Fastest Mac ThunderBolt Drives

Apple Compatible ThunderBolt Drives

Intel and Apple's ThunderBolt storage and peripheral interface was important for the Mac computing platform. It opened the door to extremely high data transfer rates in Macintosh compatible Thunderbolt data storage devices and peripherals of all sorts. It's small, mini-display port form factor was also critical in allowing thinner, lighter and more portable computing hardware.

The 10GBps ThunderBolt ports on older models of Apple computers can compliment your existing investment in Mac accessories. Two of the best uses for ThunderBolt's high-bandwidth prowess are for I/O intensive data storage devices, as well as for very high-resolution HD video editing and 4K and 5K display hardware.

Best Selling Mac Compatible ThunderBolt External Drives

For high-capacity and unprecedented file transfer speeds, Intel and Apple's ThunderBolt interface smokes 'em all. A range of both affordable consumer drives and high-end professional RAID drive arrays are still available to leverage 10GBps and 20GBps TBolt ports and the new 40GBps Thunderbolt 3 & 4 standard.

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LaCie 3-4TB ThunderBolt HDD Drive Combo USB3 + ThunderBolt Drive
LaCie ThunderBolt Drive

3 & 4 TB Drive Options
Cheap COMBO Laptop Drive

USB 3.0 + ThunderBolt
All Cables Included

Best Selling Mac Compatible ThunderBolt SSD Drives

For the absolute fastest file transfers and data backups, solid-state SSD drive technology paired with a ThunderBolt interface can deliver mind-blowing Read-Write speeds with some tradeoffs in affordability and capacity. Another added benefit is cool, silent, and highly reliable operation which is not the forte' of mechanical hard drives. With 512GB and 1TB SSD's now available at ever lower prices per Gigabyte, ThunderBolt SSD storage is more affordable and appealing than ever before.

   
Akitio ThunderBolt Drive LaCie ThunderBolt Combo Drive
Akitio Neutrino SSD

120GB ThunderBolt SSD
Rugged SSD Drive

Combo USB 3.0 + TBolt Interfaces

At least when it comes to single-drive Apple compatible backup hardware, an external ThunderBolt SSD is a far better match for the high-speed bandwidth available on a ThunderBolt, ThunderBolt 2 port. A single SSD is easily 3 to 5 times faster over ThunderBolt than any single hard drive mechanism. For 2nd-generation 20GBps ThunderBolt 2, and 3rd generation Thunderbolt 3 - multi-drive RAID arrays using PCIe or SATA III SSD's or conventional SATA HDD's are needed to leverage all the extra data bandwidth available. With ThunderBolt 3 devices, look for PCIe blades/modules for the utmost in Read/Write performance and Apple compatiblity.

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