pull, which is why they’re often used in pizzas. Scamorza tastes very similar to a dry mozzarella, but with a more piquant flavor.

Raclette

This stinky Frenchie is best known as the star of those viral videos where someone scrapes bubbling layers of melted cheese onto stacks of potatoes. Raclette is a prime melting cheese, and its firm, brothy paste almost liquifies into its own sauce. If you want an unapologetically bold mac, use this one all by himself and serve with a lightly dressed arugula salad for good measure.

Two-Year Wisconsin Cheddar

Many aged cheeses can be too dry to melt properly, but not block Cheddar. These are aged in Cryovac plastic, which allows them to retain most of their moisture and prevent a rind from forming. A two-year Wisconsin Cheddar brings sharp, tangy flavors while also melting into liquid gold. By the way, here’s a little Cheddar trivia for you: The only difference between white and orange styles is the addition of food coloring.

Chällerhocker

A lot of people love adding Gruyère as an economical way to pack in some sweet, nutty flavor. If you’re looking to ball out even harder, get yourself a wedge of the super rich and meaty Chällerhocker, a decadent cheese from Switzerland. It packs intense flavors of caramelized onions, toasted hazelnuts, and stewed beef. It’s also insanely delicious with pickled Brussels sprouts if you’re looking for a garnish.

Drunken Goat

This semi-firm goat cheese is ideal for anyone who thinks they don’t like goat cheese. It tastes similar to a manchego, but with that bright white color and slightly tangy, slightly sweet flavor that you often find in aged goat’s milk varieties. It’s also bathed in red wine, which adds an addictively boozy, fruity flavor.

These cheeses bring extra creaminess to the cheese sauce. Add them before the melting cheeses.

What Are The Best Cheeses For Macaroni And Cheese

Double Cream Brie

Many recipes recommend adding cream cheese to thicken the cheese sauce, but I prefer to add double cream brie. They’re just as smooth and velvety, but bring a stronger, slightly funky mushroom flavor. Take off the rind and cut into chunks before adding. If you want a little extra oomph, use taleggio instead.

Blue cheese

The right blue can bring an amazing funky quality to your cheese sauce. Use with a milder base, like havarti or Gouda, and sprinkle some large crumbles on top. Creamier blues like French Saint Agur melt decently well whereas firmer ones like gorgonzola keep their shape while adding a pop of flavor. Either style is especially heavenly with a handful of caramelized onions swirled in.

Goat Cheese

Don’t @ me chèvre haters: Fresh goat cheese will turn your sauce into a liquid cream dream with tantalizing tang. I recommend getting freaky with the bevy of flavored goat cheeses on the market, like jalapeño or chive. If you’re not a fan of goat cheese, mascarpone or even Boursin have a similar effect.

American

I dare you to judge me, haters. While I’m not one for adding American cheese to fancy burgers (it’s sacrilegious to the beef), a little processed cheese can add unbeatable and irresistible creaminess to your cheese sauce. The chemical salts in American cheese prevent it from separating, resulting in the silkiest texture known to man when melted. Velveeta works great, or just chop up a few Kraft singles and watch the magic happen.

These babies don't melt, but they bring a layer of crust and complexity to your mac. Add them to the cheese sauce right at the end, or crumble on top just before baking.

Feta

Even though it’s a high-moisture cheese, feta doesn’t melt because its matrix of proteins is too tight to soften and liquify properly. It does, however, bring a briny tang when crumbled on top -- along with oregano, and maybe some chopped olives if you’re feeling freaky.

Mimolette

This flirty Frenchie is basically autumn's “it” cheese. With its glowing orange hue of a jack-o'-lantern and its butterscotch-like flavor as comforting as that first PSL of the season, Mimolette is just begging to be grated into a pile of butter-toasted breadcrumbs to go atop your mac. Go heavy handed with this one -- you won’t regret it.

Truffle Pecorino

Sometimes, you just need to embrace the earthy, inundating sensation of black truffles in your mac. Pecorinos are Italian sheep’s milk cheeses with rich, sweet, and nutty flavors, which act as a perfect foil to the savoriness of truffles. Most are too firm to melt, but they are simply amazing when grated atop and baked till brown and bubbly.

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Best Color Multifunction Laser Printer For Mac

Brother Color Laser Printer, Multifunction Printer, All-in-One Printer, MFC-L8610CDW, Wireless Networking, Automatic Duplex Printing, Mobile Printing and Scanning, Amazon Dash Replenishment Enabled by Brother. Best Buy customers often prefer the following products when searching for Color Laser Printers For Mac. Browse the top-ranked list of Color Laser Printers For Mac below along with.

• Color Laser Printer Mac
• Best Laser Printer For Mac

Since Mac computers are widely used in publication profession, where good quality prints and freedom of printing from anywhere are crucial, it is tough for Mac OS users to find a printer with high-quality output and wireless connectivity. Whether it is for home, office, college students or looking for inkjet or laser jet or even all in one printer, selecting the best printer for Mac is always tricky due to compatibility. To help sort things out, here we have a list of the 8 best printers for Mac OS and iOS devices including laptops and iPad, an updated small but useful review in 2019 with the latest and affordable wireless printer models. All of the above models will work on most of the macOS including macOS Sierra, Mavericks, Yosemite and El Capitan. Also, if you are an iPad user, then some of below printers will work with your iPad and iPad Pro through the wireless network.

Things to Consider when you Buy the best printer for Mac

It’s crucial to select a cost-effective Printer for you. Mostly the cartridges cost is higher (sometimes more than actual printer cost). Inkjet printers may look cheaper to buy compared to LaserJet printers, but their ink cartridges are very expensive. Color LaserJet printers will look very costly to purchase, but the usage and running cost will be less. You should select the best printer for MacBook Pro or MacBook Air with the Wi-Fi capability.

Here are the Top 8 Best Wireless Printers for Mac in 2019

1) Epson Expression ET-2650

As the name suggests, you can truly express the images with live and vivid colors with Epson Expression ET-2650 all-in-one printer. Unlike other inkjet printers, you do not need to replace the ink-cartridges since it is a cartridge-free printer. It is equipped with large Ink-tanks and produces a high yield of output. Before you refill tanks, you get 6500 color printouts with full ink tanks. With built-in Wireless Network card and Wi-Fi direct facility, you can directly print from your iPhone or Mac devices without having to connect to local network.

Color Laser Printer Mac

Epson ET-2650 has a built-in card reader to take print-outs of your photos directly from the printer without copying them to your PC. You can manage the printer settings with a colored display panel with a user-friendly interface. The paper capacity of the main front tray is 100 sheets which are moderate and will not run out of paper in small or medium office workloads. The speed is not as much as the laser printer, but you get a decent output speed of 10 ppm(black) and 5 ppm (color printouts). Buy this quite printer if you want a high yield inkjet printer for home and small office.

2) Canon Office and Business MX922 All-In-One Printer (Under 100 Dollars)

The Canon MX922 is one of the best all-in-one wireless printers for Mac and Windows home and office users. The price is unbelievably low with enough features for home users. It stays as the number 1 best selling printer on Amazon. It is an All-in-one printer so you can copy, scan and print from your Mac computers such as MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and iMac. With the wireless network technology, it supports AirPrint and Google Cloud print features that can work well on your Apple (like iPhone, iPad and iPod touch) and Android devices.

From the technical side, it has a fully integrated 35 sheet duplex document feeder which helps in copy, scan and send fax in bulk without feeding each paper manually. The built-in duplex printing can print on both sides of pages without any user interaction. As some of the printers need an extra device to make a printer both side printing, this built-in feature in Canon MX922 under 100 dollars make this printer as one of the best wireless printers for Mac. The printer supports 250 paper loading at a time. The color quality is great for the price you pay; it supports 9600 x 2400 maximum color dpi 4. With the 3 inches LCD, you can manage the print jobs and control the settings of the printer easily. The weigh it just 7 pounds that that makes this printer portable. Easy to carry anywhere, and just print wirelessly from your Mac Book or iPhone or iPad.

Read Also:The Laptops for home users within 200$

3) Canon PIXMA TR8520 Wireless All-in-One Printer

The Canon PIXMA TR8520 is a latest and compact all-in-one printer from Canon for home and home office. An ideal choice for macOS users who look for a wireless supported printer with a larger display screen to control printer and prints. The price is amazingly cheap. The 5-color individual ink system provides outstanding photo and document printing.

The printer is easy to use and has multiple connectivity options to connect your desktop, laptop, and mobile phones and tablets. The SD card slot is useful to print photos from digital camera SD cards. It has 20 sheets Automatic feeder too.

The PIXMA TR8520 comes equipped with a variety of mobile printing functions. The printer is AirPrint compatible, and it uses the Canon Cloud Link interface to access different cloud-based services. Though Google Cloud Print, users can print documents from any computer, smartphone or device with internet connection. Users can print from and scan a document or picture directly from the smartphones such as iPhone X, XR, XS, and older models or iPad tablet. Overall it is a cost-effective best wireless printer with plenty of connection options with good quality of print outputs.

4) Canon iP8720 Wireless Printer – Best Home Printer for Mac, iPhone, and iPad

If you are looking for reasonably priced but with all required features for Mac home users, Canon iP8720 is one of the good options. The compact sized wireless printer for Mac and other Apple devices with AirPrint can handle all printing requirements wirelessly. It supports printing borderless photos up to 13×19 inches and 9600×2400 maximum dpi color clarity. It is a good deal and print quality you can get from this inkjet printer for macOS.

Another great feature of this printer is CD printing. Yes, you can print on your CD/DVD by using this printer. You can design the CD/DVD cover from your Mac desktop or laptop and print by this printer. Printing speed is manageable for home or students user. You can expect 10.4 color pages and 14.5 black print pages per minute. The quiet mode from Canon makes this printer quiet while printing. With the high number of customer feedback and reviews and of course best print quality for the reasonable price, Canon iP8720 is one of the best wireless printers for Mac in 2019.

All of these 5 best printers for Mac are equipped with tons of features to handle any kind of task and can be easily connected with any machine running Mac OS X to give great output. We hope one of the above wireless printers will be suitable for your budget in 2019 to make the purchase. You can connect these printers to WiFi with your iPad, iPad Air, and iPhone by using an appropriate printer app or Google could print to print from iOS Smartphones and tablets.

Best Laser Printer For Mac

5) Brother MFCL2750DW Wireless Monochrome Printer for Mac

Designed for SOHO (small office and home office), MFCL2750DW is an all in one monochrome laser printer. It is a professional machine needed in an office for daily office documentation needs. It is a network printer with the option of both Ethernet and wireless connectivity. You can place this compact machine anywhere in the home or work environment and share it with multiple users by using the wireless or wired network. The printer is compatible with both Windows and Mac platforms.

This powerful machine from Brother produces fast printing at the speed of 36 pages per minute. Apart from its high speed, this wireless printer is capable of producing output at a maximum of 2400 x 600 dpi print resolution. It also features duplex printing and the ADF (Automatic Document Feeder) with 50 pages capacity. The main paper tray has a capacity of 250 sheets, and you can also use a manual bypass slot to print on a thicker paper. The ink-toner is cost-effective with a high yield of 2600 papers. With Brother iPrint and scan app(free), you can easily print from iPhone and iPad devices and scan any document to Mac and Windows devices on a wireless network.

6) Epson Expression ET-2750 – Best for MacBook Air

The upgraded model of the earlier printer we mentioned in the list. Epson Expression ET-2750 is one of the best printers which cost less for printing. It is a cartridge-free printer which comes with the inks that can handle your printing jobs up to 2 years. The EchoTank feature introduced by Epson can save lots of cartridge and money. Epson claims that the ink comes with this printer can print up to 6500 black or 5200 color pages which is equivalent to about 30 ink cartridges. Epson Expression ET-2750 is the correct choice if you have colleges or school kids who need regular printing from Mac computers.

Easy wireless setup and printing are available that can be utilized from your iPhone, iPad and Mac laptops. You can set Auto 2-side printing to save up to around 50 percent of your paper usage at home and office. This is another 2 in 1 inkjet printer for Mac OS with LCD.

The print speed is a bit slow since it uses ink technology, but that should be fine at home. It can print around 10.5 black pages and 5 color pages per minute. Automatic document feeder is not available, and 100 pages can be loaded at a single time.

If you are looking for cost effecting printing, then this is a great choice for Mac users, including Windows OS as well.

7) Canon ImageCLASS Airprint MF247dw

To meet the needs of faxing, print, copying or scanning, you can have this Canon MF247 as your office assistant to perform multiple office tasks. Your work efficiency is enhanced by installing this all in one machine, and the touch screen panel further helps in navigating the most used tasks by easy customization. This wireless printer is fast enough to streamline your daily workflow. The wireless connectivity allows you to use this MFP anywhere from the office thus enhancing the productivity of manpower. The canon MF247dw supports mobile printing, and you can print from your Mac devices on the go through AirPrint or Google cloud print.

Paper handling capability includes a 250-sheet front tray, 35-sheet ADF and a single-sheet tray for thick papers. The energy efficient printer consumes only two watts of energy. You can also save paper by turning on the duplex printing feature which lets you print on both sides of the paper. The maximum print speed is 28 pages per minute which are quite high in the same class of MF printers. Unlike other copiers, there is a single unit comprising of toner and drum units thus making the replacement of toner easier. Overall, you get a quality multi-function printer at a very reasonable cost.

8) Canon TS9120 Wireless All-In-One Printer with Scanner and Copier

Another canon printer in our list. It is worth to mention this printer because of the price and features it has as an all-in-one printer. You get a great deal to buy the best all in one printer for Mac just under 100 dollars as on writing this review. Generally, if you are buying a printer for home use, better buy a multipurpose printer like this. It can scan, copy and print. The 6-color individual ink system on Canon TS9120 will help you to print stunning photos and detailed documents. Like all other printers works, it can work on wireless and Wi-Fi direct from smartphones. It supports Bluetooth printing also from the Mac computers and Apple devices.

Canon TS9120 has 5 inches touchscreen LCD screen to manage and control the printer. Copying and scanning become easy by the touchscreen. The print quality is up to 4800 x 1200 dpi which is a great deal for home use for the price you pay. Even it has the Ethernet port and cloud capability to connect and print from anywhere. It simply doesn’t disappoint you in any department as the best and cheap photo printer for Mac. CD/ DVD printing tray included, you can utilize this feature to design CD/DVD covers from your Mac computer and print at home.

Bonus) HP Office Jet Pro 7740

This is a multi-function color printer that offers both wired as well as wireless connectivity for better productivity at office and home. The dimensions of HP pro7740 are 18.4 x 23 x 15.1 inches and weighs 42.9 pounds so we cannot mark this machine as a portable one, but it still features premium features. You can get wide format professional color printouts as large as 11×17 inches of size with XL size ink cartridges. The printer offers wireless and mobile printing to allow you to print directly from your Apple devices with Airprint.

This multi-purpose printer with ADF has a large scanner bed which lets you scan the maximum of legal size documents. It also allows you to scan the documents directly to the cloud, shared folders on the network or to your smartphones. The HP Pro 7740 succeeds in enhancing the work efficiency with its fast printing (34 ppm color and b/w prints) and quick fax capabilities. With a digital touchscreen, you can manage the tasks and create various shortcuts of your choice to optimize the control of MF. Borderless printing and auto-duplex mode save a lot of paper and time for better productivity at work. Supporting multiple paper types, the HP Office 7740 comes with a 1-year warranty.

All of these above 8 best printers for Mac are equipped with tons of features to handle any kind of task and can be easily connected with any machine running Mac OS X to give great output. We hope one of the above best printers for Mac will be suitable for your budget in 2019 to make the purchase. You can connect these printers to WiFi with your iPad, iPad Air, and iPhone by using the appropriate printer app or Google could print to print from iOS Smartphones and tablets.

• Multi-format output

  Color output up to SRA3/12x18 makes a big impression, while additional paper trays allow A4/letter-size printing and a multipurpose feeder takes small envelopes. Among the wide range of media types accepted are card stock, glossy stock, recycled paper, transparencies and labels.

• High-capacity production yields

  Genuine Lexmark toner cartridges print up to 34,000 mono or color pages, while fusers and developer units both go up to 600,000 pages for impressive uptime.

• Speedy scanner

  Duplex automatic document feeder (ADF) holds 100 sheets and supports scanning at up to 160 sides per minute. Support for mixed originals, page-level jam recovery, standard OCR, and a “classify and route” option fulfill the highest-speed automated scanning requirements.

• Intuitive color touch screen

  The 4.3-in. color touch screen with next-generation e-Task interface features an ultra-smooth surface and can be activated by almost anything, including pens, fingertips or nails—without pressure or direct skin contact. The modern interface is familiar to users, minimizing the need for training.

• Software Solutions

  Enhance your user experience and productivity with the included solution apps, and customize your device via optional apps tailored to your specific need or industry. With available software development kits, you could even create apps of your own. Lexmark smart MFP adaptability future-proofs your investment.

• Finishing options

  Expand your capabilities with finishing options that include multi-position stapling, hole punch, booklet, saddle stitch and tri-fold. The finisher raises output capacity to 3,500 sheets.

What Is The Best Format For Mac External Hard Drive

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Of course, you may be setting up an external hard drive purely for your own backup purposes, in which case using the best (i.e. Most reliable) operating system native format makes the most sense (HFS on Mac, NTFS on Windows). A Western Digital external hard drive can be used on both Windows and Mac OSX. This is useful if a drive is being used under both Operating System (OS) to move files between the two environments. Most WD Drives come formatted in the NTFS (Windows) or HFS+ (Mac) format.

How you format a Mac hard drive is entirely dependent on what kind of drive you plan on formatting. For instance, is the hard drive internal or external? And if internal, has it been partitioned or are you looking to reformat the entire system to factory state? Whatever your formatting situation, this how-to guide will cover each of these step-by-step.

Before you go messing around in the Disk Utility application, make sure you know what the drive is going to be used for. If it’s an external hard drive, for instance, do you plan on hooking it up solely to Macs or Windows PCs as well? Each one has its own compatible format, so you’ll have to be careful which you choose. FAT 32 is the most compatible disk format which is why it’s the most widely used on USB thumb drives — it’s compatible with both Mac and Windows PCs. HFS+ is the native Mac OS file system, and NTFS is Windows’ (Macs can read what’s on NTFS-formatted drives, but they cannot write).

Before you start formatting any hard drives, make sure you’ve backed up your data! Formatting an external hard drive will delete any information on the device, likewise reformatting your system will essentially bring your Mac back to a clean factory state, thus removing all information you’ve stored on it. Conclusion: Be sure to backup first.

Formatting an external hard drive or internal hard drive partition:

• Step 1:
  If you plan on formatting an external hard drive then make sure it’s plugged in an appears on your desktop. If you plan on formatting an extra internal drive, make sure you’ve partitioned one (note: if you have yet to do so check out our How to partition guide for Macs).
• Step 2:
  Open Finder (either through Spotlight or the icon in the dock).
• Step 3:
  Click on Applications (on the left).
• Step 4:
  Scroll down and find a folder named Utilities. Double-click on it.

• Step 5:
  Once in the folder, you’ll see an application named Disk Utility, double-click on it to launch the program.
• Step 6:
  Find the hard drive you want to format, and highlight it. If it’s an external hard drive then it should appear in the left nav bar. If it’s an internal drive partition then it should also appear in the left nav bar as whatever you named it after partitioning.

• Step 7:
  If you look to the right, there’s tab named Erase, click it.
• Step 8:
  Underneath it you’ll see a “Format” option. Here you’ll find a drop down menu with MS-DOS (FAT), which you would select if you’re planning on using the drive with Windows and Mac systems or installing Windows; and Mac OS Extended (Journaled), which you should select if you plan on using the drive solely with Mac computers or installing another version of Mac OS. If you’re looking to dual-boot with Linux or run Windows Boot camp, you can format the partition as “MS-DOS (FAT),” however, these programs typically come with an option to partition your drive during setup. Just make sure you know how much hard drive space you can allow to dedicate to another operating system.
• Step 9:
  After choosing the format, press the “Erase…” button, which will begin the formatting process.

Reformatting your internal system hard drive:

Reformatting your internal drive means a fresh start; the drive will look like it just came off the factory line. Those who usually want to reformat the entire internal drive are generally looking to get rid of any personal information so they can sell the device, or perhaps they’re looking to clear their system after downloading some unsavory software off a certain P2P network.

Either way, you’ll need your Mac OS X installation DVD that came with your Apple system, as you’ll be booting your computer from this disk to reformat your internal drive.

• Step 1:
  Insert the Mac OS X install disc and restart your computer while holding down the C key on your keyboard, so the Mac boots from the install disc.
• Step 2:
  Double-click the “Install Mac OS X” icon.
• Step 3:
  There will be an opportunity to click an “Options” button to save existing files, a setting to “Archive and Install” and “Preserve Users and Network Settings.” However, if you want to erase everything and reinstall, select “Erase and Install.” From here the install disk should guide you through the reformatting process.

And that’s how to format a Mac hard drive! Leave any questions below. And if you want to know how to partition a Mac hard drive, we’ve covered that as well.

Our editors independently research, test, and recommend the best products; you can learn more about our review process here. We may receive commissions on purchases made from our chosen links.

The Rundown

• Best Overall: Western Digital My Passport at Amazon, “Offers outstanding performance that rivals that of pricier competitors.”
• Runner-Up, Best Overall:Samsung T5 SSD at Amazon, “The all-metal, shock-resistant enclosure is rugged and portable.”
• Best for Business:WD 8TB My Book Desktop at Amazon, “Offers far more capacity than more portable drives for far less cash.”
• Best Splurge:Seagate Backup Plus Hub 6TB at Amazon, “This drive offers a lot of capacity and it’s fast and flexible.”
• Best for Gaming:U32 ShadowUSB at Amazon, “A USB 3.0 device that has plug-and-play compatibility with the Xbox One.”
• Best for Apple:LaCie Rugged 2TB Thunderbolt USB-C at Amazon, “Super fast drive that can handle plenty of bumps, rain, and bounces.”
• Best Portability:Toshiba Canvio Advance at Amazon, “Users delight in the small size, transfer speeds, and cool running temperature.”
• Best Durability: Silicon Power 1TB Rugged Armor at Amazon, “Offering a tough exterior with a shockproof design.”

Our Top Picks

Best Overall, Best for Fast Transfers: Western Digital My Passport

4.2

What We Like

• Excellent storage capacity for the price

• Encryption built-in

• Automatic backup

What We Don't Like

• Slower than a portable SSD

• No fancy features

My Passport is an inexpensive drive, but it offers outstanding performance that rivals that of pricier competitors thanks to a 3.0 USB port and excellent disk controller. This drive allows a maximum transfer speed of 174 MBps read, and 168 MBps write. It’s available in sizes ranging from 1 TB to 4 TB. Our tester thought it was a great overall value for the price: 'If you're on a budget and looking for a cheap and cheerful storage solution, the My Passport isn't very fancy but it does a reliable job of storing your precious files,' he said.

Runner-Up, Best Overall: Samsung T5 Portable SSD

What We Like

• Compact design

• Lightning fast transfer speeds

• Compatible with multiple devices

What We Don't Like

• Smaller storage space

• Outdated aesthetic

• Pricey

The Samsung T5 Portable DDS is on the pricey side (especially in the larger capacities), but the speed and security it comes with are worth it for those looking for durable performance. Weighing less than 2 ounces, the all-metal, shock-resistant enclosure is very portable. What really makes this device stand out, though, is its super-fast transfer speed, with up to 540 MB/s thanks to the SSD design, making it ideal for transferring giant files like 4K videos. Our tester, agreed, raving that its speed was 'unbeatable.' The T5 connects to just about anything, too, with its USB 3.1 Type-C and Type-A ports and works with Windows, Mac, and Android devices. Plus, integrated AES 256-bit hardware encryption ensures the safety of your data.

Best for Business: WD 8TB My Book Desktop External Hard Drive - USB 3.0

What We Like

• Automatic backup system

• Fantastic storage capacity

• Above average transfer speeds

What We Don't Like

What Is The Best Format For Burning Dvds

• Needs external power to function

• Limited portability

The My Book Desktop External Hard Drive from Western Digital, while large, fits the bill for business owners in need of serious space: It comes in 3, 4, 6, 8, or 10TB varieties and offers Western Digital’s own backup solution for Windows users. It’s also compatible with Time Machine for Mac users (though you may need to reformat). It has 256-bit AES hardware encryption for strong security and has both USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports to connect to a wide range of computers. You'll have to rely on the device's wall-based power supply, but according to our tester, that’s worth the trade-off for this spacious vault that holds your invaluable digital data: 'Though it's not really a portable hard drive,' he explained, 'it's definitely the best option if you want a static drive that sits on your desk storing and backing up your files in a secure manner.'

Best Splurge: Seagate Backup Plus Hub 6TB STEL6000100

4.6

What We Like

• Massive capacity

• Great value for size

• Solid speed

What We Don't Like

• A few interrupted connections

• Must reformat for Mac OS

If cost is no concern, we recommend taking a close look at the Seagate Backup Plus Hub. It houses SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording) drives, which allow more physical bits of memory in the same space without decreasing the size of the bits. This drive offers a lot of capacity — available in 3TB, 4TB, 6TB, and 8TB versions — and is fast and flexible. Our testers appreciated the two extra USB ports on the front where you can charge other devices while you work. One of our reviewers reported that it took 12 minutes to do a 9 GB transfer, which equates to a write speed of about 107 Mbps. “It feels like a good value to me,” one of our testers said.

Best for Gaming: U32 ShadowUSB Hard Drive

3.6

What We Don't Like

• Limited color options

This USB 3.0 connective device has plug-and-play compatibility with the Xbox One, which means your gaming console will immediately recognize the drive as soon as it’s plugged in. Our testers took advantage of the drive’s 1TB capacity by storing Forza Horizon 3, Titanfall 2, Halo 5, Sea of Thieves, Fortnite, PUBG, and Madden 19 — and didn’t experience a single issue. If you plan to use this device to store more than just games, 1TB is large enough to hold 650,000 photos, 250,000 songs, and over 500 hours of video. The small black device is stylish and even comes with a three-year warranty.

Best for Apple: LaCie Rugged 2TB Thunderbolt USB-C Portable Hard Drive

What We Like

• Extremely durable

• Integrated connecting cable

• Large capacity

If you’re looking for a Mac-friendly external hard drive that’s built for durability, take a look at LaCie’s Rugged Thunderbolt USB-C portable hard drive. With its distinctive rubber bumpers and brushed aluminum chassis, the drive offers drop resistance up to 5 feet, crush resistance that can withstand up to a 1-ton car, and IP54 water and dust resistance. You’ll never worry about losing your connecting cable, either, as this series of hard drives, available in 2 to 5 TB capacities, have an attached USB cord in your favorite flavor (USB-C, USB-C Thunderbolt, Thunderbolt, or USB 3.0). It's fast, too, with up to 510MB/s with the SSD version and up to 130MB/s with the HDD version.

Best Portability: Toshiba Canvio Advance 3TB Portable Hard Drive HDTC930XR3CA

What We Don't Like

• Must reformat for Mac OS

Not much bigger than a deck of cards, Toshiba’s Canvio Advance portable hard drive offers 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 3TB models to fill with as much media as can fit. It plugs into your Mac or PC with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0. Some customers report seeing around 110 Mbps of throughput when using a USB 3.0 port. It also features an internal shock sensor that will make sure your data isn’t corrupted if the drive is jostled while in use. Users delight in the small size, fast transfer speeds, and cool running temperature of this little portable drive.

Best Durability: Silicon Power 1TB Rugged Armor A60 Military-Grade

What We Like

• Water resistant

• Drop-proof and shockproof

• Reasonable price

Silicon Power’s Armor A60 external hard drive, in 1, 2, or 5 TB versions, is no joke, offering a tough, drop-proof (up to 4 feet) exterior with a shockproof design andIPX4 water-resistant protection. The textured casing is also scratch and slip-proof with a silicon bumper around the sides. The A60 reads and writes super fast thanks to the USB 3.0 cable, which conveniently affixes to the drive itself, and is compatible with Mac and PC devices courtesy of the FAT32 file system. While there might be higher performing everyday options, for photographers and others looking for a device that's adventure compatible, the A60 is a perfect choice.

What Is The Best Format For Youtube Videos

FAQs

Why would I need an external hard drive?

External hard drives provide portable storage space for files, allowing you to increase the total storage of your computer, share files between computers, or simply keep backed-up files secure in case something happens to the originals. If your computer is slowing down or you’re getting warnings about low storage space, it might be time to invest in an external hard drive to free up some space on your computer’s internal hard drive.

What’s the difference between a hard disk drive (HDD) and a solid-state drive (SSD)?

You’ll find external hard drives in HDD and SSD versions, and they both perform the same function—with a few distinct advantages. HDDs have been around much longer and stores files by way of a spinning electromagnetic disk, whereas SSDs rely on flash memory chips for storage and therefore have no moving parts. This means SSDs are usually faster, more dependable, and more expensive. You can get much more storage for a fairly cheap price with an HDD.

How are external hard drives powered?

Some external hard drives get their power from the computer itself transmitted over the data cable, and others require the additional power from an AC outlet. All external hard drives connect to the computer either by USB, FireWire, eSATA, or wirelessly, and this connection type is directly linked to transfer speed.

Digital storage is changing. Internal storage drives are getting bigger, cloud storage is getting cheaper, and USB drives are getting less common. But that doesn’t necessarily negate the need for a good external hard drive — in fact, sometimes they’re the best way to go.

Buying a hard drive isn’t as simple as purchasing the first (or cheapest) one you see. There are a number of factors to consider when buying an external storage drive, and the kind of drive you ultimately end up buying could dictate what you’re able to do with it.

So what should you keep in mind? For starters, you’ll want to decide between a hard drive and a solid-state drive, both of which offer some major advantages and disadvantages. You’ll also want to think about drive speed, hard drive format, connectivity, and special protection features.

Before diving into our guide, there are a few terms you should know. You'll most likely be deciding between a drive of multiple gigabytes (GB), or multiple terabytes (TB). One terabyte is 1,000 gigabytes, and one gigabyte is 1,000 megabytes (MB). An MP3 file takes around 3.5MB, meaning that one gigabyte can store around 285 songs. One HD movie takes up around 3.5GB — so one terabyte can store 285 HD movies.

Here’s everything to consider when buying an external drive.

Storage Size

The most important thing to consider is the size of your drive. We’re not talking how physically big, but rather, how much storage you want. It’s hard to recommend a storage size because it varies from person to person and largely depends on what you plan on storing. A good rule of thumb, however, is to determine how much storage you think you’ll need and then buy a drive that’s double.

If you plan on storing documents only, you probably don’t need much more than 80GB. If you’re storing a small to medium music collection and photos, then up to 256GB should be fine. For storing movies and other video content, the amount you need could range into the multiple terabytes, especially if the movies are in 4K. Ultimately, it’s always good to get more storage than you think you’ll need — even if it means shelling out more money.

Types of External Drives

Next, it’s time to decide on the kind of storage drive you want. There are two main types of external storage drives, and while they ultimately serve the same purpose, the way they store files is markedly different.

Traditionally, if you wanted a storage drive it meant buying a hard disk drive. There are some advantages and some disadvantages to this. For starters, hard disk drives have been around for quite some time, so they’ve become relatively cheap. They function by storing files on an electromagnetic disk that spins around and is read by a moving arm.

Because of those moving parts, they’re much more likely to break with a lot of movement. The speed of a hard disk drive is essentially dictated by how fast the electromagnetic disk spins, and they're generally slower than solid-state drives. (We’ll get more into the different speeds later.) Hard disk drives are the way to go, however, if you want a lot of storage at a cheap price and don’t plan on moving them a lot.

Solid state drives do away with the moving electromagnetic disk, and replace it with what’s called “flash storage.” That’s the same kind of storage that’s used in smartphones, RAM in computers, and, these days, many of the internal storage drives in computers. Solid-state storage essentially uses microchips to store information, and as a result, there are no moving parts. That means there’s a lower failure rate, higher speed, and simply better overall performance. In particular, that means they’re great for running software or an operating system off of.

Of course, there is a downside to all of those advantages — and that’s price. Solid-state drives are much more expensive than hard disk drives, and while they are going down in price, you simply can’t get multi-terabyte solid-state drives without spending at least a few hundred dollars.

Performance

There are a few things that can affect the performance of a hard drive beyond simply what type of hard drive it is. That’s truer of a hard disk drive than a solid-state drive, but solid-state drives still have performance-related metrics that you should pay attention to.

The transfer speed of a hard drive largely has to do with the type of connector that the hard drive comes with. Newer connection standards have higher transfer speeds. The term “transfer speed” is technically a little misleading, as it doesn’t really dictate exactly how fast a hard drive can transfer files to and from your computer. Instead, it tells you how fast a hard drive can theoretically transfer files, based on the connection protocol the hard drive uses.

In the past, the connector was the main limiting factor in how fast a drive could transfer files: USB 2.0 hard drives, in the real world, could transfer data at up to 20 MB/second, while FireWire 800 drives limited things to 85 MB/second. These days, the newer USB 3.0 standard allows for data transfer at up to 460 MB/second, while Thunderbolt allows for speeds of over 1GB/second. Because of that, the connection type isn’t the bottleneck. Instead, the speed is dictated by how fast the hard drive can read and write data, which is referred to as the read/write speed.

Read/write speeds refer to how quickly a hard drive can access the files stored within it — not how quickly those files are transferred to or from a computer. The “read” speed refers to how quickly a hard drive can access a stored file, while the “write” speed refers to how quickly a drive can save a new file. Given the development in transfer protocols, read/write speeds are a much better indicator of how fast your hard drive will be able to actually transfer files than “transfer speed,” especially when it comes to hard disk drives.

Read/write speeds change a lot depending on whether it’s an HDD or SDD, and even within those categories there can be some variation. As mentioned, HDDs have a spinning disk inside of them, and the rate at which drives can access data depends on how quickly that disk spins. Commonly, drives spin at 5,400RPM, or rotations per minute, and drives at that speed generally have a read/write speed of around 100MB/s. Some HDDs have a physical speed of 7,200RPM, which allows for a slightly faster read/write speed of 120MB/s.

Read/write speeds can vary a lot with SSDs, but typically they range from 200MB/s at the slowest to multiple GB per second at the fastest. If all you’re doing is transferring files, then any of those speeds should be more than enough, but if you’re using your drive to store software or your operating system, then something on the fast end might help. In that case, look for speeds of 500MB/s or more.

Other Features and Considerations

While the type of hard drive and performance of the hard drive are perhaps the most important factors to consider, there are a few other features to keep in mind.

While most consumer-level hard drives connect to your computer through a USB cable, some offer network connectivity instead, meaning you can access your hard drive from any computer or phone that’s on the same network. That can be pretty helpful for those who have multiple computers set up and simply want to use an external hard drive to back up files and transfer files between computers.

You can actually give any external hard drive network features by simply plugging it into your router — providing your router has a compatible port on it — but it will require a little more tweaking to get set up properly. Still, special network-connected drives have some advantages. For example, so-called “Network Attached Storage” or NAS, can be used as a media server by apps like Plex, while standard router-connected drives aren’t necessarily able to do so. NAS is a little more expensive, but it’s also often expandable thanks to extra slots in the enclosure, which can accept more actual hard drives.

Check out our guide to the best NAS (Network Attached Storage).

The kind of port or ports that your hard drive uses to connect to a computer is very much linked to transfer speed. Most hard drives connect to a computer through a form of USB. That could mean the now-outdated USB 2.0 or the newer USB 3.0 or USB 3.1, and if it is USB 3.1, it could also connect through the newer USB-C connector, while still using the USB 3.1 standard.

Other ports, which are increasingly less common, include FireWire 400 and FireWire 800, though fewer and fewer computers support those ports, so you should be wary of that when purchasing.

We recommend looking for a hard drive with USB 3.1 support and a USB-C connector, especially if your computer is relatively new. It might mean having to buy an adapter to use with your current computer that may not have USB-C, but it means that when you upgrade to a new computer, your external hard drive will stay usable.

Check out our guide to the best USB-C adapters available.

External hard drives come in a few different formats, though it’s very easy to reformat a hard drive if you happen to buy the wrong kind. Hard drive formats are largely linked to the operating system that you’re going to be using the hard drive with. Here’s a quick rundown.

NTFS is the most common format for new external hard drives and can be used with Windows computers. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work as well with any other operating systems. Macs can read NTFS-formatted hard drives, but can’t write to them.

HFS+, which stands for “Hierarchical File System,” is a hard drive format that works much better with Macs, and it’s an improvement on the older HFS format in that it can support larger file types. Unfortunately, HFS+ drives don’t really work with Windows computers. HFS+ drives are the way to go for those who plan on using them with Macs that are running slightly older versions of macOS.

APFS is a newer hard drive format that works with Mac computers, but it only works with Mac running macOS High Sierra or newer. Like HFS+ drives, APFS drives can’t be read by Windows computers.

What Is The Best Format For A Resume

exFAT is essentially a mix of NTFS and FAT32, an older drive format that’s not used much anymore. There are a number of advantages to exFAT drives — namely that they can be recognized by both Windows and Mac computers, so if you need support for both, it’s worth formatting your drive to exFAT.

If you’re not sure what hard drive format to go for, then go for exFAT, since it works with most operating systems. Most hard drives come in NTFS, though, so you may need to buy one and then reformat it. Keep in mind it's not as easy to reformat a HFS+ or APFS drive if you need to use it on Windows.

The physical size of an external hard drive doesn't necessarily translate to the amount of storage space, particularly with the advent of flash storage. You really only have a say in the physical size of a hard drive when it comes to solid-state drives, as there are standard sizes for hard disk drives. Hard disk drives’ spinning disks can come in either 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch sizes. A standard size for a portable hard disk drive, for example, is the Western Digital Elements 2TB hard drive, which comes in at 4.35 x 3.23 x 0.59 inches. Smaller desktop hard drives come in at around 7 x 5 inches and range up from there.

Solid-state hard drives can be much smaller, making them much more portable. The SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD, for example, comes in a size of 3.79 x 1.95 x 0.35 inches — a fairly average size for solid-state drives.

External hard drives can come with features designed to keep files more secure, which might be important if you plan on using yours to store sensitive information. For example, some hard drives offer password-protection by default, meaning you can easily set a password to keep all your files safe. Some also offer high-level encryption, rendering your files useless to those who don’t have your password, even if they manage to somehow hack into the drive.

A hard drive buffer is essentially storage that exists between the computer and the actual storage in a hard drive. Files stored by the hard drive in the buffer can be accessed far quicker than those stored in the main storage of a hard drive, and the bigger the hard drive buffer — sometimes called the cache — the better the overall performance the drive is likely to have.

Generally speaking, you really only need to care about the size of the buffer if you plan on running software from your hard drive. If all you’re doing is storing files, the type of drive and the speed of the disk will be much more important.

If you do feel as though you need a hard drive with a larger buffer, then we recommend getting one with at least a 64MB cache, though those with 128MB and even 256MB are pretty common, too.

Price

Depending on the type of hard drive and the amount of storage you opt for, the price can vary drastically.

Hard disk drives, as mentioned, are much cheaper than solid-state drives, so if you need a lot of storage at a reasonable price, a HDD might be the way to go. You can expect to pay around as little as 3 cents per GB for a HDD.

On the other hand, it's not uncommon to see a solid-state drive that runs into 25 cents per GB. Lower-capacity SSDs might range up to 40 cents per GB, while 2TB SSDs might come at 20 cents. Of course, that still makes for a drive that costs hundreds of dollars.

Conclusion

While there's a lot to keep in mind when buying an external hard drive, hopefully, this will help you narrow down your selection. Our overall recommendations? If you want lots of storage at a reasonable price, and don’t plan on moving your hard drive around a lot, go for an HDD. If you want fast performance and either don’t need a lot of storage or are willing to spend more, then an SSD is your best best. In both cases, it’s a good idea to find a drive that supports USB 3.0 or later, and a USB-C port might be helpful depending on whether your computer has a USB-C port.

There are a few brands that have built a reputation for quality external hard drives, including Western Digital, SanDisk, and Seagate. It’s often worth buying a hard drive from a reputable brand, as smaller companies may not offer much in the way of support for faulty drives.

Rest assured, no matter what your needs are there’s likely a hard drive out there for you, and hopefully purchasing is a little easier with your new-found knowledge of their key features.

Best External Harddrive For Mac

1. Best External Hard Drive For Macbook Pro
2. Best External Hard Drive For Mac
3. Best External Harddrive For Macbook

Seagate Backup Plus Fast portable is the best external hard drive for both windows and mac and gives a brilliantly fast performance with affordable price.Seagate Backup Plus is available in four different capacities like 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB and known as high capacity budget external hard drive. Best for Business: WD 8TB My Book Desktop External Hard Drive - USB 3.0 See on Amazon See on Best Buy See on Bhphotovideo.com If you’re a business owner, chances are you’ll want an external drive with plenty of space for backups, files, and more. See it on Amazon. One of the Best Gaming External Hard Drives For Mac Silicon Power Armor A60. The Silicon Power Armor A60 is a rugged and portable external hard drive that comes with 3 TB storage capacity, military-grade shock-proof body, cable carry design, USB 3.0 and is compatible with Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS4 Pro and PS4 Slim.

BestUSB-C Hard Drives for MaciMore2019

The current line of MacBook Pro only has Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, but that's OK, because USB-C is fast, future-proof, and will likely replace standard USB, HDMI, DisplayPort, power, and more. A USB-C hard drive is the perfect storage box to locally back up all of your most essential files, including photos, documents, music, movies, and anything else that's important to you. Save your Mac's hard drive and pick up a USB-C hard drive. Here are a few options to get you started on your search.

Fan favorite: G-Technology G-Drive 1TB

Mick's Favorite

The G-Drive by G-Technology is a great USB-C hard drive for most people. It has 1TB of storage and features a quick drive speed of 7200RPM, with transfer rates of up to 136MB/s, thanks to USB 3.1. It comes in silver, as well as Apple-exclusive colors: gold, rose gold, and space gray.

From $71 on Amazon

Best for speed: Samsung T5 SSD 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB

Lory's Favorite

Samsung's T5 SSD is a solid-state drive that provides way faster transfer rates than physical hard drives. Solid-state drives don't have moving parts, so if you happen to drop this one, there's less to break! SSDs are more expensive, but with this one, you get write speeds of up 540MB/s, which is over three times faster than many hard drives. If you like to store TV shows and movies on your hard drive, consider a solid-state drive!

From $90 at Amazon

Rugged pick: Glyph Blackbox Plus 1TB

The Glyph Blackbox Plus is a rugged, portable hard drive that can keep up with you wherever you go. It's surrounded in rubber to protect from drops and has enough capacity for all your backups and then some. You get write speeds of up to 140MB/s from just 5400RPM, as well as a 3-year warranty in case anything goes wrong. It also features fan-free heat dissipation, so it's nice and quiet.

$120 at Amazon

Best for video: Samsung 5X Portable SSD

With read and write speeds of up to 2,800MB/s and 2,300MB/s respectively, this portable drive is perfect for videographers. It's designed for rendering and compiling high res photos and videos with up to 40Gb/s data transfer. It also looks like the Ferrari of external hard drives.

From $489 at Amazon

Most stylish: LaCie Porsche Design 2TB

LaCie is widely recommended for Apple users (they even sell LaCie products on Apple's site!) The Porsche Design external hard drive is a great-looking solution to your USB-C needs. The mobile version comes in 2TB, while the desktop version is available with 4TB of storage. If you have older devices you'd like to use as well, this hard drive is also compatible with USB 3.0 ports.

$80 at Amazon

Upgrade option: SanDisk Extreme 900 SSD 480GB, 960GB, 1.92TB

SanDisk's Extreme 900 SSD is a powerhouse solid-state drive that offers up to nine times the transfer speeds of external hard drives. It's made of durable aluminum and rubber, and the solid-state core is shock-proof. So, this is far less likely to die on you should you drop it (compared to hard drives).

From $182 at Amazon

Best value: G-Technology G-Drive SSD R-Series

With a low price for 1TB, G-Technology's G-Drive SSD is one of the more versatile solid-state drives on the market, and it comes recommended by Apple itself. You'll get transfer rates of up to 560MBps, and it comes with both a USB-C to USB-C and a USB-C to USB-A cable.

$240 at Apple

Long-lasting: LaCie Rugged 2TB

The LaCie Rugged of yesteryear got me through my entire post-secondary education, and now that there's a USB-C option, it'll help get you (and maybe even your children!) through school or work with reliability and that fast connection. The body is rubberized to help it stand up to daily wear and tear, and 2TB should be more than enough for all of your files, documents, Final Cut projects, and much more. There's a 2-year warranty on these, which includes data recovery services.

$120 at Amazon

Durable and reliable: CalDigit Tuff 2TB

CalDigit's Tuff hard drives are rugged, colorful 2TB drives that offer USB-C connectivity and there's even a USB-C to USB-A cable for backward compatibility. With an IP57 rating, these drives are water-resistant in three feet of water for up to 30 minutes. They're dust-resistant, so you can take yours with you anywhere knowing that your data is safe from the elements.

From $120 at Amazon

Compact pick: SanDisk Extreme SSD

You may know SanDisk for its SD cards, but its hard drives are excellent as well. This solid-state drive is smaller than the average smartphone and has a hole in it so that you can clip it to a bag. It's shock-resistant and ruggedly designed, so it's perfect for life on the move.

From $72 at Amazon

Budget pick: WD My Passport

Western Digital makes some of the best hard drives around, and its 4TB USB-C hard drive fits right in with all its other excellent drives. This one can be found for under $120 and comes in six colors. This hard drive, however, is not inherently a USB-C drive — it's 'USB-C ready,' so it'll connect to your USB-C ports no problem, though it does not have a USB-C port itself.

From $60 at Amazon

Waterproof-ish: G-Tech All-Terrain Drive

For the extreme outdoorsmen and women, this rugged hard drive does more than protect your external hard drive from scratches and breaks. It's watertight, so you can drop it into a pool of water up to one-foot for 30 seconds without anything seeping in. The tethered Thunderbolt cable means you don't have to bring any extra cables, too.

From $153 at Amazon

Our personal favorites

External hard drives are must-have peripherals for anyone with a computer. They give you additional storage space, which can fill up fast on laptops, and are essential to backing up your data safely and securely. Every one of the drives on this list is easy to set up and start using right away. All you have to do is plug one into your Mac.

Lory's go-to external hard drive is Samsung T5 SSD because SSDs are much more reliable, and this one, in particular, has super-fast data transfer speeds. The G-Drive is Mick's favorite portable hard drive because it's affordable and reliable.

We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.

New iPhone case time

Protect your iPhone XS with little extra bulk with a thin case

Protect your new iPhone XS from minor scratches and bumps with these thin and lightweight cases.

BestUSB-C Hard Drives for MaciMore2019

The current line of MacBook Pro only has Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, but that's OK, because USB-C is fast, future-proof, and will likely replace standard USB, HDMI, DisplayPort, power, and more. A USB-C hard drive is the perfect storage box to locally back up all of your most essential files, including photos, documents, music, movies, and anything else that's important to you. Save your Mac's hard drive and pick up a USB-C hard drive. Here are a few options to get you started on your search.

Fan favorite: G-Technology G-Drive 1TB

Mick's Favorite

The G-Drive by G-Technology is a great USB-C hard drive for most people. It has 1TB of storage and features a quick drive speed of 7200RPM, with transfer rates of up to 136MB/s, thanks to USB 3.1. It comes in silver, as well as Apple-exclusive colors: gold, rose gold, and space gray.

From $71 on Amazon

Best for speed: Samsung T5 SSD 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB

Lory's Favorite

Samsung's T5 SSD is a solid-state drive that provides way faster transfer rates than physical hard drives. Solid-state drives don't have moving parts, so if you happen to drop this one, there's less to break! SSDs are more expensive, but with this one, you get write speeds of up 540MB/s, which is over three times faster than many hard drives. If you like to store TV shows and movies on your hard drive, consider a solid-state drive!

From $90 at Amazon

Rugged pick: Glyph Blackbox Plus 1TB

The Glyph Blackbox Plus is a rugged, portable hard drive that can keep up with you wherever you go. It's surrounded in rubber to protect from drops and has enough capacity for all your backups and then some. You get write speeds of up to 140MB/s from just 5400RPM, as well as a 3-year warranty in case anything goes wrong. It also features fan-free heat dissipation, so it's nice and quiet.

$120 at Amazon

Best for video: Samsung 5X Portable SSD

With read and write speeds of up to 2,800MB/s and 2,300MB/s respectively, this portable drive is perfect for videographers. It's designed for rendering and compiling high res photos and videos with up to 40Gb/s data transfer. It also looks like the Ferrari of external hard drives.

From $489 at Amazon

Most stylish: LaCie Porsche Design 2TB

Best External Hard Drive For Macbook Pro

LaCie is widely recommended for Apple users (they even sell LaCie products on Apple's site!) The Porsche Design external hard drive is a great-looking solution to your USB-C needs. The mobile version comes in 2TB, while the desktop version is available with 4TB of storage. If you have older devices you'd like to use as well, this hard drive is also compatible with USB 3.0 ports.

$80 at Amazon

Upgrade option: SanDisk Extreme 900 SSD 480GB, 960GB, 1.92TB

SanDisk's Extreme 900 SSD is a powerhouse solid-state drive that offers up to nine times the transfer speeds of external hard drives. It's made of durable aluminum and rubber, and the solid-state core is shock-proof. So, this is far less likely to die on you should you drop it (compared to hard drives).

From $182 at Amazon

Best value: G-Technology G-Drive SSD R-Series

With a low price for 1TB, G-Technology's G-Drive SSD is one of the more versatile solid-state drives on the market, and it comes recommended by Apple itself. You'll get transfer rates of up to 560MBps, and it comes with both a USB-C to USB-C and a USB-C to USB-A cable.

$240 at Apple

Long-lasting: LaCie Rugged 2TB

The LaCie Rugged of yesteryear got me through my entire post-secondary education, and now that there's a USB-C option, it'll help get you (and maybe even your children!) through school or work with reliability and that fast connection. The body is rubberized to help it stand up to daily wear and tear, and 2TB should be more than enough for all of your files, documents, Final Cut projects, and much more. There's a 2-year warranty on these, which includes data recovery services.

$120 at Amazon

Durable and reliable: CalDigit Tuff 2TB

CalDigit's Tuff hard drives are rugged, colorful 2TB drives that offer USB-C connectivity and there's even a USB-C to USB-A cable for backward compatibility. With an IP57 rating, these drives are water-resistant in three feet of water for up to 30 minutes. They're dust-resistant, so you can take yours with you anywhere knowing that your data is safe from the elements.

From $120 at Amazon

Compact pick: SanDisk Extreme SSD

You may know SanDisk for its SD cards, but its hard drives are excellent as well. This solid-state drive is smaller than the average smartphone and has a hole in it so that you can clip it to a bag. It's shock-resistant and ruggedly designed, so it's perfect for life on the move.

From $72 at Amazon

Budget pick: WD My Passport

Western Digital makes some of the best hard drives around, and its 4TB USB-C hard drive fits right in with all its other excellent drives. This one can be found for under $120 and comes in six colors. This hard drive, however, is not inherently a USB-C drive — it's 'USB-C ready,' so it'll connect to your USB-C ports no problem, though it does not have a USB-C port itself.

From $60 at Amazon

Waterproof-ish: G-Tech All-Terrain Drive

Best External Hard Drive For Mac

For the extreme outdoorsmen and women, this rugged hard drive does more than protect your external hard drive from scratches and breaks. It's watertight, so you can drop it into a pool of water up to one-foot for 30 seconds without anything seeping in. The tethered Thunderbolt cable means you don't have to bring any extra cables, too.

From $153 at Amazon

Our personal favorites

Best External Harddrive For Macbook

External hard drives are must-have peripherals for anyone with a computer. They give you additional storage space, which can fill up fast on laptops, and are essential to backing up your data safely and securely. Every one of the drives on this list is easy to set up and start using right away. All you have to do is plug one into your Mac.

Lory's go-to external hard drive is Samsung T5 SSD because SSDs are much more reliable, and this one, in particular, has super-fast data transfer speeds. The G-Drive is Mick's favorite portable hard drive because it's affordable and reliable.

We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.

New iPhone case time

Protect your iPhone XS with little extra bulk with a thin case

Protect your new iPhone XS from minor scratches and bumps with these thin and lightweight cases.

What Mac Laptop Is Best For College

The MacBook is Apple’s lightest (and pinkest) laptop. So if you need something today, the 12-inch MacBook (starting at $1299 in the Apple Store) is the most recently upgraded Mac laptop, having. The laptops on the following pages are recommended for purchase by MIT students, faculty, and staff. Certificates are required to access the Apple and Dell Education sites. For assistance with selecting a laptop, contact a presales consultant (phone: 617-253-1101).

1. What Mac Laptop Is Best For Me

The best laptop for students beautifully balance value and performance, so that they can deliver the level of performance students need for schoolwork while saving them some cash as well. After all, school can get very expensive very fast without even factoring in shelling out some money to purchase one of the best laptops for students.

Back To School 2019 AMA

We're answering your Back to School tech questions through August 2 on Twitter in our first-everBack to School AMA. Use #TechRadarUniversity to participate!

Staying on budget matters a lot, especially for college students who also need to pay for housing and are already scrimping with their steady diet of instant ramen. However, performance also matters, so that not just any budget laptop will do. The best laptops for students also deliver a performance good enough for getting schoolwork and projects done, with a bit of video streaming, movie watching and perhaps some gaming in between.

The top contenders for the best laptops for students put value over having the top-of-the-line processors and graphics cards, giving you some budget-friendly options. And yet, they still have enough juice to get you through a demanding workload then let you partake in some post-schoolwork entertainment.

You don’t need to stay with Windows 10, either, as some of the best Chromebooks are also capable of going head to head with some of the best laptops while being economical.

Going to school can be a stressful time. You don’t need the added frustration of having to work on a barely functioning laptop. So we sought out the 10 best laptops for students that are ideal for your budget, no matter how low. Because no one should be restricted to an ancient relic just to get some work done, but you shouldn’t have to sell an organ, either.

1. Huawei Matebook 13

The best laptop for most college students

CPU: 8th-generation Intel Core i5 - i7 | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620, Nvidia GeForce MX150 (optional) | RAM: 8GB | Screen: 13.3-inch 2K (2,560 x 1,440) with touch panel | Storage: 256GB - 512GB SSD

Extremely affordable

Limited to 8GB of RAM

We’re massive fans of laptops that can skillfully strike a balance between price and performance with hardly any compromises, and the Huawei MateBook 13 comes closer to than anything else in 2019 so far. It’s light and compact, perfect for carrying in your backpack while you hurry from class to class; but it’s fast and affordable as well. This stunning 13-inch Ultrabook will make sure you’ll get all your work done in style, without burning a hole in your pocket. Sure, you might need to keep that charger on hand if you want it to last you the whole day, as the battery life is underwhelming. However, there’s still no doubt that the Huawei Matebook 13 deserves its lofty spot on the best laptops for students list.

Read the full review: Huawei MateBook 13

2. Dell XPS 13

CPU: 8th-generation Intel Core i3 – i7 | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620 | Screen: 13.3-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080; non-touch) – UHD (3,840 x 2,160; touchscreen) | Storage: 128GB – 2TB SSD

Webcam in a reasonable location

Small upgrade

Dell’s flagship laptop has always been rated as one of the best laptops for students, not to mention among the most ideal devices for professionals and casual, everyday users. This time around, the Dell XPS 13 2019 welcomes back the entry-level model, making it affordable enough for college students once again. Dell has also addressed our biggest frustration with the XPS lineup – the webcam. It has finally been moved back above the display where it belongs. This means that your family and friends won’t have to stare up into your nostrils when you’re video chatting ever again.

Read the full review: Dell XPS 13

3. Surface Laptop 2

CPU: 8th-gen Intel Core i5-i7 | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620 | RAM: 8GB – 16GB | Screen: 13.5-inch, 2256 x 1504 PixelSense touch display | Storage: 128GB – 1TB SSD

Huge performance boost

Still no Thunderbolt 3

While the Surface Laptop was arguably one of the 10 best laptops for students, it was still held back by its below average performance, a lack of ports and Windows 10 in S Mode. Luckily, the Surface Laptop 2 has considerably improved on its predecessor – with the exception of the ports. It’s now packed with 8th-generation Intel Kaby Lake Refresh processors, full-fat Windows 10 Home and a black color option. We only wish it included even a single USB-C port. Still, you will get all your tasks done in style with this laptop with little to no effort, making it deserving of a high spot on this list.

Read the full review:Surface Laptop 2

4. Microsoft Surface Go

CPU: Intel Pentium Gold 4415Y | Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 615 | RAM: 4GB – 8GB | Screen: 10-inch, 1,800 x 1,200 (217 ppi; 3:2 aspect ratio) PixelSense touch display | Storage: 64GB eMMC – 128GB SSD

Affordable

Pentium CPU

Even if you’re only in the market for a laptop for school that strikes a balance between cost and performance, it can’t hurt to factor in a splash of style. The Microsoft Surface Go isn’t just one of the best Windows tablets, but it’s also one of the most beautiful devices on the market. Better yet, it also gets our vote as among the best laptops for students, especially from a value perspective. Don’t be duped by the low-power components: Microsoft engineered this tablet to take on all your general schoolwork and more without breaking a sweat.

Read the full review: Microsoft Surface Go

5. Dell XPS 15

CPU: 8th-generation Intel Core i5 – i9 | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 630 – Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti | RAM: 8GB – 32GB | Screen: 15.6-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) Anti-Glare Non-touch IPS – 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) InfinityEdge Anti-Reflective Touch IPS | Storage: 1TB Solid State Hybrid Drive – 2TB PCIe SSD

Plenty of horsepower

More of the same

The Dell XPS 15 has been making our list of best laptops for students for several years now, and Dell has stuck with that old “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach with its latest model. Not much has changed since the 2017 version, but we aren’t complaining. After all, you’re getting an Ultrabook that’s not only reliable, but also has enough power to get you through pretty much any workload. And, the Dell XPS 15 is very reasonably priced. In fact, the base configuration should work swimmingly for most users. If you want more power, you can also configure this thing with up to an Intel Core i9 processor and 32GB of RAM, upgrading their Dell XPS 15 into an extremely powerful workstation. Now, if Dell would just move that webcam, we’d be gravy.

What Mac Laptop Is Best For Me

Read the full review: Dell XPS 15

6. HP Envy x360 13 (2019)

CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3300U – AMD Ryzen 7 3700U | Graphics: AMD Radeon Vega 6 – Radeon Vega 10 | RAM: 8GB – 16GB | Screen: 13.3' diagonal FHD IPS (1,920 x 1,080) | Storage: 256 GB – 1TB SSD

Slim and sleek for a 2-in-1

Improved battery life

Graphics performance disappointing

There are so many compelling reasons why the HP Envy x360 (2019) belongs to our best laptops for students like, and its slim, sleek design is the least of them. This 13-inch 2-in-1 has premium build, delivers up to 9 hours of video playback and a performance that will get you through most of your schoolwork and project, all without burning a hole in your pocket.

Read the full review: HP Envy x360 (2019)

7. Microsoft Surface Pro 6

CPU: 8th generation Intel Core i5 – i7 | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620 | RAM: 8GB – 16GB | Screen: 12.3-inch, 2,736 x 1,824 PixelSense display | Storage: 128GB – 1TB SSD

Quad-core processors

Still no USB-C

The Microsoft Surface lineup has made a name for itself for being among the best Windows devices on the market, with beautiful touch displays, excellent performance and a battery life that lasts a long time. The Surface Pro 6 continues that tradition, even if it doesn’t improve much on its predecessor. You’re getting a fast Windows tablet that can effortlessly turn into a laptop with the addition of the Surface Type Cover. What does that mean for you? Simply that you can get your work done then effortlessly transition into Netflix time, making it one of the best laptops for students.

Read the full review: Surface Pro 6

8. Dell Inspiron Chromebook 11 2-in-1

CPU: Intel Celeron N3060 | Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 400 | RAM: 4GB | Screen: 11.6-inch, HD (1366 x 768) touchscreen | Storage: 32GB - 64GB eMMC

Well built

Not very powerful

Most schoolwork that’s not specialized (i.e. engineering) can be done on a Chromebook. So if you aren’t anticipating to do a lot of projects that require the use of processor-hungry apps, getting a Chromebook can save you hundreds of dollars. If you’re a student on the market for one of the best laptops for students to help you with all your research, type up papers and not much else, the Dell Inspiron Chromebook 11 2-in-1 might fit the bill. The Dell Chromebook 11 2-in-1 won’t be able to handle much heavy lifting, but at this price, it doesn’t need to. This is the best laptop for students on a very limited budget.

Read the full review: Dell Inspiron Chromebook 11 2-in-1

9. Apple MacBook Air (2019)

CPU: 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 617 | RAM: 8GB - 16GB | Screen: 13.3” (2,560 x 1,600) Retina display | Storage: 128GB - 1TB SSD

Lovely design

Fantastic battery life

Lack of storage space

Apple takes the MacBook Air (2018) and gives it a bit of refresh, adding True Tone technology to its display and an even more reliable keyboard. Unfortunately, it hasn’t upgraded the specs, but seeing as the 2018 version has already made our list of the best laptops for students, this improved version is just as deserving because of the improved hardware. But the best part is yet to come: this refresh is even cheaper, so you’re definitely getting more value for less.

Read the full review: MacBook Air (2019)

10. MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019)

Apple’s productivity machine gets the latest Intel tech

CPU: 9th-generation Intel Core i7 - i9 | Graphics: Radeon Pro 555X – Radeon Pro Vega 20 | RAM: up to 32GB | Screen: 15.4-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology | Storage: 256GB – 4TB SSD

Powerful

Screen remains gorgeous

Lack of ports

Apple’s most powerful MacBook in existence has just juiced-up, which means that the 15-inch Cupertino powerhouse is faster than ever. Whether you’re doing school projects, photo editing or light gaming, this will blow you away as one of the best laptops for students. What’s behind this refresh? To start, an improved keyboard, as well as some of the latest and most powerful processors from Intel. Now, you not only have the option to take one home with an 8-core Intel Core i9, but also configure one to rock a Radeon Pro Vega 16 or Pro Vega 20 GPU to give you a boost in graphics.

Read the full review:MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019)

Bill Thomas, Michelle Rae Uy and Gabe Carey have also contributed to this article.

Images Credit: TechRadar

• Want more choices? Check out our list of the best laptop 2019
• Got kids? Take a look at our guide to the best free parental control software

Apple External Hard Drive For Mac Best Buy

Best Overall Mac External Hard Drive – Runner Up 4.8 / 5 Product Rating With its 1 TB capacity and 5400 RPM speed, this backup drive is a top pick because it provides ample storage and comes in a sleek design. It does mean the price is higher, but if transfer speed is the most important consideration when looking for the best external hard drive for your Mac, then this is the drive to go for.

• Top External Hard Drives For Mac

BestBlu-ray Drives for MaciMore2019

Blu-ray discs are the gold standard in physical video formats right now. You probably have a decent Blu-ray collection of your favorite movies, but without a Blu-ray drive, you can't play them on your Mac. Blu-rays aren't just great for movies; they also make great storage devices for backups or other relevant data as well. If you want to play, read, or write Blu-ray discs with your Mac, you're going to need to start off with an excellent Blu-ray drive. Here are our favorite Blu-ray drives for Mac.

Fast write speeds: Pioneer BDR-XS06

The Pioneer BDR-XS06's 6x write speeds on single-layer and dual-layer discs, and up to 4x max write speeds on quad-layer discs, which makes it one of the faster drives around. Compatible with Mac right out of the box, it also has a quiet mode, so it won't make a ton of noise when you're using the drive.

From $142 at Amazon

Budget option: SEA TECH Blu-ray drive

Completely compatible with Mac, you won't need to reformat or install anything to get the SEA TECH Blu-ray drive to talk to your Mac. Plus, it uses a USB 3.0 connection, meaning all your data transferring is happening at the fast speed of USB 3.0!

$87 at Amazon

Windows and Mac compatible: ASUS BW-16D1X-U

The ASUS 12X Blu-ray drive has a 16X burning speed, which is among the fastest of the optical drives out there. Plus, by using a USB 3.0 connection, the ASUS BW-16D1X-U Blu-ray drive can also write data much faster than other drives that still use USB 2.0. The drive is formatted both for Mac and Windows, so you don't have to worry about reformatting the drive if you want to switch back and forth between operating systems.

$148 at Amazon

Includes Cyberlink Media Suite: Buffalo MediaStation 6x Portable BDXL Blu-Ray Writer

Top External Hard Drives For Mac

For both Mac and Windows, this beautifully designed reader offers BDXL support for high capacity disc-writing for Blu-ray discs, DVDs, and CDs. It also includes M-Disc support for longer life recordings. Included is the Cyberlink Media Suite which offers Blu-ray and DVD burning and playback tools.

$100 at Amazon

Don't forget the software

When it comes to playing Blu-rays on your Mac, you're going to need software as well as an external drive, and sometimes that software can be expensive. For that reason, I think the SEA TECH Blu-ray drive is worth a look for people who just want to watch Blu-ray movies.

Of course, if you do plan on using Blu-rays for hard copies of your work, document, files, and general back up, it's probably worth the dishing out the extra cash for a drive like the ASUS BW-16D1X-U. It just has way more power than those slimmer drives and will help you transfer all your data to disc a lot faster.

Either way, you'll need one of the great drives listed above if you want to watch or burn any Blu-rays on your Mac.

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Second screen time

Take a monitor on the go with one of these options for your Mac

For work or play, consider one of these portal solutions for your favorite Mac.

Welcome to Apple Support Communities

The advantage of the MacBook Pro is that it uses the same hard drive as any other PC: a 2'5' SATA hard drive with 5400 or 7200 rpm speed.

You can buy a hard drive for your Mac at OWC > http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/ You shouldn't have any problem to install a 750 GB or 1 TB hard drive on it. Also, note that 7200 rpm hard drives will give you better performance compared with your 5400 rpm hard drive that your MacBook came with. Seagate and HGST drives have good reputation. OWC gives you the videos to install it

Also, there's an option to put a SSD, faster but very expensive and with smaller storage

Aug 20, 2013 12:44 AM

Best Programs For Photo Editing Mac

• Best Program For Editing Pictures On A Mac
• Best Apps For Photo Editing Mac

Apple’s computers are deservedly positioned as an optimal platform for creative work, a universal tool for the artist of the digital era. This collection presents the most exciting photo editing software for Mac users.

Today I want to share my personal rating of the best photo editing software for Mac OS X. Many people continue using Adobe programs but as for me, their high subscription fees may be a problem. Photoshop, Lightroom and Camera RAW are great photo editing programs, however, there are awesome alternatives. Years pass, new companies arise and they develop revolutionary, full-functional and efficient photo editing software for Mac. Maybe they will win the 'challenge for the crown' in the nearest future. The most important advantage of all the software I am going to list below is that they cost less and can please you with the same benefits as expensive programs.

In this article, I have gathered the most interesting software for photo editing on Mac from image editors to image processors. All of them have great sets of qualities. It's time to get to the action. Read and choose the one you like the most.

The 20 best mmorpgs for mac. Since the client is still in Beta, it might not be worth paying full price until the fully tested client is released. What’s more, downloading the Mac client helps show that there’s an audience on the Mac for MMOs and big games in general. Are there any other gems that you play on a Mac? There are plenty of other games out there for Mac players, but this handful should get Mac users started. However, there are frequent weekend sales and if you can play cross platform there is no penalty for downloading the Mac beta as well as the Windows version.

Choose the photo editor for Mac you need! Luminar - Best Photo Editing App on Mac software created and developed by Skylum for simplifying photo-editing on Mac for both pros and amateurs.

Best Program For Editing Pictures On A Mac

Best Apps For Photo Editing Mac

Making a photo amazing can take you just a couple of clicks. Luminar 2018 is something between so cool and easy as Instagram filters and complex as Adobe Photoshop.