On the other hand, if you're looking to buy an external drive mainly to back up your files (which you should definitely do), and it will rarely leave your home office, an inexpensive spinning drive will work just fine. USB-A dongle less elegant than a dedicated cable. Our delivery owl will bring you our best deals and news about MacPaw apps. A metal-skinned gem of a platter hard drive, the LaCie Mobile Drive looks great and performs on point. Now that your iPhone and iPad can use external storage, you dont have to worry as much about running out of space. The Samsung Duo Plus Flash Drive has both a USB-C and standard USB connection, which makes it an excellent device for your iPad Pro. The MacBook Pro models released in 2021 come with the latest Thunderbolt 4 interface, while other recent Macs use the older Thunderbolt 3. First, you need to know where the backup is stored on your Mac. Im a travel enthusiast, teacher, writer, and an early adopter who has stood in more release-day lines than I can count. You won't get the security and efficiency of APFS, but you will get the convenience of being able to transfer files back and forth between Windows and macOS simply by plugging in and unplugging your drive. But youre still paying for that storage, so why not use it in a smarter way? From the iPhone Location in Finder, choose Back Up Now. Useful LaCie Toolkit software handles backup and restore, as well as mirroring. https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-external-hard-drives-for-mac, The LaCie Rugged SSD Pro external drive is designed for professional videographers and others who work in the field with Thunderbolt 3-equipped computers (most often Macs). One major downside, however, is that they're more expensive. Here's How to Back Up Your Photoshop Elements Organizer Catalog, Back Up Your Computer to an External Hard Drive, Back Up Your Google Chrome Bookmarks and Never Lose Them Again, How to Restore an iPhone From Backup in iTunes or iCloud, Learn How to Back Up Your Apple Watch Data on the Cloud, 31 Free Backup Software Tools: Ranked and Reviewed, How to Factory Reset an iPhone (All Models), EaseUS Todo Backup Free: A Complete Review, How to Create a Full Backup on a Windows 11 Computer, How to Back Up Your Mac to an External Hard Drive With Time Machine, No iTunes? Each has its advantages and disadvantages, andunlike the file systemthe type you buy is the type you're stuck with for the life of the drive. There was a problem. And for more storage options, check out the online photo storage sites and apps we covered earlier. It's not hard to find. Top subscription boxes right to your door, 1996-2022, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Once you download Gemini Photos from the App Store and scan your phone, it will show you all the pictures you probably dont want to keep anymore: Its important to keep in mind that Gemini Photos doesnt immediately remove those pictures from your phone. It has both a Lightning connector and a regular USB connector to plug into your laptop. We've updated our Privacy Policy, which will go in to effect on September 1, 2022. Your subscription has been confirmed. Then you've caught me testing gear and editing reviews of laptops, desktop PCs, and tons of other personal tech. Its called Gemini Photos. Rename the iOS backup folder on the external hard drive to ios_backup. High (IP67) rating for water and dust resistance, Includes both Mac and Windows software for 256-bit AES encryption, Must be reformatted to work with a Windows PC. Keep an eye on your inbox! Starting with macOS "High Sierra," Cupertino ditched its venerable Mac OS Extended file system, commonly abbreviated as HFS+, and switched to an entirely new file system. You can break how your Mac back ups your iPhone, so we recommend performing a full system backup via Time Machine first so you can retrace your steps if need be. The HooToo is a little more compact, though, making it slightly more portable. Here are a couple of the best external storage options to use with your iPhone. Im a former Apple retail store Specialist and Ive been writing Apple-focused product reviews and how-tos since 2010. But what if you dont want to store your pics on the cloud or pay for more iCloud storage? Portable drives don't have a power plug; they get the juice they need to run through their data interface. So, if youre the type of person who likes to store music, pictures, or even movies onto your external hard drive, then this is great news for you. No Problem! This means you can plug in a flash drive or even the same portable hard drive you have for your laptop and be able to see the contents of the drive. Her work has appeared in Mashable, TechRadar, and many more publications. What the tiny Kingston XS2000 Portable SSD lacks in size, it makes up for in speed and durability. The first time you plug in an external drive, Time Machine will ask if you want to use it as a backup drive. Because of the complexity, we've broken down what needs to be done before moving your iPhone backup to an external hard drive into multiple steps. Karen S Freeman Input your search keywords and press Enter. If you find yourself going back and forth between your iPad and iPhone, youll probably want to get a USB drive that can easily connect to both. (We've tested SSDs and platter-based drives alike.). When youre looking to get a flash drive specifically for your iPhone and iPad, its best to look for one with a Lightning connection. It also has a lightning connector on one end and a standard USB connector on the other, so you can plug it directly into your iPhone and computer to transfer your photo library. You'll pay handsomely, of coursesome Mac-specific arrays cost thousands of dollars. (Or both; it depends on how the array is set up.) Youre almost done. Move iPhone Backup to External Hard Drive. So, to recap: Faster, smaller (both physically and in terms of gigabytes) solid-state drives come at a premium, while spinning drives offer a much better value while sacrificing speed. Moreover, the Thunderbolt drives you can buy are constrained by the maximum throughput of the drive itself, rather than the Thunderbolt interface. AES-256 hardware encryption with password. Reading this during the day? In fact, in many cases it makes sense to choose an inexpensive non-Thunderbolt drive that isn't targeted toward Mac use. Maybe you want to use it on both your iPhone and iPad, or you want a flash drive that doesnt force you to take the case off your phone. Go to the Finder window that displays your iOS backup. Or use Mac's admin settings and Terminal to permanently change the iPhone location backups. Drag it to the external hard drive under Locations in the Finder sidebar. But thankfully, you can now use external storage like a flash drive or hard drive with them. Sure, moving photos off to an external hard drive will free up space on your phone. Sign up for Lab Report to get the latest reviews and top product advice delivered right to your inbox. published 18 June 22. Paste this code, ensuring you change the relevant parts to the name of your external hard drive. Some iOS apps, such as FiLMiC Pro, will allow you to capture video directly to the drive. By continuing to browse it, you agree to the use of cookies. Some drives come in a variety of colors. However, that speed ceiling is rising. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. The good news is theres an app that can help you find photo clutter and get rid of it quickly. All of those take up space, and if you dont need them anymore, you should get rid of them. 1996-2022 Ziff Davis. Its versatility makes it easy to slip into your bag or even your pocket to carry with you. Click. If you really fancy a consumer-oriented drive formatted for Windows (which will usually come pre-formatted in the NTFS format), you can use the Disk Utility in macOS to reformat it after you bring it home from the store. Now you've found your backup, you need to move it to your external hard drive. An array contains two or more drives that all work together toincrease throughput, or guard your precious files against corruption via drive redundancy if one of the drives fail. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. After all, thats the beauty of thumb drives the simple fact that theyre portable and can be used with a range of devices. (Again, see our roundup of the best external SSDs for more discussion of this.). Small, light, and even mailable, it earns the right to add "extremely" in front of "fast and rugged. 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It comes in several color options and has a Lightning plug and a USB plug that can be used with the simple flick of its switch. And that way, you always have a pen with you, as well as extra storage for your iPhone when you need it most. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. The process involves being comfortable changing a few background settings on your Mac via the Terminal command. (Check outour favorite rugged drives.). Kensington lock slot secures only the case, leaving the drives easily removable. The portables are obviously smaller, and are based on the kinds of 2.5-inch platter drives used in laptops. You will receive a verification email shortly. ", Also works with USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 and Gen 2 ports, Extreme ruggedness against dust, water, drops, crush pressure.

EATOP USB Flash Drive 512GB iPhone Memory Stick Storage for Photos and Videos, iPhone Mobile Photo Stick Storage Flash Thumb Drive Compatible with iPhone iPad Android and Computers (Gold), EATOP USB Flash Drive 512GB iPhone Memory Stick Storage for Photos and Videos, iPhone Mobile Photo Stick Storage Flash Thumb Drive Compatible with iPhone iPad Android and Computers (Dark Blue), EATOP USB Flash Drive 512GB iPhone Memory Stick Storage for Photos and Videos, iPhone Mobile Photo Stick Storage Flash Thumb Drive Compatible with iPhone iPad Android and Computers (Rose Gold). But unlike the Western Digital drive mentioned earlier, this is a true flash drive, so its a little more portable. Compare that with external spinning drives, which are easy to find even in capacities in excess of 8TB for desktop-style drives, or up to 5TB for portable ones. This is an efficient and affordable memory stick with 128 GB of storage space. You may have to enter your administrator password to do this. You can insist on Thunderbolt support if you know you need all the speed you can get, but a USB-C drive will be a better pick if you're more price-sensitive, or need to also use the drive with a PC. This four-way model is compatible with any device that uses USB-A, USB-C, Lightning, or micro-USB. But before you rush out and buy the cheapest or largest drive you can find, you should think about some of the other uses you might have for it. Of course, you can easily wipe and reformat most external drives, so you're not limited to buying only those intended for use with Macs.

New York, For professional videographers who edit lots of4K footage and gamers or movie buffs who have large libraries of multi-gigabyte titles, an external RAID array made up of multiple platter-based drives is worth considering, since it combines the near-speed of an SSD with the gargantuan possible capacities of spinning drives. Before I joined the tech-journalism ranks, I wrote on topics as diverse as Borneo's rain forests, Middle Eastern airlines, and Big Data's role in presidential elections. Its made with an aluminum casing that helps protect it from falls without adding any unnecessary weight. While its compact and lightweight design makes it easy to toss in your bag and take with you, it lacks any extra protection from potential travel damage. Need to download utilities to manage the drive. Take more photos and videos on your iPhone iPad. We've selected a host of our favorite drives; all were tested on both Windows and macOS systems. Some highly specialized external drives might not work with Macs even if they're formatted correctly, but consumers looking for extra space simply to store backups or large video collections aren't likely to encounter them. It automatically backs up all photos and videos and easily streams videos on the go. An external drive's file system is the most important factor that determines whether or not it's readable by Macs, PCs, or both. Like other drives on this list, the EATOP iPhone memory stick has multiple connectors so you can connect it directly to your iPhone and your computer. Spoiler: A Thunderbolt drive isn't your only option; far from it.

Thats right its also a pen. 5TB is peak portable single-drive capacity. Not having enough storage space on your iPad or iPhone is an issue thats all too common. If youre hoping to get an external hard drive to use primarily with your computer but want to make sure itll also work with your iPad or iPhone, theres a couple of things to keep in mind. Designed for videographers and other creative pros who regularly handle tons of data, the LaCie 2big RAID combines two hot-swappable, high-capacity drives with a variety of settings for maximum flexibility and data protection. Here's every Nintendo Switch game available now (and what's to come later this year), New Eve Motion gets light sensor, Thread support, and more. This makes it an easy and convenient drive to go wherever you go. It's ideal for anyone who works in the field and produces oodles of data. Don't forget to manually back up regularly. This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. iDiskk offers a unique flash drive that has four different connections built in. It automatically transfers over your photo library, so all you have to do is open the app and plug in the drive. Most laptops with either operating system now come with at least one oval-shaped USB-C port, and it's the one you'll want to use for connecting your external drive. Swansea University, Staffordshire University. It will either be called Backup or consist of a series of numbers and letters. Instead, this thumb drive wraps around to the back, making it more convenient to continue using your phone while connected. Finally, you might want to consider how the drive will look when it's plugged into your Mac. Hopefully, reading this article has helped you figure out which options will work best for you. In that case, youre going to want an external hard drive like the LaCie Rugged. Looking to add storage, or for a smart way to back up your Mac? As you can see, there are a ton of options when youre looking for external storage for your iPhone. With the release of iOS 13 and iPadOS, the Files app now supports external storage devices. This is the Swiss army knife of portable hard drives. When you run out of space on your iPhone, its understandable that you would want to make sure your pictures and videos are backed up so you dont lose them. NY 10036. But what happens when you throw yetanothervariable into the mix: the connection between your drive and your Mac? Now, please check your email. The HooToo Flash Drive is small and lightweight, making it conveniently portable. High price per gigabyte, due largely to ruggedization and RAID design. This is something you can keep in your pocket, and, of course, it has a standard USB connection so you can plug it into any of your devices using a dongle. Creating a symlink isn't essential as you can manually move your backups across, but it's much easier if you set up your Mac to do this automatically. It not only has lightning and standard USB connectors, but it also has a Micro USB connector and a USB-C adapter. Im the deputy managing editor of the hardware team at PCMag.com. Youre seeing this ad based on the products relevance to your search query.

You've successfully tracked down the backup. Do you prefer iCloud? Copyright 1995-2022 eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved. It all just depends on your specific needs and how you want to use that storage. If youre looking for a drive that you can take with you everywhere you take your iPhone, then iDiskk Photo Stick is the drive you need. If you are uncomfortable working with the Mac Terminal, that's probably your safest choice. No tab over Type-C connector to protect it from dust and water. Designed with a durable aluminum build, it comes with a free app that supports shooting photos and videos while instantly saving your masterpieces straight to the flash drive. One of the best things about the Sandisk iXpand flash drive is the iOS app you can use with the drive. There are dozens of iPhone flash drive options to choose from online and we've highlighted our favorites that give you the most bang for your buck.

While you can customize backup options in System Preferences, such as asking Time Machine to exclude certain folders, there's no action required on your part if you're happy with the default settings. (See our guide to using Time Machine for backups.). But where it really sets itself apart is how much space you get for the price. That's more than fast enough for backups and occasionally transferring multi-gigabyte files, but many times lower than Thunderbolt's maximum throughput. With USB-only drives, some manufacturers include a USB Type-C cable for people who own a USB Type-C-only Mac, and you can always pick up a converter for a few dollars online if the drive you're eyeing doesn't offer one. If you've never dealt with Terminal before, it can be intimidating as it's powerful and not exactly user-friendly. Built-in fingerprint reader and LED status indicator. The SanDisk Professional G-Drive ArmorATD is an attractive, cost-effective portable hard drive, best for Mac users, that provides some protection from the elements but lacks a software suite and hardware-based encryption.