- Apple Macbook Pro Flash Drive
- What Is Flash Drive On Macbook Pro 15
- What Is Flash Drive On Macbook Pro Mid 2012
- What Is Flash Drive On Macbook Pro 2018
It’s very annoying that if your laptop has only USB-C ports (such as MacBook Pro) and you don’t want to use a USB hub or docking station. It will make it easier if the external devices are equipped with a USB-C connector, such as a USB-C external CD/DVD drive. The Best External Drives for MacBook Pro in 2020: Our Picks Kindly note that the products chosen below are mainly based on our personal preferences and the guidelines as shown above. They are by no means made in the order below. The only difference I've noted is the price, because MacBook Pro with retina display costs $2799 with a 512 GB flash drive. At the same time, MacBook Pro without the retina display costs $2199 plus $800 for a 512 GB SSD, for a total of $2999, and a difference of $200 from the MacBook Pro with retina display. Once the format is complete, you can start using the flash drive with your MacBook. Best USB Flash Drive for MacBook Pro Best Overall: Corsair Flash Voyager GTX. This premium USB 3.1 flash drive is as fast as many Solid State (SSD) external hard drives with up 440MB/s read and 440MB/s write speeds. Apple Footer. Trade‑in value based on 2019 15-inch MacBook Pro. Trade‑in values will vary based on the condition, year, and configuration of your trade‑in device. You must be at least 18 years old to be eligible to trade in for credit or for an Apple Store Gift Card.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Read my full disclosure.
Undeniably, flash drives are very popular types of storage for Macs. They are small, and people used them to share data long before we had cloud storage options.
Thumb drives are still helpful when there is a need to quickly extend available storage, which is a common problem for MacBooks Pro and Air.
Table of Contents:
- Best USB Flash Drive for MacBook Pro
How to Choose a Good USB Flash Drive
When choosing the right USB flash drive, pay attention tothe following factors:
- Reliability
- Storage Capacity
- Performance
- Size
- Compatibility with Apple computers
Reliability
There are certain qualities that I look for when consideringthumb drives, but the main factor in selection is always reliability. Itdoesn’t matter how fast the drive is, how cool it looks, or how cheap you canget in on Amazon. If the drive fails when you need it, then it’s not worth evena penny.
While nobody can guarantee that a particular device will befail-free, there is a difference in failure rate between quality drives andcheap knockoffs. In my opinion, devices produced by well known establishedcompanies have lower failure rates compared to drives from unknownmanufacturers.
If Amazon is your choice when it comes to purchasinganything online, be aware that not all user reviews are real. So many times,I’ve seen several thousands of 5-star reviews on noname devices, and at thesame time, good drives get a couple of hundreds of reviews, and the average is3.5.
So, what should you do?
If you get anything from this article, I want to remind youthat brands matter when reliability is the most important factor in choosing aflash drive.
If you are not familiar with which manufacturers have beenon the market for decades, here is the list (not complete) of companies whichproduce quality drives:
- SanDisk
- Kingston
- PNY
- Samsung
- Corsair
Other things to consider in thumb drives if their ability tobe waterproof, shockproof, or dustproof. Also, having metal encasing is muchpreferred over the cheaper plastic body.
Memory Storage Capacity
I remember the days when the most you could get is a stickwith 128MB (megabytes). Fortunately, those days are long gone.
Nowadays, the capacity of modern thumb drives can exceed 1TB (almost 8,000 times more storage than in the early days).
However, you must know that not all file formats can support such huge volumes. Restore macbook with time machine. Read about the Mac file formats in the Apple Compatibility section below.
Performance
The speed with which a USB drive reads and writes data is what makes people choose external hard drives over the convenience of thumb drives. We all know that flash drives are slow, sometimes painfully slow when we try to copy large files.
However, I was able to find out several gadgets with almost SSD like performance. These drives can be used even with Apple Time Machine, which is known for its demands for read/write speed requirements.
Besides, the actual flash drive performance, don’t forget tocheck which USB type the device supports. There is a huge difference intransfer speed between USB 2, 3.0, and 3.1.
While USB 2 offers max transfer speed around 480 Mbps, USB 3.0 supports up to 5 Gbps. With USB 3.1, the transfer speed can get up to 10Gbps. And finally, USB-C is the fastest of all with speeds up to 40Gbps.
Size
Size matters. Especially for USB flash drives that are usedmostly to transfer data from one computer to another. However, in most cases,it’s a matter of personal choice. Some people love very small ones, so they canattach them to a ket chain. Some like larger gadgets.
Compatibility with Apple computers
Since this article is about USB flash drives for MacBooks, let’s talk about compatibility issues. If you browse drives on Amazon or Best Buy, you may see that some of them specifically mention that they are compatible with Macs.
One could make a conclusion that some drives are compatible, and some are not. And such a conclusion can lead to limiting choices.
The reality is that when a device claims that it iscompatible with Macs, it only means that you can use the device out of the boxwithout needing to do anything extra.
However, you can use any USB flash drive with any Mac. Allyou need is to know how to format it properly.
Best File Format for Flash Drive on Mac
There are four main file formats supported on Macs: APFS and its variations, Mac OS Extended (aka HFS+) and variations, MS-DOS and exFat. So, which one should you choose? I wrote an entire article about file formats and which ones are best if you need to transfer data between PCs and Macs.
Apple Macbook Pro Flash Drive
Here, I will give a quick tip.
If you are planning to use a flash drive with Macs only, then go with Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format. This file format also works with Apple Time Machine.
However, if you need to share files between Macs and PC computers, then go with exFat.
How to Format Flash Drive on Mac
There is a built-in tool Disk Utility, which can be used toformat flash drives on Mac.
Here’s how to format the flash drive:
- Plug the drive into Mac
- Start Disk Utility from Spotlight Search or LaunchPad
- Select the USB drive on the left
- Click on Erase button at the top of the app
- In the pop-up window type in a name for thumb drive (or keep the old one)
- Select the desired file format
- Hit Erase button
Once the format is complete, you can start using the flashdrive with your MacBook.
Best USB Flash Drive for MacBook Pro
Best Overall: Corsair Flash Voyager GTX
This premium USB 3.1 flash drive is as fast as many SolidState (SSD) external hard drives with up 440MB/s read and 440MB/s write speeds.The actual speeds in our testing were around 420MB/s read, and 400MB/s write,which is pretty close to manufacturer’s specs.
It is backward compatible with USB 2.0 and 3.0.
Corsair Voyager is available in multiple capacities: 128GB,256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. With 1TB drive, I can carry all my virtual machines withme, which is very convenient at work.
This flash drive comes premium rugged zinc-alloy housing, soit does not get hot like some metal drives when copying a large number offiles.
Corsair measures 2.75 x 0.88 inches (70x22mm) and weighsabout 55 grams.
It has a keychain hole, but since it’s bulky, I am not sureif someone would want to carry Corsair with her keys.
Pros: Speed, multiple size options, robust build quality, shockproof
Cons: Fairly large, so it may block other USB devices if the USB ports are close to each other.
Learn about Corsair Flash Voyager GTX on Amazon
Runner-Up: SanDisk Extreme PRO
If you need to transfer 4GB to the USB flash drive in less than 25 seconds, then SanDisk Extreme PRO USB 3.1 Solid State Flash Drive.
The manufacturer claims that that the drive offers read speeds of up to 420MB/s and write speeds of up to 380MB/s. In our test with the Black Magic Speed Test app, we found registered reads at 401MB/s and writes at 315MB/s, which are close to the manufacturer’s values.
It is backward compatible with USB 2.0 and 3.0.
SanDisk Extreme PRO is available in two capacities: 128GBand 256GB.
Drive dimensions: 2.79 x 0.84 x 0.45 in (71 x 21 x 11 mm).Weight 18 grams.
Sandisk comes with SecureAccess Software, which I didn’t use myself. There are separate download files for Mac and PC.
The USB connector is retractable. Once extended, theconnector locks in place, requiring you to press down on the button to retractit.
This thumb drive is preformatted with exFat, so it shouldwork on both Windows and Macs.
Pros: Speed, retractable connector, very light, SecureAccess Software
Cons: Limited size options (only 128 and 256GB)
What Is Flash Drive On Macbook Pro 15
Learn about SanDisk Extreme PRO on Amazon
Best USB-C Flash Drive for Mac
Samsung Duo Plus is the best USB-C flash drive for Mac. Itis waterproof, shockproof, magnet proof, temperature proof, and x-ray proof.Along with USB type C, the drive supports USB 3.1 type A, and it is backwardcompatible with USB 3.0/2.0.
Samsung has a unique design which consists of USB-C andUSB-A pieces. You can copy files from newer MacBook with USB-C ports, thenswitch two parts so that USB-C part goes into USB-A and then plug it into anolder Mac with only USB ports.
Samsung Duo Plus is available in four capacities: 32GB,64GB, 128GB, and 256GB. Unfortunately, there is no 1TB drive.
The thing I didn’t like about the design is that after usingthe flash drive in USB-A mode, you may lose the cap because it only fits USB-Cconnector.
The manufacturer only advertizes the read speed, which is upto 300MB/s for 256/128GB models, and up to 200MB/s for 64/32GB models. Thewrite speed, however, is not impressive. In our tests, we saw around 30-40MB/s.
Drive dimensions: 2.3 x 0.7 x 0.3 in (58 x 18 x 8 mm).Weight 10 grams.
This thumb drive is preformatted with exFat.
Pros: USB Type-C Type-A support, decent read speed, waterproof
Cons: Unimpressive write speed
Learn more Samsung Duo Plus about on Amazon
![What What](https://mondrian.mashable.com/uploads%252Fcard%252Fimage%252F668030%252F67bddfb6-bca9-432a-8831-7beef2617bf7.jpg%252F950x534__filters%253Aquality%252890%2529.jpg?signature=89YRXrXt9wh1U3Xjy2nh5YjvlXE=&source=https%3A%2F%2Fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com)
Budget Pick: Patriot Supersonic Rage Elite
What Is Flash Drive On Macbook Pro Mid 2012
Patriot Supersonic Rage Elite offers a lot of storage forless money.
Note that there are two models: Rage (blue) and Rage Elite(red).
Rage comes with the following capacity: 32GB, 64GB, and128GB. Rage Elite gets bigger with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB.
Patriot advertizes read speed up to 400MB/s and writes up to300MB/s. Actual numbers are a little lower, and they fluctuate between 160-240for reads and between 100-140 for reads.
It is backward compatible with USB 2.0 and 3.0.
Drive dimensions: 2.09 x 0.83 x 0.39 in (53 x 21 x 10 mm).Weight: 9 grams
Readkit 2 6 32. Pros: Price, lightweight
Cons: Speed, build quality
What Is Flash Drive On Macbook Pro 2018
Learn about Patriot Supersonic Rage Elite on Amazon