As the name suggests, a Thunderbolt hard drive is a hard drive with a Thunderbolt interface, a technology developed by Intel in cooperation with Apple.
Thunderbolt is a data transmission protocol that combines PCI Express data transmission technology and DisplayPort display technology.
So far, the Thunderbolt interface has evolved to the third generation: Thunderbolt 3. Thunderbolt 1 and 2 are integrated with Mini DisplayPort (a physical port), while Thunderbolt 3 is integrated with USB Type-C (a physical port).
In this post, I will mainly focus on Thunderbolt 3, because Thunderbolt 1 and 2 are not popular for the following reason: their physical ports are Apple Mini DP.
Best Thunderbolt External Hard Drives
After learning about USB-Type-C and Thunderbolt 3, you can learn about Thunderbolt 3 hard drives. In this part, I recommend the 3 best Thunderbolt external hard drives.
Best Thunderbolt External Hard Drives for Macs of 2024
If you want the fastest external hard drive for your Mac then a Thunderbolt drive is the answer.
Thunderbolt is an advanced data transfer technology that was first developed in 2009 between Intel and Apple under the project name “Light Peak” and now all Macs have Thunderbolt ports.
Most Macs since around 2017 have the fastest Thunderbolt 3 ports and the latest Apple Silicon Macs have Thunderbolt 4 ports.
There is no difference in speed between Thunderbolt 3 and 4 when using an external drive but Thunderbolt 4 is a slightly higher standard that can drive more high-resolution 4K and 8K external displays on a Mac.
Why use a Thunderbolt drive?
The big advantage of Thunderbolt ports is that they can achieve incredibly high data transfer rates compared to USB-C-only ports.
You can get data transfer speeds of up to 40Gb/s with Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4, compared to 20Gb/s with USB-C standards like USB 3.2 Gen 2×2, 10 Gb/s with USB 3.1 Gen 2, and 5 Gb/s with USB 3.1 Gen 1.
Thunderbolt drives therefore save valuable time spent waiting for large files to transfer.
This is especially important for those working in creative fields such as video editing and graphic design, who often need to edit and transfer large files in seconds rather than minutes.
Using a Thunderbolt drive is also the fastest way to back up your Mac via macOS Time Machine as transfers take seconds rather than minutes.
In terms of durability, Thunderbolt drives are also solid-state drives, which means they have no moving parts inside and are less likely to be damaged by shaking.
Apart from speed and durability, other benefits of Thunderbolt over USB-C include more bandwidth to support more than one external monitor, connecting multiple hard drives simultaneously, and the ability to connect eGPUs on Intel Macs.
- SanDisk Professional Pro-G40 SSD
The SanDisk Professional Pro-G40 SSD was recently released by SanDisk and is the best Thunderbolt drive for Mac.
That’s because it uses Thunderbolt instead of USB-C and you’ll get read-write transfer speeds of at least 2500MB/s which is about twice as much as most USB-C SSD drives.
Note that although it will work with Thunderbolt 4 connections on the latest Macs, it doesn’t have full Thunderbolt 4 support but you will get solid Thunderbolt 3 speeds.
It’s also a cheaper alternative to the popular Samsung X5 Portable which is now discontinued.
The SanDisk Professional Pro-G40 SSD is therefore aimed at creative users like video editors and graphic designers who regularly transfer multiple GBs of data.
It’s also surprisingly durable, as it’s rated IP68 for water resistance, and according to SanDisk, it’s protected from drops of up to 3 meters.
The SanDisk Professional Pro-G40 SSD is available in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB versions, with the largest version costing around $799.
However, since it’s a Thunderbolt SSD with incredibly fast transfer speeds and impressive durability, the SanDisk Professional Pro-G40 SSD is perfect for those who don’t have time to spare.
You can see just how fast it is in our test below, where it managed to transfer 20GB of data from our Mac in just 1 minute and 39 seconds.
- LaCie Rugged SSD Pro 1TB SSD
The most durable Thunderbolt drive for Mac
As the name suggests, the LaCie Rugged SSD Pro 1TB Solid State Drive is incredibly robust and durable with IP67 water resistance, three-meter drop resistance, and car crash pressure resistance up to two tons.
It is primarily meant for filmmakers and DTIs who require maximum speed and durability.
The LaCie SSD Rugged Pro is fitted with a 1TB Seagate FireCuda NV Me SSD for up to 2800MB/s read/write speeds with 4K, 6K, and 8K video.
The LaCie Rugged SSD Pro is still small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and includes a Thunderbolt 3 cable that connects to both Mac and Windows PCs.
LaCie also offers a free one-month subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud which gives you access to the entire Adobe CC suite, including photo and video editing apps.
It also includes a five-year guarantee with Rescue Data Recovery service in case the drive fails.
The main downside is that the cable is short, only a few inches long, and needs to be placed right next to your Mac. If you replace the Thunderbolt cable with a longer one, the transfer speed drops, so it feels like you’re stuck with the short cable on the Lacie Rugged SSD Pro.
- SABRENT Rocket XTRM-Q
The most storage-capacity Thunderbolt drive for Mac.
The SABRENT Rocket is one of the most capacious Thunderbolt drives on the market, with up to 16TB of storage space.
It is available in two versions: QLC which offers speeds up to 2700MB/s and TLC which offers 2400MB/s.
Both work with Macs, but the main difference is that the TLC version only supports Thunderbolt 3, while the QLC version supports both Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.2.
The Sabrent Rocket uses quad-level cell and triple-level cell technology and dual disk storage, delivering up to 16TB of high-speed hard drive space.
It has an integrated temperature and health monitoring system that automatically protects the hard drive from overheating and damage.
Note that since the higher capacity model has two SSDs, you’ll either get speeds of up to 1400 MB/s per SSD or up to 2800MB/s when using both drives in RAID 0 mode.
Sabrent is fully certified by Intel to use Thunderbolt 3 technology in its products, so if you want guaranteed Thunderbolt compatibility, you’ll get it with Sabrent.
The biggest downside to the Sabrent Rocket is its price, but for those who need a large amount of Thunderbolt hard drive storage, this is one of the only models available in this range.
The 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB models have pretty good availability, but the higher storage models of 8TB and 16GB have limited availability and you may find they are often out of stock.
- Phantom Drives Extreme 2TB External SSD
Phantom isn’t the most well-known brand on the external hard drive market, but the Phantom Drives Extreme External SSD is one of the best-priced Thunderbolt drives.
The Phantom Drives Extreme Thunderbolt 3 External Solid State Drive can reach read speeds of over 2800MB/s and write speeds of over 2300MB/s.
What we like about the Phantom Drives Extreme is that it often delivers such speeds in real life, whereas many Thunderbolt drives don’t perform as expected in real-world conditions.
For those who want to use it with a Windows PC as well as a Mac, the Extreme SSD is backward compatible with USB 3.2 Gen 2 USB-C, but at a slower 1050MB/s read and write speed.
The Phantom Drives Extreme Thunderbolt 3 External Solid State Drive measures 0.5″ x 2.5″ x 4.25″ weighs just 9 ounces and includes the internal power supply.
It uses thermal dissipation technology to keep the SSD in optimal condition and is officially licensed as a Thunderbolt 3 product.
- Pluggable Thunderbolt Drive
The best Thunderbolt SSD for Mac
The Pluggable Thunderbolt 3 drive is available in 512MB, 1TB, and 2TB and offers read speeds of around 2400MB/s and write speeds of 1800MB/s.
It’s both durable and portable, with a full metal casing that dissipates heat quickly and prevents the drive from overheating.
The drive also has an internal power supply, so it’s not bulky or heavy at just 6.2 ounces. It also comes with a useful carrying bag so you can take it anywhere.
The Pluggable Thunderbolt drive is also pre-formatted in exFAT format so it works for file transfers between macOS and Windows.
The drive also comes with a 36-month or 1900 TBW (Tera Bytes Written) limited warranty.
The disadvantage of the drive is that the Thunderbolt cable is not detachable, so you cannot replace it with a longer cable. This is to provide the high transfer speeds promised by the drive, but it is inconvenient if you cannot keep it near your Mac.
- G-Technology Thunderbolt G-Drive
Capacity Best Thunderbolt Drive for Mac
The disadvantage is that the G-Technology Thunderbolt G-Drive is a mechanical HDD that has moving parts compared to faster and more durable SSD drives.
However, unlike many Thunderbolt drives, it also supports USB-C (USB 3.1 Gen 1) which makes it suitable for use with Windows and macOS.
You can also daisy-chain up to 5 additional Thunderbolt drives to the Thunderbolt G-Drive making it ideal for those who need a large amount of offline Thunderbolt storage capacity.
The G-Technology Thunderbolt Drive also features an aluminum case that looks good with the Mac and also offers protection from damage and heat.
Author: Ram Jet
As fellow Mac enthusiasts, we noticed a dearth of reliable upgrade products that meet or exceed Apple’s standards of quality and service. That’s why in 1996, we launched Ramjet, a family-run company out of Champaign, Illinois, dedicated to helping do-it-yourself Mac lovers like us get the most performance and life out of their Macs.
