This is especially true of external hard drives, as they tend to be a bit more expensive than internal drives due to the extra electronics required for them to work, such as the external enclosure and data cable. If you are in the market for a great Thunderbolt external hard drive for Mac either for backups or standard data storage, then this model should give you everything you need. Price: $49.99 for 1 TB and $77.99 for 2 TB as listed on Amazon. Choose the storage capacity you need and enjoy high-speed data transfer. In the case of getting an external hard drive that is either unformatted, or pre-formatted for Windows as NTFS, the formatting procedure is still very simple. And, thanks to compatibility with Mac OS, Windows, USB-C and USB 3.0, access to your data becomes easy. However, some users complain that the best Mac external hard drive is not as fast as they believer. Solutions, Email-Related Moreover, we have mentioned SSDs as well for those who want higher data transfer speed. Found inside – However, it's important that you use a fast hard drive to minimize the amount of time the transfer takes, particularly if you're moving lots of data. Modern external hard drives are much better than their older variants, with better access times, faster transfer rates and, most of all, better reliability.