A disaster your MacBook Pro. MacBook Air or iMac is out of space.
What now?
You need somewhere to offload your files and fast. And you should back up everything on your Mac, too. Because the last thing you want is your documents, videos and photos to vaporize into thin air if your Mac fails.
You’re intrigued by the WD My Passport for Mac.
But will it work for you and your Mac?
MacTakeAwayData Rating: 8/10
Why You’ll Want The WD My Passport For Mac
Why You Might Pass On The WD My Passport For Mac
Verdict On The WD My Passport For Mac
It’s for you, the Mac user.
You’ll find your Western Digital My Passport for Mac works seamlessly on a Mac.
Sure, the WD My Passport is a basic external portable drive.
But it has all these nice features that’ll make a difference in how long your memories live on!
The WD Discovery software allows you to import and copy your social media. Save those social photos and documents locally on your drive.
Plug it in and use as easily as an SD card. Transfer your files to it. Store your documents, videos, photos or your music library.
Use your My Passport drive for Mac as a destination for your Time machine backup software.
And if you get yourself a larger drive. You can section it up. Put a Time Machine backup of your Mac computer in one section. And have your videos and other files in another.
And if you’re using your WD Passport for Mac to off load from your Mac.
Think about getting two.
It’s never a good idea to only have one copy of your files.
Recommended Drive: WD My Passport For Mac
Feel free to take a look at the My Passport for Mac
YouTube Video On The WD Passport For Mac
What’s new? You’ll want to watch this 51 second YouTube video. You’ll find a nice intro to the My Passport Mac updates.
Western Digital’s Latest My Passport Drives
Video Credit: First L00k
WD My Passport For Mac Review
What is the ‘for Mac’ bit about?
The best part about the WD My Passport is that it made for you the Mac user. What does that mean?
There’s no need for you to worry about how to make this external hard drive work with your Mac. Because it’s already set up. Formatted to be compatible with your MacOS.
Because it’s already set up. Formatted to be compatible with your Mac’s operating system.
There’s something called HSF+ which is also known as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file system. And the My Passport Mac as shipped is already set up that way.
HSF+ is what your Mac is expecting to see when you plug in an external drive.
You can breathe a sigh of relief. Because when you buy this drive and plug it in, your Mac will understand it.
Your My Passport for Mac will work with the following Mac operating systems:
Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, Hight Sierra.
Really anything above Mac OS 10.13.
Share Your My Passport For Mac With A Windows PC?
If you want to share your My Passport for Mac portable storage with a Windows PC. You’ll need to reformat your drive.
A Windows PC can’t see a HSF+ formatted drive.
But you can choose when you format. Either to make the whole drive shareable with a Windows PC. Or a part of your drive shareable.
Storage Capacity Of The WD My Passport For Mac
You’ll find the Western Digital My Passport for Mac comes in 2TB, 4TB and 5TB sizes.
The drives with larger storage space are mega useful when you’ve lots of photos to store.
Or want to get a larger drive that you can split up into sections.
For example, you may want one section for your documents. Another section where you can store your Time Machine backups.
And perhaps a third section to store files you’re sharing between a Mac and a PC.
Plugging In Your WD My Passport For Mac
The WD My Passport for Mac is a USB 3.2 Gen 1 external drive.
And.
In the My Passport Mac box you’ll be happy to find there are two USB cables.
Why two?
One USB cable has a USB C end on it.
For your Mac with USB C ports.
What If You’ve A Mac With USB A Ports Only?
You use the second USB cable in the box if you’ve an older Mac with a type A USB port.
Luckily the USB standard is backwards compatible. And your Mac with its USB 3.0 type A ports will store files, backup to. And read from an external hard drive that is Gen 1.
Your My Passport for Mac portable hard drive also supports USB 2.0 for those of you with older Macs and MacBooks.
So, no matter the age of your Mac, with this WD drive you’re covered. And as easy to use as an external SD card.
The My Passport Mac’s Power Needs
Your WD My Passport for Mac uses its USB cable for power. And this means your Mac’s battery (when your Mac isn’t connected to external power).
Your Mac’s power cable when plugged in, powers both your Mac and your WD hard drive.
The beauty of this is, that there’s no need for you to carry a separate power cable.
And this means one less cable to remember to bring with you.
Or carry one around in your back pack.
Or take one with you abroad when you’re on a trip.
Or worry about finding a US plug or adaptor for your external drive.
Western Digital Passport For Mac Amazon User Views
You’ll find this WD external hard drive popular. And has sold well with many fans that like this WD drive.
Why not take a look at the reviews on Amazon? (Commissions Earned)
Click on this link to view the WD My Passport for Mac page.
Head down to the bottom of the page.
There you can select the most recent reviews and take a look at the individual star ratings.
Is The Western Digital My Passport For Mac Take With You Portable?
Yes, the WD passport for mac is portable. A handy size that fits easily in the palm of your hand.
But you’ll need to remember that these drives aren’t at all rugged.
As a mechanical hard disk drive, it has moving parts inside.
A knock or a drop from any significant height means you’ll have damaged your WD external hard drive.
When using, you’ll find it best to put your Passport for Mac on a level, solid surface.
Moving dropping or shaking the drive while it is active risks you losing your files.
Physical Sizes Of The My Passport For Mac Drives
You’ll find the 2 TB drive is 4.22 in by 2.95 in by 0.44.
4TB and 5TB drives are a little thicker at 4.22 in by 2.95 in by 0.75 inches in size.
This means you’ll find that they could all quite happily fit in your pocket.
Yet you’ll find them still convenient to carry around.
Weight Of The Western Digital My Passport For Mac
You’ll see the 2 TB version weighs 0.27 lbs.
The 4TB and 5TB drives weigh in at a heavier 0.46 lbs.
No matter your drive’s capacity. You’ll find your WD Passport for Mac very transportable. And can fit in a large pocket or your backpack or your purse.
But when you take your WD hard drive with you, it’s best to invest in a carry case to protect your hard disk drive. You’ll want to keep it safe from any accidental knocks or drops.
My favorites are the: (Commissions Earned)
AmazonBasics External Hard Drive Case
Or for something a little better
The Lacdo Waterproof and Shockproof Carrying Case
The Look Of Your Passport For Mac
Only available in dark blue.
A little disappointing. As you won’t find the attractive, bright lollypop colors of the non for Mac My Passport drive.
But your My Passport for Mac’s case is a bit different to the usual.
About half of the outside cover has a mid to dark blue finish. The half has a diagonal design.
If you’d like to keep your WD My Passport drive looking good. I wouldn’t just throw it in your back pack. Or in your large purse where your keys could scratch the outer cover.
Another reason to keep it in one of cases I mention above when you’re not using.
Connections And LED Light
You’ll find a single USB 3.2 Gen 1 port.
And a single LED activity showing light. A light to help you know what your Passport external hard drive is up to.
Light steady means your Passport external hard drive is idle.
Quick flashing means your drive is active writing. Or reading your files.
A slow flash means the drive is on standby.
WD My Passport For Mac Speed Test
Here you’ll find usb.userbenchmark.com speed tests. This site allows individual users to record and upload their own test results.
You get a result based on all the Western Digital My Passport drives tested. And there are more than 10,068 benchmark tests for the WD My Passport drive. The findings are:
- 1.82 mb/s average 4k Random write speed
- 65.9 mb/s Average sustained write speed
The My Passport is consistent in use in various real word conditions. These results show you that the WD Passport for Mac drive is a good performer. If not the fastest in its class. You can view the latest results at this link.
Passport For Mac Comes With WD Discovery Software
When you buy your My Passport for Mac it’s preloaded with Western Digital‘s software.
The WD Discovery software allows you to import the photos held on your social media accounts. It connects to your accounts such as Instagram and Facebook.
And your cloud storage services such as Google drive and Dropbox. You can then bring in your documents, videos and photos. And save them onto your My Passport Mac external hard drive.
Perfect as it allows you to have a separate copy of your uploaded files in your hands. Just in case the worst happens to your cloud storage.
Other Features Of The WD My Passport For Mac’s WD Software
You’ve the WD drive utilities.
The WD drive utilities lets you reformat your drive. And check on your drive’s health.
All reasonable features.
But remember that your Mac’s OS has standard software that does this as well. And when it comes to reformatting your Passport drive or checking your drive’s health. On a Mac using the native MacOS software is the safest option.
My Passport For Mac Hardware Encryption
The WD software also manages the drive’s 256-bit hardware encryption.
By setting up a password using the WD software. You turn on the hardware encryption for your My Passport drive.
But bear in mind that if you do that. You’ll need the WD software to access your drive when you’re using the hardware encryption.
This could be an issue if you’re using your My Passport drive to backup your Mac with Time Machine. Why?
If your Mac fails and you need to rebuild your Mac from your backup. Do you really want to fiddle around trying to get the Western Digital software up and running? Before you can get to your hardware encrypted drive with your backup on it.
Plus a new version of your MacOS means a possible wait for a compatible version of the WD software. You’ll need a version that works with your Mac’s OS. And before you upgrade your Mac’s operating system.
Your alternative ..
Use the external drive password protection that’s part of your MacOS.
That way if your Mac fails you can use your standard Mac OS software to rebuild your Mac from your backup.
In Closing
Use your WD My Passport as your reliable portable drive with its sleek and sexy design.
An external drive is safest when disaster hits your Mac. Or even your cloud storage.
Save your social media photos locally.
Or use to transfer files from one computer to another.
Or backup your Mac with Time Machine.
There’s a lot to like about this WD My Passport for Mac. And it makes it easy for you to connect to your MacBook, or iMac.
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