An SSD is your portable storage solution for Mac

For the fastest, most reliable, and smallest external storage solution possible, solid-state drives or SSD drives are the way to go. This external storage type is generally smaller and quieter; plus, it uses less energy than traditional hard disk or HDD external drives. If this sounds like exactly what you need, then here's a list of the best external SSD for Mac.

Tiny and mighty

Sabrent Rocket Nano

Staff Pick

The Sabrent Rocket is the cutest, most compact SSD drive I've seen. Besides the cute factor, though, it's also powerful with a full 2TB of storage space and transfer speeds up to 10GB per second!

$280 at Amazon$290 at B&H

Great space

Crucial X6 4TB Portable SSD

Despite its compact size, the Crucial X6 SSD packs in a whole 4TB of space. This is a great solution for content creators who work with large file sizes.

$490 at Amazon$490 at Best Buy

Best design

Seagate Ultra Touch SSD

Small and versatile, the Seagate Ultra Touch is compatible with many devices, from Mac to PC, to Android. The cool fabric casing only adds to its appeal.

$145 at Amazon$191 at Walmart

Fastest transfer

Samsung X5 Portable SSD

The Samsung X5 takes full advantage of the Thunderbolt 3 interface to transfer data at speeds up to 40GB per second! It's the fastest, rootinest, tootinest SSD around.

$200 at Amazon$200 at Walmart

Matching outfits

OWC 1TB Envoy Pro Ex SSD

If outward appearance is important to you, you'll enjoy the fact that the aluminum build of this OWC SSD will match beautifully with silver Macs. Happily, it also works just as nicely as it looks.

$249 at Amazon$249 at B&H

Ruff and tuff

CalDigit Tuff Nano

The CalDigit Tuff Nano is built to take a beating. If you're taking your SSD along with you as you travel or explore the great outdoors, you'll want to make sure it can hold up under pressure, and this one fits the bill.

$230 at Amazon$150 at B&H

Best value

SanDisk 1TB Extreme Portable SSD

The SanDisk Extreme has a lot going for it. Not only does it come in at a nice low price, but it also has both USB-A and USB-C adapters for device versatility.

$140 at Apple$150 at Amazon$135 at Walmart

Cool and collected

G-Technology 1TB G-DRIVE mobile SSD

Another tough pick, the G-Drive is both drop and water-resistant. It also has a built-in cooling mechanism to ensure optimum performance over time without overheating.

$200 at Apple$180 at Amazon$180 at Best Buy

Swift-moving storage

With one of the best external SSD for Mac, you'll have the speediest, smallest storage solution around. The hard part is choosing which one to go with! We suggest the Sabrent Rocket Nano because of its sleek, tiny design that's so perfectly portable.

If your needs call for a more robust solution, then the Crucial X6 offers a full 4GB of storage space that you won't see on most other SSD external drives. Despite its large storage capacity, it is packed into a tidy, compact package that won't weigh you down. Most importantly, any of the drives on this list will work beautifully with your Mac.