If you have any issues try a different Thunderbolt 4 cable - Also I did a video here that could help decide on a Thunderbolt 40 Gbps enclosure - th-cam.com/video/MWOQJ2q7vVU/w-d-xo.html . Thank you.
Hello Craig, I have watched several other reviewers and I protest your characterization of yourself as a small TH-cam reviewer. Your videos are consistently excellent and very easy to understand. I put you at the top of the list!!
Posting here to Confirm the contents of this Video. I have a Mac Mini M2, 8GB Memory, with 256 GB Hard Drive. I needed some space. Used the links in this video and set it up today. This thing hums! I moved a lot of my files and non-Mac apps over to my 2TB SSD, and it has made a difference! My Machine is faster and everything opens up much quicker. I use MS Excel, for work on this Machine and it handles the heavy data I am running through it. This is by far one of the best and most useful recommendations for any of my Apple Products! If you are running out of space or your machine is bogged down....get this set up.....Oh, and yes, I speed-tested this bad boy, and honestly, my results were even a little faster! I'm not sure if the links offered here are Affiliate links, but just in case, toss Craig some credit and click on his links to buy this set up. And I just clicked subscribe!
Hi. Craig. These drive enclosures are going for the Aus $ equivalent of 94 US$ here in Australia now. I’ve ordered one and a 4TB Crucial P3 which seems to be the best bang for your buck for this amount of storage. I really appreciate your down-to-earth common-sense reviews. Best wishes for your venture.
Thank you for the video. Last year I built two 2TB SSD, need a new enclosure for a 4TB but I think I will go with the Samsung 990. Very leery of WD these days with all the HD drive and SD card issues they have had and supposedly hid from the public and failed to recall.
I can only go off experience and with the SN770 I have used that for like 2 years and moved it between 20 enclosures without issues. So it has been a solid performer for sure.
there's a reason why the Satechi is the fastest. It is the only one that has a pcie4x4 controller. The others have a pcie3x4 and with overhead you are limited below 3 GB/s. Imo, I tried the Maiwo one which is slightly slower but has a detachable fan but it is currently almost $50usd and half the price of the Satechi which is a big deal considering the USB4 enclosures are mostly around the $80-100 mark
Yes, price can be a factor and the difference of a little speed most people won't notice. I don't even thing 95% of people really need more then 1000 MB/s but I know people like the fastest stuff.
Nice Info Can you suggest & share Link of a NVMV 500 or 256GB 3000MB/s or higher SSD & a Closuer for it with Type C Built in, so i don't need to worry about Type C wire to carry around I want to use it to back up my Videos from Z Fold 5 & Laptop Please
Since my original questions to you, I took the leap and bought the Zike z666 enclosure, with the ASM2464PD main control chip. Installed the WD SN850X 2TB NVME. I set it up as the boot drive 2 months ago and it's working great. I set up my video editing applications to use my internal drive as the cache drive to take that load off the external drive. Black Magic reports that is running around 3100 read/writes. Boots up just as fast as the 500 GB internal drive. The enclosure runs just a little warm under loads. My only complaint is that there is a firmware update available for the enclosure but the update only comes as a windows .exe file. I've tried writing their tech support but the don't seem to understand my english questions. I asked if it would be safe to unplug my enclosure and update the firmware from my windows PC. But they didn't seem to understand my question. Since it's running smoothly, I'll just keep it the way it is. My thanks to everybody that made comments.
Thanks for all the great reviews, you helped me a lot. I ended getting the Samsung 990 Pro with the OWC Express 1M2 External Enclosure, running on the Mac Mini M4 Pro. I'm able to get about 3500 mb/s for read and write. I chose the OWC 1M2 because of the heat sync.
Thank you. This one is pretty good considering all the others. It has performed well with that setup but I have not tested other drives yet. But I'm hearing it should work well with other drives too.
Hi Graig, thanks for making this video. It helps me to find thing that fit my needs. I needed a fast external SSD for Mac games. I bought it with a Crucial NVME pci4 SSD drive. Second time that I buy something from your recommendations (the BenQ was the previous purchase)
Thanks for watching. Yes I do initial product showcases to show people what is out there. Always do research to make sure it fits your needs as I'm only one person but thanks for watching and supporting the channel. I appreciate it for sure.
Hi @Craig Neidel - At around 7:15, you touched on an area that I'm keen to know more about: port compatibility. I don't know about you, but I like to put my hard-earned into tech that won't be totally outdated in a year. Having said that, we don't have the latest and greatest hardware. Our old Macbook Pro, for example, has a couple of Thunderbolt 2 ports on it that are [theoretically] capable of 20 Gbps transfer speeds. Our old PC, on the other hand, has a couple of USB 3.1 ports on it, which are only capable of a theoretical max transfer speed of 10 Gbps (through a USB-C port). My question is whether or not the Satechi ST-EU4NPM enclosure that you tested, equipped with one of the M.2 2280 NVMe SSDs that you suggested, will work with the older/slower PC and Mac ports that I just described? I fully realize that the enclosure will only transfer data as fast as the weakest link in the transfer path, so I know that I won't see transfer speeds like the ones you achieved, but I still need to know if the setup you tested will work with our older hardware/ports. I've both liked and subscribed, so please keep up the great work for the folks who don't have the time required to become tech experts. 👍
No, you will only really be able to get up to the 10 Gbps and you would not be able to achieve the 3,300 MB/s with those older ports. So I'm not sure if would be worth the month for this. Thanks and good luck with everything and thanks for the sub for sure.
@@craigneidel Cheers for the response, Craig. I definitely know that I won't get anywhere near the transfer speeds you got during your testing. What I wanted to know is whether or not the enclosure/drive combination you tested will even work with the older USB and/or Thunderbolt ports I described in my original message. I'd really hate to buy something like this only to find that it won't work with those older ports. Thanks again.
I should work but there would be no reason to pay for it since you can purchase a 10 Gbps enclosure (I have a ton of videos on those) for a fraction of the cost. I think it would downgrade to the slower connection so I would just get something like a Samsung T7 at that point.
Great review! I am trying to find faster m.2 SSD enclosure, and your video popped up! I have a SN850X 2T, definitively gonna test it once I get this enclosure!
Thanks for your reviews, Craig! I got the 1TB Samsung 990 Pro and getting 3100+ MB/s on both read and write with Blackmagic on my 13" MBA M3. Anyone tested the WD SN850X?
@@MrAguantandoanova Yes, I do also have other cables (Thunderbolt 3/4) that performs the same. BTW, I also got the WD SN850X and it was a small disapointment, it does not perform as fast as the Samsung 990 Pro on my MBA.
Just bought this enclosure with the WD Black SN850X 2TB and I am impressed. Copied a 41.44GB folder of stuff off it and on to my SanDisk 1TB SSD on my Mac Mini i5 (basically across the USB-C ports) and it pulled it in 1m:23s, which is about xxx Mbps. Crazy fast! Doing the reverse and writing to the 850X was even faster at 1m:15s or about xxx Mbps. Thank you for the recommendation! (I think the speed calculator website I used was in error or used incorrectly. I'll get better numbers.)
@@craigneidel I think I need a better test methodology. I wasn't sure if you really meant MB/s or Mb/s... if it's MB, then holy crap I am leaving a lot on the table. I just tested this drive using an 8GB RAM disk on my Mini and was still only able to get 1534 MB/s read and 1100 MB/s write to the Satechi.
Interesting enclosuer I'm still happy with the acasis with the WD_BLACK SN850X 4TB. I'm currently looking for an 8tb samsung 2.5 ssd but prices are eye watering. I have the red orico drive enclosure ready to house it, but price is too crippling at moment for my wallet. Apparently there been a spike in nand prices.
Hands off the QVO, if that's what you are eyeing up. Terrible drive, loses speed fast, has terrible performance. Stick to SN850X or 990 Pro, both very reliable. Yes, unfortunately, prices are currently up, NAND chips are scarce and will take some time to cool off.
Thank you for the review. I’m a programmer and plan on using this enclosure and SSD to run Linux. It seems a lot of NVME enclosures come with a fan nowadays. Does this enclosure performs well overtime without one? Will it overheat if used to run an OS?
They will all run pretty hot but I would check the Amazon page to see if others used it to run an OS. I was doing an initial product showcase so I didn't test it running an OS. If I do in the future I can update this.
Hi Craig, thanks for the thorough and unbiased info/review! Came across your channel as I was looking for this exact content. Watched your video a couple of times and did some research. Just ordered this Satechi! Thank you for such a review. New Sub here!
Good luck with everything. Just give it a try and if it doesn't work for you return it. I only tested the SN770 but I know others have tested other drives with great success and a few issues (small but there) with other drives but not sure yet on the list. In any case they are fast when you have a drive it likes.
Funny.. I test it multiple times before making the video so I'm not fumbling around while filming. I have the device for a month or more before filming usually.
They are very similar and both good options. It is more about the SSD drive and also how hard you push it that will generate the heat. Also make sure you are using heat tape correctly etc.
I remember watching your videos on my 2012 MBP... I bothered you a bunch of times on what to upgrade to and you always gave me great advice. I ended up getting a MBP M3 (macbook pro but base model M3 chip), with 16gb ram and 512gb disk. It is absolutely perfect for me But lately the 512gb has been nagging me a bit. It is enough, but I was starting to need an external ssd to offload most stuff that I'm not currently working on. I came across the Satechi on Amazon and thought "ooh, I bet Craig has a video on this", and here I am eheh. Just purchased the Satechi, and the WD SN850X. Got a great deal on Black Friday, on Amazon. The enclosure and the 2tb SN850X together were 226€ (here in Portugal I'd consider that a steal) Thank you! Can't wait to try it
Thanks and funny you watched so long ago. Two things which I updated in a later video. Check out the video from a few months ago where I test like 7 enclosures. With satechi if you have any issues change out the cord. Also make sure you get a drive without heatsink so it fits. They sell one with and one without heatsink. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for thos helpful video! If I used Satechi M.2 Enclosure with Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB on Macbook Air M1, will it give me speed of R/W up to 2,500mb?
Hi. Thanks for testing. One request is to tell us the number of files making up each test and use error correction once on a 100 gig transfer for a better real world test for some.
Is it worth it to get a faster NVMe SSD for this enclosure if the enclosure bottlenecks the drive? I was looking into getting a WD770 but went with a crucial p3 instead. Since the enclosure is limited to TB4 should I get similar speeds from both SSDs?
I only tested the sn770 so I can't really answer that since I'm not sure how other m.2s perform with it. I'll let you know if I can test more in future but my videos are more product showcases to show people what's out there.
Are you still using the Satechi? If so any issues so far, especially to do with failure or overheating? Amazon reviews are not too great the Acacias has a higher rating but less speed.
So far so good with everything but I always tell people that I'm just one person. I would not also worry about a few hundred MB/s difference as you won't notice it.
I don't see any of those SSD using a heat sink, nor does it seem to facilitate a good thermal connection to the metal enclosure (the gap is too big and the metal lid is too thin). Could you elaborate on that a bit?
I just buy very thick heat tape from Amazon for times when it doesn't touch and I then make sure it is touching the case. They will still get hot but I think it performs better that way.
Did you test it as a boot drive as well? I am interested how it behaves when it comes to memory swapping vs the internal one. I know that it if you have a 1TB internal it is probably faster, but it would be a nice if you could use it without hiccups for the lower internal storage variants.
Is 30 seconds really enough time for things to heat up? I plan to use this tech as an air-gapping solution where 3-4TB are backed up off a server with enterprise NVMe. It could be running a good 15 minutes or more. Would this solution maintain the same speeds over that time period?
Things are going to heat up on just about any of these Thunderbolt enclosures for sure. I haven't really tested one where it won't get a bit hot etc. but as long as it doesn't overheat (any enclosure) they should still work. I would just test it out first with your specific environment.
I got this enclosure with a Samsung 980 Pro 2TB NVME SSD. Formatted to APFS. The read and writes speeds are great. The only issue that I have had is some random drive disconnects. Some happened when I moved the drive (but not always). The first issue was copying a 150 Gb file to the SSD. I'm going to monitor the issue for a few days. Not sure if I need a better cable (it should come with a decent cable though) or if I should send it back. I wanted to run my VMs from the drive, but with any kind of instability I am very reluctant to trustVM data to this enclosure / drive combination.
I have not see that before in my testing but I'm only one person. I would try another cable etc. to see if that helps and let us know how it turns out.
Update: I positioned the enclosure so that there is as little tension as possible on the cable. I also used some quake putty to hold the enclosure in place, so that it cannot move. I moved my Win 11 Gaming VM to the enclosure and have spent many hours playing DOS 2. I also moved my Steam folder to the enclosure. I think the original position of the enclosure put too much pressure on the port in the Mac Mini via the cable.
@@craigneidel I let them know waiting on response. Have not tried another since I'm in temp house waiting on my new one to be finished and all my shit is in a shipping container. lol
Hello, thanks for this video, I got an nvme crucial 4to gen 3, whats performance could I expect with this case in term of speed? Its for MAO, loading samples and vst banks. Thanks ❤
It depends on what Mac as they are all different. This is like twice as fast as the base model M2 devices with only 256 GB. It's maybe slightly faster or the same of macs with 512 GB. And slower then macs with 1 TB.
I don't see why not. You can actually boot an entire Mac off an external SSD also but that is for another conversation. Things like video editing off it also. Thanks.
Just picked up a UGREEN CM642 for $90. USB4/TB4, quality metal case, built-in fan, 40gbit/s yada yada yada. I'm using the same WD Black SN770 drive as you do in your video (1TB version). With an Intel 12th gen Framework laptop, it reached a CrystalDiskMark 8 64GB sequential read score of 3736 MB/s, and write score 3111 MB/s. So on par with the unit you recommend, just $10 cheaper and probably stays cooler thanks to the fan.
Yes, thanks for the info. There are so many out there and I have showcased about 7 so far. They are all going to be similar so research and get what is best.
Great Video thank you. I have a MAC Studio M2 running Final Cut Pro. I need a fast reliable 4TB. Would you recommend the one you showed in the video please?
@@jamieskon it's pretty good but it has no D-RAM and TBW for endurance is pretty average (600TBW). I'd go for a more premium SSD like the SN850, Kingston KC3000, Seagate Firecuda 530, Solidigm P44 pro, etc.
I forgot but I normally add a thicker piece or a second one to make sure it touches. I remember that the one they gave us is really thick and I guess it could also depend on the size of the M.2 Drive that you have in there. But if it doesn't reach I would add a second piece.
@@craigneidel I hear ya. I have the WD sn770. Not sure if that helps. I have the piece that comes with the enclosure but I’m not sure it touches since it seems the enclosure is a bit recessed on the inside.
In my Apple M1 Pro Max Mac Studio 2022, my thunderbolt 4 ports reads USB 3.1 Bus in Hardware Settings USB. Will I get 40 Gbps transfers if I connect this USB 4 enclosure? I recently purchased a Crucial X10 Pro drive which was supposed to have transfer speeds in the 2000+ and my transfer rates were around 10Gbps.
Thank you for your review. This is my first time buying this kind of storage. I wonder if I could leave it plugged into my iMac all of the time even when shutdown?
@craigneidel, thank you for the information & videos on this subject. Was hoping you could say how long these devices have lasted/how reliable they've been for you. Appreciate it!
Hello, yesterday I got this box which I bought when I saw your video of the comparison you made of several boxes, I am Spanish but I live in Belgium and I could buy this box on Amazon Belgium for 60 euros on offer for Black Friday, about the transparent plastic casings that come and recommend to place I can think that the heat radiated by the box is transifere to the plastic and spread the heat getting better dissipation for the box in addition to protecting the box from use and your hands if it were to become overheated. I am going to mount a Samsung 990Pro 2TB which I also got for 140 euros in a good Black Friday offer at MediaMarkt Belgium, I am waiting to receive my Mac Mini M4 512GB with 32GB Ram. I would appreciate to know if anyone is using another Thunderbolt cable or is using the one supplied with the box. Good channel Craig, good testing and well explained.
Thanks for all the info and good luck with everything. Just make sure the heat tape on the SSD is really touching the enclosure to move heat to the metal of the enclosure. That can make a major difference.
Thank you for sharing the video. I have some questions. I purchased the Staechi solid-state drive enclosure and a 4TB SN850X SSD, intending to use it with my M1 Max MacBook. However, when I ran the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, I found that the read speed can reach 3000 MB/s, but the write speed consistently stays below 2000 MB/s. Could you please explain why this is happening? Because my work requires fast write speeds, I would appreciate it if you could answer at your convenience. Thank you.
I only tested it with sn770. I'm not sure but maybe search Amazon page to see what others got with that drive. I don't have it to test. Also do a real data test as black magic could be off.
I know this video is 4 months old But here is a quick question: Will this work on an Imac 27 inch 2019 fusion drive? I want to boot off an external drive as some apps are running slow. Not sure whether to install an internal drive or use this? Many thanks and a great channel.
I'm not sure you will get as fast as speed but it should work. If anybody has tested it please post below. I will also see if I can do any tests in the near future.
Would this make a good boot drive? I have the m2 mac mini pro, but it only has the 500gb drive. I keep running out of space. I would like to put everything on one 2-4 gb drive. I've got 16gb of RAM. I do a lot of video stuff and am concerned about how the Mac Mini uses the SSD for caching data back and forth from RAM. Would this drive handel the traffic and heat? Is it dependable enough to be my boot drive? Thank you for reviewing the product. I'm hoping that it's a good option for me.
Thanks for watching. I wish I could give you a good answer but I have not tested that so I'm not sure. I also can't setup a boot drive like that in a short amount of time so it could be some time before I do test that. I would get it and give it a try. You have about 2 weeks to test it out and make sure it meets your needs. That is the best way to know for sure. Thanks for watching. If anybody else has tried that they can post here....
I'm planning on buying the recommended products here-- the enclosure, and the 2tb WD. If you notice when looking at the WD, it says there are two options: normal and with a heatsink. With the heatsink, would it still fit the enclosure? Also, I'm planning to import a lot of files into this, but I also plan to game off of it (World of Warcraft), and the game is heavy. Would that work nicely or should I be looking at other options such as SanDisk Professional?
That is exactly the question that I was going to ask. I'm a media hoarder, and I'd like to put everything on this drive so that my ATV has access to it at all times (as long is the Mac is running, of course). I have ZERO experience with external drives other than Time Machine and drag and drop backups.
You can always get it on Amazon and if it doesn't work you have 2 weeks or maybe even 4 weeks to return it. That is sometimes the best way to test things out.
The speed is important, but I am looking for the most reliable enclosure in terms of heating and durability. Can someone recommend an enclosure that you have been using for some time without any problems? Thanks.
It all comes down to the drive you are using etc. on heating and how you cool it with the way you add quality thermal pads etc. The one from Graugear has been working good and has a fan but of course I have only had it for a few months.
i‘ve ordered two of these (TEAMGROUP MP44L 2TB SLC Cache NVMe 1.4 PCIe Gen 4x4 M.2 2280 Laptop&Desktop SSD (R/W Speed up to 4,800/4,400MB/s) TM8FPK002T0C101 ), but i’m not sure how to pick an enclosure. are two singles or a dual enclosure better? using with the new mac mini m4, for plex.
I would use a Thunderbolt enclosure at 40 Gbps to get the best speeds out of that drive and not a standard 10 Gbps enclosure. If you search my channel for Thunderbolt enclosures you can see which ones I recommend. Actually I see that you watched the Satechi video and that is a Thunderbolt enclosure so it appears you found it.
@@craigneidel how about this one? (fyi, links included in comments delete the comment). M.2 NVMe Enclosure,40Gbps M.2 Enclosure SSD Enclosure Compatible for M4/Pro/Max MacBook mac Mini,Support SSD Size 2230/2242/2260/2280 B+M M-Key PCIe Compatible with Thunderbolt 3/4/USB4/3.2/3.1
As a newbie I’m confused how does the enclosure determine the speed? Doesn’t the NVMe, cable and usb c or usb gen make a difference? Also what about heat?
there are 40 Gbps enclosures and if you divide by 8 (bytes and bits) then that enclosure can usually do around 5,000 MB/s but for this Thunderbolt has limits for this so other process have bandwidth so it's normally much lower. With overhead around 3,500 MB/s. But of course the drive needs to be at least this fast to get those speeds. With a 10 Gbps enclosure - divide by 8 - you get about 1,250 MB/s max but with overhead expect around 900 to 1000 MB/s. So the drives do matter but there are limitations based on the enclosure for sure (and computer or plug it connects to).
Thanks Boss, I’m looking to get a external hard drive on my new IMac its just have 256 g. Plus planning to upgrade my old hp laptop and put a new hard drive.
For sure, and I did quite a few videos on Thunderbolt enclosures for the Mac with different models so check those out. I normally do product showcases though more than a full review.
Hey Craig, love your reviews! I bought an Inateck external SSD enclosure, with a Samsung 980 1Tb, works very good, with 1 remark. The Temperature! It gets hot, even in idle situation. AT this moment I replaced with my Sandisk external ssd, which is slower (750 vs 3200Mb), but does the job without extreme heat. Do all the fast SSD casings get hot? Thanks!
Thanks for watching. All of the Thunderbolt enclosures do get quite warm when using them. I only tested it with the SN770 and not sure if they 980 runs hotter or not in the case. Thanks for the info on this.
Yes but I have also showcased a bunch of other great Thunderbolt enclosures so check out my channel for all of them. I just did a video yesterday too that includes a nice one. Thank you .
I was gifted a 2017 Macbook Pro ,but it only has 120gig ssd in it. Everything works fine on the Macbook, but I am looking for an inexpensive external ssd to run iMovie off of and store my videos I make. What would be best for my situation? Is there a cheaper enclosure to use?
Yes, just something like a samsung T7 like this one will be fine (only about 1,000 MB/s) but fine for running iMovie. Here is a link - amzn.to/3T8mcbL - (if you use link I could get small commission - noting that). Thank you.
Hey Craig, when the unit states “up to 16TB”, is this a advertisement scheme or does this mean when it’s raided together with another 8TB (RAID0) to get 16TB? Cause I looked everywhere, and can’t seem to find a single 16TB NVMe M.2 stick!
It should work maybe but at slower speeds for sure and it may not be worth the price. But if it has thunderbolt connections in USB-C then it should still get pretty fast transfer speeds.
thanks for the review craig what can be the speeds when we format the SSD in exfat to switch back and forth between my windows system and iPhone 15 pro max I have
Hi Craig, I've been looking for SSD enclosures that support SMART status SSDs for a while. I really can't remember if you said it or not, but is this enclosure compatible with SMART reading and writing? I don't need it just to store data, I need to make a bootable drive with macOS installed on it. And do you think it works well with Intel Macs too? I have an M1 Pro and an i5 from 2012, alongside with an Intel Core Due Duo from 2007. do you think data transfer is gonna be possible with those Macs? I've read that many of these enclosures only work with macOS 13 and later, idk about this one. basically what I'm gonna do with it is have 2 partitions of 1 TB each. one bootable and one for storage. do you think it's possible?
I think it was but I would just check out the Amazon page and it should be documented there. I test so many of these. I had a few computers I boot MacOS off an external drive. I have not done this with the modern Macs especially the M4 mini because I heard it can break a few things like Apple Intelligence and the Apple pay stuff. But still can work. I think what you want to do is possible but you just need to determine what is right for you.
@@craigneidel alright man, thank you. Tbh apple intelligence isn't even an option in my country, and I wouldn't need Apple Pay on a secondary macOS snapshot so yeah as long as it works well with cashing and S.M.A.R.T. status reading and writing I'm good
Could anyone please advise .. Is this combination suitable /workable without to much speed loss , to store a virtual machine on (parallels -W11)? Or should one not ? and have it on the Mac Mini itself
I bought same enclosure with 2TB SN850X and not getting anywhere near these speeds on M3 Air 8GB 256GB. Getting 1,100 MB/s Write on a 116GB Photo library and 300 MB/s Read. Is the issue my computer? More likely the enclosure or the SSD?
The enclosure might be bad. I'm not sure why you might be seeing that. I did a few other reviews of the Acasis, Minisopuru, Qwiizlab, and Zike Thunderbolt enclosures. Maybe try one of those. The Qwiizlab one I did a video on seems to work good. Search for this video on my channel to see that one - Must-Have MacBook Accessories You Didn't Know Existed! .
Hallo Craig, thanks for the video and your test! Did you check the transfer speed at your intel iMac 2017 as well? I would like to use it as a boot disk for the same iMac. - Thanks!
@@craigneidel Hello Craig, Thanks for the quick reply! You convinced me to buy a 2017 5k iMac last year and now I'm looking for an external SSD. Last week I had the Zyke Drive, but it had a loose contact - and I send it back. I wasn't particularly impressed with the fit of the lid either. -The SSD I'm looking for should deliver the fastest speed for the 2017 iMac's TB3 port. Does a USB 4 SSD make sense? - and which of the ones you have tested would you recommend? Thanks!
@@thomaskunz4703 I think the satechi is the highest speeds I have tested. You can give it a try to see if it works good for you. I used the sn770 in the enclosure. I do product showcases and only have had satechi few weeks so I can't do long term testing on it yet.
This is insane, for the price of the Mac mini m4 storage upgrade from 256gb to 512gb its what you pay to get this enclosure + 2tb WD Black sn850x... its unreal!
Hi. How do you use this disc? Do you have it plugged in all the time? And what kind of volume have you tried to record on it? I bought a HyperDrive Next USB4 NVMe SSD Enclosure and installed a Kingston KC3000 M.2 NVMe SSD (2280) and a Kingston Fury Renegade M.2 NVMe SSD (2280) I plugged it into a macbook pro M3MAX and as a result I have the drive periodically disconnect itself. I understand this is due to overheating. I managed to write about 1TB of data to the cold drive. On the connected disc I managed to write about 100GB and then it "falls off" from the system.
@@craigneidel Thank you very much. I have Time Machine backups on one of these discs. So yesterday I tried to make another backup - it worked only with the 4th time and when I put the outdoor fan on.
NEED SOME HELP! I purchased the Satechi enclosure and the 4TB WD SN850X. Formatted to APFS and connected with a Thunderbolt 4 cable. My M1 MacBook Pro does not like this drive. Max read/write is only 900 mb/s. My M1 Max Mac Studio loves the dang thing. 3000 mb/s read/write when connected directly to the Thunderbolt 4 port on the back of the MS and 2700 to 2800 mb/s read/write when connected to the OWC Thunderbolt hub. Any idea why the MacBook Pro M1 doesn’t like this drive?
I tested it with the M1 iMac so not sure. I was using a different drive though (SN770). Also when running it through a hub it can cause issues etc. I would reach out to Satechi to see what they say. I was just doing a product showcase and only tested one setup.
I'm not doing any more testing on that unit but I would do a quick search to see what is on Google for it. That may have been done already. Thanks for watching.
Great video. I've received my Satechi enclosure today. Going with Samsung 990 but I just can't format it on my iMac. The error code is -69877. Also the same error in the Diskutil List command. Could anyone please help me?
@@craigneidel I finally fixed the issue.The FileVault encryption setting in the new iMac with the new chip banned the secure erase options for SSD. I format the SSD in my Windows then it finally functions on my iMac right now.
Those don't really get as fast as this one and is the drive breaks you can't open it up and add a replacement. So it's hard to know for sure but there are a few benefits to building your own.
@@craigneidel Right on the money! Always better to build your own. Enclosure breaks - take out the SSD and put it into a new enclosure, SSD breaks, buy new one, done. Pre-fab breaks, within warranty, you may be alright, out of warranty, your loss completely.
Thanks for the video Just ordered the Satechi enclosure with the WD_BLACK 2TB SN850X. I almost told my self to get a 1 gig but for future proofing I went with 2. I m tired of my 1 TB mac being choked by Final Cut Pro's MASSIVE libraries lol my last video took up like 550GB because I am having to run proxies and optimize the videos since it's an Intel Mac (2019 iMac Pro)
Thank you. I have only tested the SN770 on this but if you run into issues with the 850 please let others know. I know that is quite a bit larger so hopefully it will fit fine etc. and if so it should be a bit faster. Thanks for watching.
@@craigneidel I will let you know. The Amazon page for the enclosure literally recommends the 850 lol so it has to work lol I have my own channel that I have been dormant for a bit, I think I will make a video and reference your video in it
@@billyfigueroa1617 Thanks and good luck. I figured it will work also but I have been using the SN770 in all my videos and don't have the 850 on hand. I think you should get a bit more speed. This is about the 5th Thunderbolt enclosure I tested so far and I'm doing another one from Yottamaster in a few days.
I don't think it will fit with the SN850X with the heatsink, make sure and get the one without the heatsink to make sure it fits. I only tested with with the SN770 and the M2 MacBooks etc. but I assume it would work fine with the mini as well.
@@craigneidel The dimensions for SN850X w/Heatsync: 3.15 x 0.92 x 0.35 inches. w/out Heatsync: 3.15 x 0.87 x 0.09 inches. Satechi enclosure: 4.45 x 2.68 x 0.91 inches. What do you think??
Thanks, appreciate that. Just make sure it fits your needs and works good for you. I have reviewed a ton of these and they are all very similar but it comes down to the drive you use and the system you connect to in the end. So give it a try and if not return it and try the next one. Normally if you get 3,000 MB/s or higher then you found the right solution as anything faster isn't going to matter too much. Thanks for watching the channel.
@@craigneidel Thanks, I'm sure it'll be good enough for me. Another question though and maybe a video idea: I have a Synology DS220 NAS but I don't think I even need it. I just wanted to back up my laptop regularly (preferably over wifi) and have redundant backups. I'll be traveling the next year though and giving up our household in Europe. I imagine it's unnecessary and risky to travel with HDDs. Is there something better? You said in a comment to someone else most people don't need a NAS. And I never access it from elsewhere other than at home. I find synology photos also sucks for backing up photos. Never really works on our phones, can't look at pictures on the app though I might have it set up wrong. Maybe a dual drive ssd enclosure is good enough for me?
If you have any issues try a different Thunderbolt 4 cable - Also I did a video here that could help decide on a Thunderbolt 40 Gbps enclosure - th-cam.com/video/MWOQJ2q7vVU/w-d-xo.html . Thank you.
Mine is working fine with the cable provided . Giving me around ~3000
Hello Craig, I have watched several other reviewers and I protest your characterization of yourself as a small TH-cam reviewer. Your videos are consistently excellent and very easy to understand. I put you at the top of the list!!
Appreciate that for sure. Hope you like the videos and it's nice to hear people are getting something back from watching them.
Posting here to Confirm the contents of this Video. I have a Mac Mini M2, 8GB Memory, with 256 GB Hard Drive. I needed some space. Used the links in this video and set it up today. This thing hums! I moved a lot of my files and non-Mac apps over to my 2TB SSD, and it has made a difference! My Machine is faster and everything opens up much quicker. I use MS Excel, for work on this Machine and it handles the heavy data I am running through it. This is by far one of the best and most useful recommendations for any of my Apple Products! If you are running out of space or your machine is bogged down....get this set up.....Oh, and yes, I speed-tested this bad boy, and honestly, my results were even a little faster! I'm not sure if the links offered here are Affiliate links, but just in case, toss Craig some credit and click on his links to buy this set up. And I just clicked subscribe!
Thanks for the nice message and I'm glad that it is working great for you. Appreciate the Sub also. Thank you.
Hi. Craig. These drive enclosures are going for the Aus $ equivalent of 94 US$ here in Australia now. I’ve ordered one and a 4TB Crucial P3 which seems to be the best bang for your buck for this amount of storage. I really appreciate your down-to-earth common-sense reviews. Best wishes for your venture.
Thanks for the info and good luck with everything. Usually in Australia the costs are higher so it's good to hear it's only $94 US there.
what speeds did you get?
Hello, Can you share your test speed please, i got the same nvme an plan to buy the enclosure, thanks ❤
Thanks for the review Craig. Those are some pretty impressive speeds for an external enclosure.
Yes, it's pretty impressive. I think it might be capable of the 3,800 MB/s. It's not for everybody but if you need that speed it's nice to have.
Thank you for the video. Last year I built two 2TB SSD, need a new enclosure for a 4TB but I think I will go with the Samsung 990. Very leery of WD these days with all the HD drive and SD card issues they have had and supposedly hid from the public and failed to recall.
I can only go off experience and with the SN770 I have used that for like 2 years and moved it between 20 enclosures without issues. So it has been a solid performer for sure.
@@craigneidel That is why you have backups for your backups x 3..
Just bought this Satechi with SN850X 1TB, got the 2500MB/s for both reading and writing on my Macbook Pro M1 8gb RAM :) Thanks for this video
Thanks for watching the channel.
there's a reason why the Satechi is the fastest. It is the only one that has a pcie4x4 controller. The others have a pcie3x4 and with overhead you are limited below 3 GB/s. Imo, I tried the Maiwo one which is slightly slower but has a detachable fan but it is currently almost $50usd and half the price of the Satechi which is a big deal considering the USB4 enclosures are mostly around the $80-100 mark
Yes, price can be a factor and the difference of a little speed most people won't notice. I don't even thing 95% of people really need more then 1000 MB/s but I know people like the fastest stuff.
Can you expand on the maiwo? What ssd did you use with it?
@@craigneidel Thank you! Is 1000mb/s still good for most people if it's a boot drive?
Does anyone know where I can find the 8tb version? Any links? Thank you!
8 TB version of what?
I only tested the SN770 with this enclosure and I would visit the Amazon page to see what others are using if you are using another drive. Thanks.
Nice Info
Can you suggest & share Link of a NVMV 500 or 256GB 3000MB/s or higher SSD & a Closuer for it with Type C Built in, so i don't need to worry about Type C wire to carry around
I want to use it to back up my Videos from Z Fold 5 & Laptop
Please
Hi Craig, Did you notice any overheating issues with the enclosure?
Does it have backwards compatibility with usb 3.2 gen 2x2 ?
Will it give higher speed other ssd since 40gbps should give around 3800 mbps ?
Since my original questions to you, I took the leap and bought the Zike z666 enclosure, with the ASM2464PD main control chip. Installed the WD SN850X 2TB NVME. I set it up as the boot drive 2 months ago and it's working great. I set up my video editing applications to use my internal drive as the cache drive to take that load off the external drive. Black Magic reports that is running around 3100 read/writes. Boots up just as fast as the 500 GB internal drive. The enclosure runs just a little warm under loads. My only complaint is that there is a firmware update available for the enclosure but the update only comes as a windows .exe file. I've tried writing their tech support but the don't seem to understand my english questions. I asked if it would be safe to unplug my enclosure and update the firmware from my windows PC. But they didn't seem to understand my question. Since it's running smoothly, I'll just keep it the way it is. My thanks to everybody that made comments.
Thanks for the follow up and info on this. It helps everybody out.
Thanks for all the great reviews, you helped me a lot. I ended getting the Samsung 990 Pro with the OWC Express 1M2 External Enclosure, running on the Mac Mini M4 Pro. I'm able to get about 3500 mb/s for read and write. I chose the OWC 1M2 because of the heat sync.
Yes, that is a good option for sure. Good luck with everything and thanks for watching the channel.
Craig I did this exact setup. Thank you for the recommendation!
Thanks for watching the channel. Appreciate it.
Another great video. I’ll probably buy this drive enclosure. Thanks!
Thank you. This one is pretty good considering all the others. It has performed well with that setup but I have not tested other drives yet. But I'm hearing it should work well with other drives too.
Best recommendation for a 4tb SSD? @@craigneidel
I have not used one yet but will update this if I can test any. I would search online for some reviews and see what they recommend on the 4TB models.
Hi Graig, thanks for making this video. It helps me to find thing that fit my needs. I needed a fast external SSD for Mac games. I bought it with a Crucial NVME pci4 SSD drive. Second time that I buy something from your recommendations (the BenQ was the previous purchase)
Thanks for watching. Yes I do initial product showcases to show people what is out there. Always do research to make sure it fits your needs as I'm only one person but thanks for watching and supporting the channel. I appreciate it for sure.
i think about buy one for gaming does it work great and how much the hot it got ??
Hi @Craig Neidel - At around 7:15, you touched on an area that I'm keen to know more about: port compatibility. I don't know about you, but I like to put my hard-earned into tech that won't be totally outdated in a year. Having said that, we don't have the latest and greatest hardware. Our old Macbook Pro, for example, has a couple of Thunderbolt 2 ports on it that are [theoretically] capable of 20 Gbps transfer speeds. Our old PC, on the other hand, has a couple of USB 3.1 ports on it, which are only capable of a theoretical max transfer speed of 10 Gbps (through a USB-C port). My question is whether or not the Satechi ST-EU4NPM enclosure that you tested, equipped with one of the M.2 2280 NVMe SSDs that you suggested, will work with the older/slower PC and Mac ports that I just described? I fully realize that the enclosure will only transfer data as fast as the weakest link in the transfer path, so I know that I won't see transfer speeds like the ones you achieved, but I still need to know if the setup you tested will work with our older hardware/ports. I've both liked and subscribed, so please keep up the great work for the folks who don't have the time required to become tech experts. 👍
No, you will only really be able to get up to the 10 Gbps and you would not be able to achieve the 3,300 MB/s with those older ports. So I'm not sure if would be worth the month for this. Thanks and good luck with everything and thanks for the sub for sure.
@@craigneidel Cheers for the response, Craig. I definitely know that I won't get anywhere near the transfer speeds you got during your testing. What I wanted to know is whether or not the enclosure/drive combination you tested will even work with the older USB and/or Thunderbolt ports I described in my original message. I'd really hate to buy something like this only to find that it won't work with those older ports. Thanks again.
I should work but there would be no reason to pay for it since you can purchase a 10 Gbps enclosure (I have a ton of videos on those) for a fraction of the cost. I think it would downgrade to the slower connection so I would just get something like a Samsung T7 at that point.
Great review! I am trying to find faster m.2 SSD enclosure, and your video popped up! I have a SN850X 2T, definitively gonna test it once I get this enclosure!
I only tested sn770 but let me know how your test goes.
@@craigneidelThanks for the very informative video! I just ordered the Enclosure.
is it any faster than these tests with the faster drive?
Thanks for your reviews, Craig! I got the 1TB Samsung 990 Pro and getting 3100+ MB/s on both read and write with Blackmagic on my 13" MBA M3. Anyone tested the WD SN850X?
Thanks for the data point. I have not tested the SN850X yet but will let you know if I do in the future.
Hi, are you using it with the supplied cable?
@@MrAguantandoanova Yes, I do also have other cables (Thunderbolt 3/4) that performs the same. BTW, I also got the WD SN850X and it was a small disapointment, it does not perform as fast as the Samsung 990 Pro on my MBA.
Just bought this enclosure with the WD Black SN850X 2TB and I am impressed. Copied a 41.44GB folder of stuff off it and on to my SanDisk 1TB SSD on my Mac Mini i5 (basically across the USB-C ports) and it pulled it in 1m:23s, which is about xxx Mbps. Crazy fast! Doing the reverse and writing to the 850X was even faster at 1m:15s or about xxx Mbps. Thank you for the recommendation! (I think the speed calculator website I used was in error or used incorrectly. I'll get better numbers.)
@@kwik01 thanks for sharing you data set. Appreciate that.
@@craigneidel I think I need a better test methodology. I wasn't sure if you really meant MB/s or Mb/s... if it's MB, then holy crap I am leaving a lot on the table. I just tested this drive using an 8GB RAM disk on my Mini and was still only able to get 1534 MB/s read and 1100 MB/s write to the Satechi.
It's MB/s - so they are very fast.
Interesting enclosuer I'm still happy with the acasis with the WD_BLACK SN850X 4TB. I'm currently looking for an 8tb samsung 2.5 ssd but prices are eye watering. I have the red orico drive enclosure ready to house it, but price is too crippling at moment for my wallet. Apparently there been a spike in nand prices.
Yes, the Acasis works good also. The pricing on the SSDs went up for sure so I would wait a bit for them to come down.
Hands off the QVO, if that's what you are eyeing up. Terrible drive, loses speed fast, has terrible performance.
Stick to SN850X or 990 Pro, both very reliable.
Yes, unfortunately, prices are currently up, NAND chips are scarce and will take some time to cool off.
I used a QVO to boot Mac OS on for 5 years without issues. It all depends on what you consider terrible perofrmance.
Thank you for the review. I’m a programmer and plan on using this enclosure and SSD to run Linux.
It seems a lot of NVME enclosures come with a fan nowadays. Does this enclosure performs well overtime without one? Will it overheat if used to run an OS?
They will all run pretty hot but I would check the Amazon page to see if others used it to run an OS. I was doing an initial product showcase so I didn't test it running an OS. If I do in the future I can update this.
@@craigneidel Understood. Thank you so much for the reply!
Welcome.
Hi Craig, thanks for the thorough and unbiased info/review! Came across your channel as I was looking for this exact content. Watched your video a couple of times and did some research. Just ordered this Satechi! Thank you for such a review. New Sub here!
Good luck with everything. Just give it a try and if it doesn't work for you return it. I only tested the SN770 but I know others have tested other drives with great success and a few issues (small but there) with other drives but not sure yet on the list. In any case they are fast when you have a drive it likes.
9:49 how did you test it without connecting to your mac? Am i missing something?
Funny.. I test it multiple times before making the video so I'm not fumbling around while filming. I have the device for a month or more before filming usually.
Which case is better: Satechi or Zike Z666? Which is better when it comes to keeping temperatures low? or maybe OWC 1M2 ???
They are very similar and both good options. It is more about the SSD drive and also how hard you push it that will generate the heat. Also make sure you are using heat tape correctly etc.
@@craigneidel Thanks for your answer :) I bought Z666, because it was cheaper...
I remember watching your videos on my 2012 MBP... I bothered you a bunch of times on what to upgrade to and you always gave me great advice. I ended up getting a MBP M3 (macbook pro but base model M3 chip), with 16gb ram and 512gb disk. It is absolutely perfect for me
But lately the 512gb has been nagging me a bit. It is enough, but I was starting to need an external ssd to offload most stuff that I'm not currently working on. I came across the Satechi on Amazon and thought "ooh, I bet Craig has a video on this", and here I am eheh. Just purchased the Satechi, and the WD SN850X. Got a great deal on Black Friday, on Amazon. The enclosure and the 2tb SN850X together were 226€ (here in Portugal I'd consider that a steal)
Thank you! Can't wait to try it
Thanks and funny you watched so long ago. Two things which I updated in a later video. Check out the video from a few months ago where I test like 7 enclosures. With satechi if you have any issues change out the cord. Also make sure you get a drive without heatsink so it fits. They sell one with and one without heatsink. Thanks for watching.
Thank you for your video.. Can I use SN850X SSD w heatsink on the Satechi ST-EU4NPM? Is it going to fit inside ?
I didn't test that so I'm not sure. I would go to the Amazon page or website and see if they list that in the comments.
thank you for this amazing review Craig.
Is there an external enclosure for Samsung 990 PRO with Heatsink installed to the drive?
I have done a bunch of videos on Thunderbolt enclosures but just don't have that drive to test. I would maybe ask the company on the Amazon page.
Hi , great review ,, have you tested the Acasis tuv 405 pro enclosure, wonder how it would compare with this ??
I have it and should do a test in the near future.
@@craigneidel would be awesome to see the comparison speed, Any chanche you did it? I need to choose between satechi and acasis asap
Thanks for thos helpful video!
If I used Satechi M.2 Enclosure with Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB on Macbook Air M1, will it give me speed of R/W up to 2,500mb?
Maybe but I didn't test that drive and don't have it. The EVO is only about 3,500 MB/s on paper so it may be close but I think you could get that.
Hi. Thanks for testing. One request is to tell us the number of files making up each test and use error correction once on a 100 gig transfer for a better real world test for some.
@@mkaufmandev yes I did individual videos on all these. Thanks for watching
I thought thunderbolt 4 40Gb/s was limited to 22Gb/s for data? Impressed it’s able to go above 2800MB/s
Yes, tested it a few times and this is what it is getting both in synthetic tests and real world data tests (on this exact setup).
Thanks for the video. It would be interesting to see comparisons with Sandisk professional pro-g40 4tb
I may not be doing any new videos on this one but any drive you use that is close to the SN770 will generate speeds around that 3,000 MB/s or higher.
Thank you for such an informative video. I have also heard a lot about Zikedrive 40 GB/s nvme enclosure , would love to see your review of it.
I never heard about that one but will look it up.
Garbage and bad quality drivers, crashes when using big files 100gb+
Is it worth it to get a faster NVMe SSD for this enclosure if the enclosure bottlenecks the drive? I was looking into getting a WD770 but went with a crucial p3 instead. Since the enclosure is limited to TB4 should I get similar speeds from both SSDs?
I only tested the sn770 so I can't really answer that since I'm not sure how other m.2s perform with it. I'll let you know if I can test more in future but my videos are more product showcases to show people what's out there.
Are you still using the Satechi? If so any issues so far, especially to do with failure or overheating? Amazon reviews are not too great the Acacias has a higher rating but less speed.
So far so good with everything but I always tell people that I'm just one person. I would not also worry about a few hundred MB/s difference as you won't notice it.
I don't see any of those SSD using a heat sink, nor does it seem to facilitate a good thermal connection to the metal enclosure (the gap is too big and the metal lid is too thin). Could you elaborate on that a bit?
I just buy very thick heat tape from Amazon for times when it doesn't touch and I then make sure it is touching the case. They will still get hot but I think it performs better that way.
Did you test it as a boot drive as well? I am interested how it behaves when it comes to memory swapping vs the internal one. I know that it if you have a 1TB internal it is probably faster, but it would be a nice if you could use it without hiccups for the lower internal storage variants.
I have not tested it as a boot drive yet. I'll let you know if I get any time to do that in the future.
Is 30 seconds really enough time for things to heat up? I plan to use this tech as an air-gapping solution where 3-4TB are backed up off a server with enterprise NVMe. It could be running a good 15 minutes or more. Would this solution maintain the same speeds over that time period?
Things are going to heat up on just about any of these Thunderbolt enclosures for sure. I haven't really tested one where it won't get a bit hot etc. but as long as it doesn't overheat (any enclosure) they should still work. I would just test it out first with your specific environment.
I got this enclosure with a Samsung 980 Pro 2TB NVME SSD. Formatted to APFS. The read and writes speeds are great. The only issue that I have had is some random drive disconnects. Some happened when I moved the drive (but not always). The first issue was copying a 150 Gb file to the SSD. I'm going to monitor the issue for a few days. Not sure if I need a better cable (it should come with a decent cable though) or if I should send it back. I wanted to run my VMs from the drive, but with any kind of instability I am very reluctant to trustVM data to this enclosure / drive combination.
I have not see that before in my testing but I'm only one person. I would try another cable etc. to see if that helps and let us know how it turns out.
@@craigneidel It could be a Sonoma issue? I've seen a number of complaints from people after upgrading from Ventura.
I'll need to see if I can find anything. Thanks.
Update: I positioned the enclosure so that there is as little tension as possible on the cable. I also used some quake putty to hold the enclosure in place, so that it cannot move. I moved my Win 11 Gaming VM to the enclosure and have spent many hours playing DOS 2. I also moved my Steam folder to the enclosure. I think the original position of the enclosure put too much pressure on the port in the Mac Mini via the cable.
Thanks for the update. I have not personally seen this but thanks for posting.
Getting 3K+ both ways with WD850 thanks for the review. I am having a little trouble with cable, it disconnects very easily if I move the drive.
Did you try maybe another cable to see if you are still getting that issue. I would let Satechi know.
@@craigneidel I let them know waiting on response. Have not tried another since I'm in temp house waiting on my new one to be finished and all my shit is in a shipping container. lol
Ok, good luck and thanks again for the info.
Hello, thanks for this video, I got an nvme crucial 4to gen 3, whats performance could I expect with this case in term of speed? Its for MAO, loading samples and vst banks. Thanks ❤
I didn't test that drive and only tested the one in the video but I would assume it should be close.
How does these speeds compare to the speed of the Mac’s internal SSD drive ?
It depends on what Mac as they are all different. This is like twice as fast as the base model M2 devices with only 256 GB. It's maybe slightly faster or the same of macs with 512 GB. And slower then macs with 1 TB.
@@craigneidel wow didn’t expect that !
Could one put a virtual machine (parallels) on a external ssd drive and have that still properly working ?
I don't see why not. You can actually boot an entire Mac off an external SSD also but that is for another conversation. Things like video editing off it also. Thanks.
How do you think the Acasis 40gbps Thunderbolt 3/4 enclosure would perform with the same as this one with the same SSD in it ? If not why?
Check out my video on these - I would maybe not recommend the satechi unless you have a Thunderbolt 4 cable.
@CraigNeidel
Is it normal for this enclosure to get hot, may be more like warm to touch even when the drive is not used?
Yes they all move heat to metal so pretty normal in my opinion.
Just picked up a UGREEN CM642 for $90. USB4/TB4, quality metal case, built-in fan, 40gbit/s yada yada yada. I'm using the same WD Black SN770 drive as you do in your video (1TB version). With an Intel 12th gen Framework laptop, it reached a CrystalDiskMark 8 64GB sequential read score of 3736 MB/s, and write score 3111 MB/s. So on par with the unit you recommend, just $10 cheaper and probably stays cooler thanks to the fan.
Yes, thanks for the info. There are so many out there and I have showcased about 7 so far. They are all going to be similar so research and get what is best.
I can't find UGREEN CM642 on Amazon
Great Video thank you. I have a MAC Studio M2 running Final Cut Pro. I need a fast reliable 4TB. Would you recommend the one you showed in the video please?
Do you mean the SSD or the enclosure?
SSD please or even best pair of enclosure/4Tb. Thank I for ur time
@@jamieskon it's pretty good but it has no D-RAM and TBW for endurance is pretty average (600TBW). I'd go for a more premium SSD like the SN850, Kingston KC3000, Seagate Firecuda 530, Solidigm P44 pro, etc.
Does your heat tape make connection with the case? I don’t think mine does
I forgot but I normally add a thicker piece or a second one to make sure it touches. I remember that the one they gave us is really thick and I guess it could also depend on the size of the M.2 Drive that you have in there. But if it doesn't reach I would add a second piece.
@@craigneidel I hear ya. I have the WD sn770. Not sure if that helps. I have the piece that comes with the enclosure but I’m not sure it touches since it seems the enclosure is a bit recessed on the inside.
@@jaymacphoto78 yeah I always keep some backup heat tape so I normally add until it touches
In my Apple M1 Pro Max Mac Studio 2022, my thunderbolt 4 ports reads USB 3.1 Bus in Hardware Settings USB. Will I get 40 Gbps transfers if I connect this USB 4 enclosure? I recently purchased a Crucial X10 Pro drive which was supposed to have transfer speeds in the 2000+ and my transfer rates were around 10Gbps.
I have not tested this on all the systems but with the M1 Pro Max I think you should. It worked on my M1 Air.
Will this enclosure take the WD Black SN850 with heatsink? Or is the heatsink too bulky?
I'm not sure as I don't have that but I would see what they say in Amazon questions as it could be there.
Thank you for your review. This is my first time buying this kind of storage. I wonder if I could leave it plugged into my iMac all of the time even when shutdown?
You can leave it plugged in.
@@craigneidel Thank you!
Welcome
My silicon M1 Mac Mini has always had problems recognizing my 2 tb external drive. Any ideas would be a big help.
Do you mean this enclosure?
@@craigneidel no it’s a portable hard drive
@@georgesenda1952 maybe it needs to be formatted to work on Macs.
@craigneidel, thank you for the information & videos on this subject. Was hoping you could say how long these devices have lasted/how reliable they've been for you. Appreciate it!
So far it's working fine. But like I say I'm only one person with one experience with the device.
Hello, yesterday I got this box which I bought when I saw your video of the comparison you made of several boxes, I am Spanish but I live in Belgium and I could buy this box on Amazon Belgium for 60 euros on offer for Black Friday, about the transparent plastic casings that come and recommend to place I can think that the heat radiated by the box is transifere to the plastic and spread the heat getting better dissipation for the box in addition to protecting the box from use and your hands if it were to become overheated.
I am going to mount a Samsung 990Pro 2TB which I also got for 140 euros in a good Black Friday offer at MediaMarkt Belgium, I am waiting to receive my Mac Mini M4 512GB with 32GB Ram.
I would appreciate to know if anyone is using another Thunderbolt cable or is using the one supplied with the box.
Good channel Craig, good testing and well explained.
Thanks for all the info and good luck with everything. Just make sure the heat tape on the SSD is really touching the enclosure to move heat to the metal of the enclosure. That can make a major difference.
@@craigneidel I will take into account the advice of the thermal paste, greetings.
Thermal tape (pad) but paste but It think we are talking about the same thing.
@@craigneidel If you are right, it is a thermal tape
These thermal pad or tape - paste is for the cpu
Thank you for sharing the video. I have some questions. I purchased the Staechi solid-state drive enclosure and a 4TB SN850X SSD, intending to use it with my M1 Max MacBook. However, when I ran the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, I found that the read speed can reach 3000 MB/s, but the write speed consistently stays below 2000 MB/s. Could you please explain why this is happening? Because my work requires fast write speeds, I would appreciate it if you could answer at your convenience. Thank you.
I only tested it with sn770. I'm not sure but maybe search Amazon page to see what others got with that drive. I don't have it to test. Also do a real data test as black magic could be off.
That's the problem with the M1 Thunderbolt speeds. It's "well known" to have the results you mentioned.
I know this video is 4 months old
But here is a quick question:
Will this work on an Imac 27 inch 2019 fusion drive?
I want to boot off an external drive as some apps are running slow.
Not sure whether to install an internal drive or use this?
Many thanks and a great channel.
I'm not sure you will get as fast as speed but it should work. If anybody has tested it please post below. I will also see if I can do any tests in the near future.
@@craigneidel That’s excellent.Thank you 👍
Welcome
Would this work as a boot drive for a 2017 iMac 27”? If so, what SSD do you recommend getting with it?
I have not used it for that and I only tested the SN770 but that drive works great.
Would this make a good boot drive? I have the m2 mac mini pro, but it only has the 500gb drive. I keep running out of space. I would like to put everything on one 2-4 gb drive. I've got 16gb of RAM. I do a lot of video stuff and am concerned about how the Mac Mini uses the SSD for caching data back and forth from RAM. Would this drive handel the traffic and heat? Is it dependable enough to be my boot drive? Thank you for reviewing the product. I'm hoping that it's a good option for me.
Thanks for watching. I wish I could give you a good answer but I have not tested that so I'm not sure. I also can't setup a boot drive like that in a short amount of time so it could be some time before I do test that. I would get it and give it a try. You have about 2 weeks to test it out and make sure it meets your needs. That is the best way to know for sure. Thanks for watching.
If anybody else has tried that they can post here....
I have been running my 2017 iMac off an 2.5" Samsung QVO SSD for 6 years now and it's still going good. That is just one data point.
I'm planning on buying the recommended products here-- the enclosure, and the 2tb WD. If you notice when looking at the WD, it says there are two options: normal and with a heatsink. With the heatsink, would it still fit the enclosure?
Also, I'm planning to import a lot of files into this, but I also plan to game off of it (World of Warcraft), and the game is heavy. Would that work nicely or should I be looking at other options such as
SanDisk Professional?
I would not get it with a heaksink because it may not fit. I think that should be fine for gaming.
@@craigneidelthanks much! I bought the 4tb one.
Nice
Can I use this with Samsung 990 Pro with heatsink? I just need to clone a drive
I'm not sure it will fit with heatsink but maybe check the comments on the Amazon page to see what others did. I have not tried that.
The Amazon description of the recommended drive says, "(3) Requires the WD_BLACK Dashboard (Windows only)" but you're using a Mac. No issues?
So far I have had no issues but with that exact setup and test machine.
Hi Craig! What about battery drain when using an external ssd?
I have measured that directly but it's minimal.
Would you leave this plugged into your Mac all the time or would the heat kill it.? Or do you only plug it in for short periods of time ?
I leave it plugged in for long periods but with my channel I'm testing so many things that I do switch things out more then most.
That is exactly the question that I was going to ask. I'm a media hoarder, and I'd like to put everything on this drive so that my ATV has access to it at all times (as long is the Mac is running, of course). I have ZERO experience with external drives other than Time Machine and drag and drop backups.
You can always get it on Amazon and if it doesn't work you have 2 weeks or maybe even 4 weeks to return it. That is sometimes the best way to test things out.
@@craigneidel exactly what I did. Lol. Works great. Glad I went with this option for my Mac mini. Thank you for the info.
Thank you for watching again.
The speed is important, but I am looking for the most reliable enclosure in terms of heating and durability. Can someone recommend an enclosure that you have been using for some time without any problems? Thanks.
It all comes down to the drive you are using etc. on heating and how you cool it with the way you add quality thermal pads etc. The one from Graugear has been working good and has a fan but of course I have only had it for a few months.
@@craigneidel thanks a lot!🙏
i‘ve ordered two of these (TEAMGROUP MP44L 2TB SLC Cache NVMe 1.4 PCIe Gen 4x4 M.2 2280 Laptop&Desktop SSD (R/W Speed up to 4,800/4,400MB/s) TM8FPK002T0C101 ), but i’m not sure how to pick an enclosure. are two singles or a dual enclosure better? using with the new mac mini m4, for plex.
I would use a Thunderbolt enclosure at 40 Gbps to get the best speeds out of that drive and not a standard 10 Gbps enclosure. If you search my channel for Thunderbolt enclosures you can see which ones I recommend. Actually I see that you watched the Satechi video and that is a Thunderbolt enclosure so it appears you found it.
@@craigneidel how about this one? (fyi, links included in comments delete the comment). M.2 NVMe Enclosure,40Gbps M.2 Enclosure SSD Enclosure Compatible for M4/Pro/Max MacBook mac Mini,Support SSD Size 2230/2242/2260/2280 B+M M-Key PCIe Compatible with Thunderbolt 3/4/USB4/3.2/3.1
or this one? ACASIS 40Gbps M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure, Tool Free Installation, TBU 401 for M1 M2 Pro/Max, Compatible with USB4/3.2/3.1/3.0/2.0, Support SSD Size 2280 B+M M-Key (TBU401)
As a newbie I’m confused how does the enclosure determine the speed? Doesn’t the NVMe, cable and usb c or usb gen make a difference? Also what about heat?
there are 40 Gbps enclosures and if you divide by 8 (bytes and bits) then that enclosure can usually do around 5,000 MB/s but for this Thunderbolt has limits for this so other process have bandwidth so it's normally much lower. With overhead around 3,500 MB/s. But of course the drive needs to be at least this fast to get those speeds. With a 10 Gbps enclosure - divide by 8 - you get about 1,250 MB/s max but with overhead expect around 900 to 1000 MB/s. So the drives do matter but there are limitations based on the enclosure for sure (and computer or plug it connects to).
@@craigneidelthank you Sir. Really do appreciate the detailed answer. I’m glad I found your channel.
@@westfield90 welcome
Hi, thank you for the review. For the NVME.M.2 SSD, do we use the one with the heatsink or without?
I only tried this with the SN770 ssd and it has no heaksink. I would go with no heatsink to be sure.
@@craigneidel ah thank you
Welcome
Where you buy your computer accessories? Like those hard drives
@@rickkane8043 all over. Amazon or microcenter or Best buy or b&h.
Thanks Boss, I’m looking to get a external hard drive on my new IMac its just have 256 g. Plus planning to upgrade my old hp laptop and put a new hard drive.
For sure, and I did quite a few videos on Thunderbolt enclosures for the Mac with different models so check those out. I normally do product showcases though more than a full review.
Hey Craig, love your reviews! I bought an Inateck external SSD enclosure, with a Samsung 980 1Tb, works very good, with 1 remark. The Temperature! It gets hot, even in idle situation. AT this moment I replaced with my Sandisk external ssd, which is slower (750 vs 3200Mb), but does the job without extreme heat. Do all the fast SSD casings get hot? Thanks!
Thanks for watching. All of the Thunderbolt enclosures do get quite warm when using them. I only tested it with the SN770 and not sure if they 980 runs hotter or not in the case. Thanks for the info on this.
Fantastic Video. Is this also possible on a Mac Mini M2 ?
Yes but I have also showcased a bunch of other great Thunderbolt enclosures so check out my channel for all of them. I just did a video yesterday too that includes a nice one. Thank you .
have you used these with Samsung 990 Pro 4TB SSD? thanks.
No I have not at this time. Thanks.
Just purchased the same setup from Amazon and used your links, hope you got the refs, thank you for the video 💫
Thanks for that and good luck with everything.
I was gifted a 2017 Macbook Pro ,but it only has 120gig ssd in it. Everything works fine on the Macbook, but I am looking for an inexpensive external ssd to run iMovie off of and store my videos I make. What would be best for my situation? Is there a cheaper enclosure to use?
Yes, just something like a samsung T7 like this one will be fine (only about 1,000 MB/s) but fine for running iMovie. Here is a link - amzn.to/3T8mcbL - (if you use link I could get small commission - noting that). Thank you.
@@craigneidel could the Samsung T7 also be used to run Mac OS off of as well?
@@nikkiwasher7235 it should be as long as formated to APFS.
Hey Craig, when the unit states “up to 16TB”, is this a advertisement scheme or does this mean when it’s raided together with another 8TB (RAID0) to get 16TB?
Cause I looked everywhere, and can’t seem to find a single 16TB NVMe M.2 stick!
Yeah I'm not sure. Maybe post question on Amazon page and they should get back to you. Might just be ready up to 16 tb when they come out soon.
My seagate fire 530 comes with heatsink, does the enclosure have enough space to fit it in? Thanks
I only tested it with the SN770 so maybe see if you can ask manufacturer that.
Do you think this would work on a 2018 intel mac mini or no?
It should work maybe but at slower speeds for sure and it may not be worth the price. But if it has thunderbolt connections in USB-C then it should still get pretty fast transfer speeds.
How much speed we can get with the Crucial P3 Plus SSD? any idea?
Will be around 2800 to 3200 MB/ s estimate
thanks for the review craig what can be the speeds when we format the SSD in exfat to switch back and forth between my windows system and iPhone 15 pro max I have
I would guess it is around the same speeds as it should not be too different.
Hi Craig, I've been looking for SSD enclosures that support SMART status SSDs for a while. I really can't remember if you said it or not, but is this enclosure compatible with SMART reading and writing? I don't need it just to store data, I need to make a bootable drive with macOS installed on it. And do you think it works well with Intel Macs too? I have an M1 Pro and an i5 from 2012, alongside with an Intel Core Due Duo from 2007. do you think data transfer is gonna be possible with those Macs? I've read that many of these enclosures only work with macOS 13 and later, idk about this one. basically what I'm gonna do with it is have 2 partitions of 1 TB each. one bootable and one for storage. do you think it's possible?
I think it was but I would just check out the Amazon page and it should be documented there. I test so many of these. I had a few computers I boot MacOS off an external drive. I have not done this with the modern Macs especially the M4 mini because I heard it can break a few things like Apple Intelligence and the Apple pay stuff. But still can work. I think what you want to do is possible but you just need to determine what is right for you.
@@craigneidel alright man, thank you. Tbh apple intelligence isn't even an option in my country, and I wouldn't need Apple Pay on a secondary macOS snapshot so yeah as long as it works well with cashing and S.M.A.R.T. status reading and writing I'm good
Could anyone please advise ..
Is this combination suitable /workable without to much speed loss , to store a virtual machine on (parallels -W11)? Or should one not ? and have it on the Mac Mini itself
I think it would work on this as the speed is there at the same speed as the mac's drive but you can test it and return if not what you like.
I bought same enclosure with 2TB SN850X and not getting anywhere near these speeds on M3 Air 8GB 256GB. Getting 1,100 MB/s Write on a 116GB Photo library and 300 MB/s Read. Is the issue my computer? More likely the enclosure or the SSD?
The enclosure might be bad. I'm not sure why you might be seeing that. I did a few other reviews of the Acasis, Minisopuru, Qwiizlab, and Zike Thunderbolt enclosures. Maybe try one of those. The Qwiizlab one I did a video on seems to work good. Search for this video on my channel to see that one - Must-Have MacBook Accessories You Didn't Know Existed! .
Thanks for the vid. How hot is that thing getting?
It depends on the drive. If you have a thermal pad that touches the metal it can heat up a bit but all of them do for sure.
Hallo Craig, thanks for the video and your test! Did you check the transfer speed at your intel iMac 2017 as well? I would like to use it as a boot disk for the same iMac. - Thanks!
I just did a test on the 2017 5k iMac. It's about 2,350 MB/s (up and down) on that older system.
@@craigneidel Hello Craig, Thanks for the quick reply!
You convinced me to buy a 2017 5k iMac last year and now I'm looking for an external SSD.
Last week I had the Zyke Drive, but it had a loose contact - and I send it back.
I wasn't particularly impressed with the fit of the lid either.
-The SSD I'm looking for should deliver the fastest speed for the 2017 iMac's TB3 port.
Does a USB 4 SSD make sense? - and which of the ones you have tested would you recommend? Thanks!
@@thomaskunz4703 I think the satechi is the highest speeds I have tested. You can give it a try to see if it works good for you. I used the sn770 in the enclosure. I do product showcases and only have had satechi few weeks so I can't do long term testing on it yet.
Thank you very much again Craig!
Your suggestions are really very helpful!@@craigneidel
Thanks for watching and the feedback.
Is it bad to keep one of this running 24/7 connected to a Mac mini ?
I don't think that is bad for it.
Great review
Thank you for watching.
Are you able to edit video with files stored on this drive arrangement?
Yes, for sure.
Sir Is there any way to know about a replaced battery of a macbook is genuine or not? I mean a genuine battery or a 3rd party or knokoff battery?
I'm guessing that info is posted online somewhere as far as markings on the battery.
This is insane, for the price of the Mac mini m4 storage upgrade from 256gb to 512gb its what you pay to get this enclosure + 2tb WD Black sn850x... its unreal!
Yes, adding your own storage is the way to go.
Hi.
How do you use this disc? Do you have it plugged in all the time? And what kind of volume have you tried to record on it?
I bought a HyperDrive Next USB4 NVMe SSD Enclosure and installed a Kingston KC3000 M.2 NVMe SSD (2280) and a Kingston Fury Renegade M.2 NVMe SSD (2280) I plugged it into a macbook pro M3MAX and as a result I have the drive periodically disconnect itself. I understand this is due to overheating. I managed to write about 1TB of data to the cold drive. On the connected disc I managed to write about 100GB and then it "falls off" from the system.
I have tested up to about 100 GB of data without any issues but I don't have any workloads much larger then that. I'll let you know if I test higher.
@@craigneidel Thank you very much.
I have Time Machine backups on one of these discs. So yesterday I tried to make another backup - it worked only with the 4th time and when I put the outdoor fan on.
I'm not sure what could cause that.
Is there a chance you can test on a m1 or m2 iPad and what’s the speeds?
My test was on the M1 mac but I don't have an M1 or M2 iPad to test on. I only have 9th gen.
NEED SOME HELP! I purchased the Satechi enclosure and the 4TB WD SN850X. Formatted to APFS and connected with a Thunderbolt 4 cable. My M1 MacBook Pro does not like this drive. Max read/write is only 900 mb/s. My M1 Max Mac Studio loves the dang thing. 3000 mb/s read/write when connected directly to the Thunderbolt 4 port on the back of the MS and 2700 to 2800 mb/s read/write when connected to the OWC Thunderbolt hub. Any idea why the MacBook Pro M1 doesn’t like this drive?
I tested it with the M1 iMac so not sure. I was using a different drive though (SN770). Also when running it through a hub it can cause issues etc. I would reach out to Satechi to see what they say. I was just doing a product showcase and only tested one setup.
@@craigneidel Satechi was quick to point the finger at Apple. Shocker. Can't recommend this enclosure to anyone reading these comments.
It's good to hear all sides so thanks for posting.
@@shadow.overland Ah... so what would be a better alternative - running good an al the systems - and above 3000mb/s?
Can i move apps such as after effects and priemer pro onto the drive and will it work fast ?
I have not tested moving those but it is fast with any work like that. But you can try and to see if it meets your needs as all setups are different.
I picked one up and it is FAST !
They are nice for sure and it can move quite a bit of data quickly.
can you test with small files like 10MB each with data alternating 1 and zeros
I'm not doing any more testing on that unit but I would do a quick search to see what is on Google for it. That may have been done already. Thanks for watching.
Great video. I've received my Satechi enclosure today. Going with Samsung 990 but I just can't format it on my iMac. The error code is -69877. Also the same error in the Diskutil List command. Could anyone please help me?
I'm not sure what that could be. I didn't test that drive though. Did you reach out to Satechi on that error?
@@craigneidel I finally fixed the issue.The FileVault encryption setting in the new iMac with the new chip banned the secure erase options for SSD. I format the SSD in my Windows then it finally functions on my iMac right now.
Ok, thanks for the follow up and tip on this.
please test "disk utility raid-0" with 2 thunderbolt drives
If I get some time but I would also search the amazon page and the comments.
is it better to have this or one of the prefabricated external SSD in regard to durability, speed and quality?
Those don't really get as fast as this one and is the drive breaks you can't open it up and add a replacement. So it's hard to know for sure but there are a few benefits to building your own.
@@craigneidel Right on the money! Always better to build your own. Enclosure breaks - take out the SSD and put it into a new enclosure, SSD breaks, buy new one, done. Pre-fab breaks, within warranty, you may be alright, out of warranty, your loss completely.
yes, I like to build my own for those reasons. Thanks for the post.
@@craigneidel Is there a reason you didn't look at the OWC Express 1M2?
@@AndreaBakacs I just test a ton of them. I have tested around 7 of them so maybe one day if they send me one to test.
Thanks for the video
Just ordered the Satechi enclosure with the WD_BLACK 2TB SN850X. I almost told my self to get a 1 gig but for future proofing I went with 2. I m tired of my 1 TB mac being choked by Final Cut Pro's MASSIVE libraries lol my last video took up like 550GB because I am having to run proxies and optimize the videos since it's an Intel Mac (2019 iMac Pro)
Thank you. I have only tested the SN770 on this but if you run into issues with the 850 please let others know. I know that is quite a bit larger so hopefully it will fit fine etc. and if so it should be a bit faster. Thanks for watching.
@@craigneidel I will let you know. The Amazon page for the enclosure literally recommends the 850 lol so it has to work lol
I have my own channel that I have been dormant for a bit, I think I will make a video and reference your video in it
@@billyfigueroa1617 Thanks and good luck. I figured it will work also but I have been using the SN770 in all my videos and don't have the 850 on hand. I think you should get a bit more speed. This is about the 5th Thunderbolt enclosure I tested so far and I'm doing another one from Yottamaster in a few days.
@@craigneidel I keep switching profiles 🤦🏽♂️
I ll comment here once the video is done
Ok, thank you.
Before ordering, just to confirm if this is compatible w/2023 mac mini pro. Thanks.
Also ordering the SN850X w/Heatsync. That's really what I wanted to be sure works with my mac mini pro. Thanks again.
I don't think it will fit with the SN850X with the heatsink, make sure and get the one without the heatsink to make sure it fits. I only tested with with the SN770 and the M2 MacBooks etc. but I assume it would work fine with the mini as well.
@@craigneidel The dimensions for SN850X w/Heatsync: 3.15 x 0.92 x 0.35 inches. w/out Heatsync: 3.15 x 0.87 x 0.09 inches. Satechi enclosure: 4.45 x 2.68 x 0.91 inches. What do you think??
I bought the acasis and 770 on your recommendations yesterday. Hope you made some money from Amazon!
Thanks, appreciate that. Just make sure it fits your needs and works good for you. I have reviewed a ton of these and they are all very similar but it comes down to the drive you use and the system you connect to in the end. So give it a try and if not return it and try the next one. Normally if you get 3,000 MB/s or higher then you found the right solution as anything faster isn't going to matter too much. Thanks for watching the channel.
@@craigneidel
Thanks, I'm sure it'll be good enough for me. Another question though and maybe a video idea:
I have a Synology DS220 NAS but I don't think I even need it. I just wanted to back up my laptop regularly (preferably over wifi) and have redundant backups.
I'll be traveling the next year though and giving up our household in Europe. I imagine it's unnecessary and risky to travel with HDDs.
Is there something better? You said in a comment to someone else most people don't need a NAS. And I never access it from elsewhere other than at home.
I find synology photos also sucks for backing up photos. Never really works on our phones, can't look at pictures on the app though I might have it set up wrong.
Maybe a dual drive ssd enclosure is good enough for me?
Yeah I would just get a ssd enclosure with the specs you need and that is fine.
How does it compare to the Zike Drive enclosure or the Hyper Drive. They both claim the fastest speeds.
They are going to be similar.