Knowledgeable’s Score
Professionals
- Supplies as much as 6TB storage
- Aggressive value
- Password safety
Cons
- Might be quicker
- Bigger than most moveable drives
- No USB-C interface
Our Verdict
It’s not the quickest arduous drive round, however the My Passport for Mac supplies loads of moveable storage at a aggressive value.
Worth When Reviewed
$84.99 (2TB), $127.99 (4TB), $139.99 (5TB), $184.99 (6TB)
Greatest Costs Immediately:
$69.99
$79.66
$79.99
$84.99
$84.99
The excessive efficiency and compact design of solid-state drives makes them excellent for individuals who desire a moveable backup drive that they’ll carry with them once they’re touring with their laptop computer. Nonetheless, SSDs are nonetheless comparatively costly, and so they additionally are inclined to have extra restricted capability than old school mechanical arduous drives. In case you want a number of terabytes of storage to your Time Machine backups or work recordsdata then a conventional mechanical arduous drive remains to be price contemplating.
Arduous drives have their very own limitations, although, as they’re usually heavier and bigger than SSDs, and moveable arduous drives reminiscent of Western Digital’s in style My Passport might usually solely provide 5TB of storage earlier than they merely turned too giant and heavy to hold round together with your laptop computer. So Western Digital now claims to have made a breakthrough with the 2024 model of the My Passport, which it describes as “the world’s first 2.5-inch 6TB portable hard drive”. Actually, Western Digital doesn’t even hassle to offer a 1TB possibility with the My Passport anymore, beginning with a minimal of 2TB for $84.99/£75.99, with 4TB, 5TB and 6TB fashions additionally out there. And even the 6TB mannequin that we evaluate right here solely prices $184.99/£165.99, so the My Passport actually supplies a really inexpensive backup possibility for laptop computer customers.
The essential design of the drive hasn’t modified very a lot with this replace, with a really easy dark-blue, rectangular plastic casing that’s adorned with just a few diagonal stripes working throughout the highest panel. As we’ve seen with earlier My Passport drives, the 2TB mannequin is kind of a bit slimmer and lighter than the opposite fashions, measuring 13.5mm thick, 75mm huge and 107mm lengthy, and weighing simply 140g. The 4TB and 5TB fashions enhance to a thickness of 19.2mm, whereas the 6TB mannequin that we evaluate here’s a comparatively chunky 20.6mm thick, with these three fashions all weighing 210g.
Considerably oddly, the My Passport drive nonetheless makes use of an ageing USB Micro-B interface, though Western Digital does embody a USB-A cable with a separate USB-C adaptor, so you need to use the drive with newer Macs that solely have USB-C in addition to older Macs with USB-A. It’s a bit of odd that Western Digital doesn’t merely undertake the extra fashionable USB-C interface for the drives, however that’s not likely a significant criticism because the restricted speeds of mechanical arduous drives don’t actually require the upper information switch charges which can be supported by USB-C. The My Passport drives additionally embody Western Digital’s Discovery app for Mac and Home windows, which supplies password safety and encryption options that can assist you maintain essential recordsdata and information secure in case the drive will get misplaced or stolen.
The opposite oddity is that – as we’ve seen previously – Western Digital continues to supply a slightly complicated number of fashions inside the My Passport vary. The usual My Passport drive is geared toward Home windows customers and features a USB-A cable, whereas the My Passport For Mac that we evaluate right here throws in a USB-C adaptor and can be pre-formatted to be used with Macs straight out of the field. There’s additionally a mannequin with the daft title My Passport Works With USB-C, which appears to be an identical to the ‘For Mac’ mannequin however makes use of the exFAT drive format, which is appropriate with each Macs and Home windows. Extra helpful maybe are the 2 ‘Ultra’ fashions – My Passport Extremely and My Passport Extremely for Mac (learn our evaluate) – that are barely costlier, however have a sturdy metallic casing that is perhaps helpful for individuals who work outdoor and wish some further safety.
Western Digital can be a bit of obscure concerning the drive’s efficiency. Its web site states that every one the My Passport drives present a switch fee of ‘up to 5Gb/s’ – however that truly refers back to the USB interface slightly than the arduous drive itself. Our assessments with the My Passport for Mac confirmed that it nudged simply previous 100MB/s for each learn and write efficiency, which is clearly far slower than an SSD drive, however just like earlier. It’ll be effective for routine Time Machine backups, though artistic customers who have to work with giant graphics or video recordsdata may nonetheless favor a quicker solid-state drive.
Must you purchase Western Digital My Passport for Mac?
There are quicker arduous drives out there – in addition to SSDs, in fact – and it’s long gone time for WD to undertake a contemporary USB-C interface. Even so, the My Passport for Mac nonetheless stands out from most of its moveable rivals by providing as much as 6TB of storage at a really aggressive value.
See the way it compares to different arduous drives for Mac in our round-up of the most effective.