If you have a Mac, you are probably thinking about buying an external hard drive to store more data and make backup copies. But you may also need to use USB Type-C connections. So today we’re going to tell you what you need to know if you want to use USB-C hard drives on your Mac.
How do you connect a hard drive to a Mac?
The vast majority of hard drives usually have two types of connections: the one that goes to the computer is USB A. The one that goes to the hard drive is USB Micro-B and, although it has a somewhat strange shape and looks like a proprietary cable, it is a standard connection. Now, all MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, as of 2016 , no longer incorporate USB type A connections.
That is why, if we want to connect a hard drive to a portable Mac, we need an adapter or a Hub. But if we want to connect both directly, without intermediaries, we have to go for the USB type C connection yes or yes. That is why here we find two different alternatives.
USB C Hard Drive for Mac
The first alternative that we have available is to buy a hard drive or SSD that has a USB C connection. These types of memories have USB on both sides: both in the body and in the connection to the computer. It is a good solution if we want to buy a memory of this type for the first time, and we do not have hard drives. But it can also be a good plan if we want to renew our external storage memory.
By having a USB type C connection and being connected directly to our MacBook, without intermediaries, we will have more speed when it comes to transferring data between the external memory and our Mac. In addition, we will save ourselves from charging with an adapter. Also, many of these devices are already compatible with Mac out of the box. But if that’s not the case, don’t worry. Later we will show you how to make it compatible.
Buy a USB C hard drive cable
If we have a hard drive and we want to connect it via USB C directly to the Mac, we have good news: it is possible. To do this, yes, you have to buy a cable that is Micro-B, for the body of the hard drive or the SSD and USB C to connect to the Mac by connecting them directly we will gain a little more speed, and if our hard drive is compatible with USB 3.0 or 3.1 speeds, we can get even more out of it.
Of course, keep in mind that if you have an older hard drive that does not support the 3.0 or 3.1 standard and you want to connect it directly to your Mac via USB, you can do so. But the transfer speed will not increase, since it is conditioned by the memory hardware.
Make your hard drive or SSD compatible with the Mac
When we connect an external memory for the first time to the Mac, several things can happen. The first, that we can use it without problems, since the factory format will be in exFAT. In that case, the memory will be compatible with both Windows and Mac, and we will be able to transfer files without problems.
If the hard drive is not recognized, then it is most likely in Microsoft NTFS format. But you can do two things to make your Mac recognize it. First, you can go to Disk Utility, select your external drive, and format it in a macOS compatible format: APFS (Apple File System) or exFAT. But you can also buy programs that add support for the NTFS file system, and you will be able to use your hard drive on Mac and Windows, and without having to format it.
