I’d originally planned to explain all the standards and issues, but to be honest it’s becoming boring even to a geek like me. The most common portable SSDs connect to standard USB ports, but these run at different speeds and often cause a bottleneck. In this article I’ll show you how to build the fastest portable SSD I’ve ever tested – and it only took two parts and a few minutes to assemble! See the video guide below, or keep scrolling for the written highlights!Ī portable SSD essentially consists of two parts: the storage drive itself and an enclosure to house it and provide connectivity. Alternatively get yourself a copy of my In Camera book or treat me to a coffee! Thanks! Buy it now! Check prices on the Orico M2V01-C4 at Amazon or the Samsung 980 Pro at Amazon. My combination of a Samsung SSD and Orico housing may have cost roughly double a SanDisk Extreme Pro of the same capacity, but ran two to three times faster on both my new and old MacBooks. Thunderbolt 3 drives are more expensive, but if your computer has a compatible port, you can typically unlock faster speeds, while building your own drive gives you the flexibility of not only choosing the exact SSD within it, but swapping it for a faster or bigger version in the future, or indeed upgrading the enclosure itself to exploit future connectivity. Summary Portable USB drives may be getting faster in theory, but depending on your port, you may not be achieving anywhere near their advertised speeds.

Fastest ssd for macbook pro