Vratislav Holub There is probably no point in writing at length about the fact that there is never enough data space – especially with MacBooks. MacBooks are used by a lot of photographers, in other words, videographers, who have no need for large volumes of data. It's not about having a bottomless NAS at home or in the studio, data needs to be stored even when working in the field or on the go. Wouldn't you like a pocket-sized - and at the same time "data-bulky" and very fast SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD?
The SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD is the successor to the model without the PRO attribute, from which it differs slightly in design, slightly more capacity and, fundamentally, speed. If it weren't for the redesign of the cutout in the upper right corner, you'd easily confuse the two models. The new type labeled PRO has a slightly larger triangular opening, which, like the entire perimeter of this patty, is lined with an orange anodized aluminum frame. The SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD is smaller than an old iPhone 4 (i.e. a "normal size" phone) - measuring 57 x 110 x 10 mm and weighing 80 grams, you can carry it in your shirt pocket. And if you accidentally drop it, nothing should happen to it. In addition, this device has IP55 protection - partial protection against dust and jet water.
The SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD external drive is produced in three capacities: 500 GB, 1 TB and 2 TB. The interface is of the second generation USB 3.1 type (speed 10 Gbit/s), USB-C connector. The manufacturer declares a reading speed of up to 1 MB/s (writing may be slower) – these are decent chips!
Unfortunately, I did not have a sufficiently powerful reference machine available for short testing, but only an older MacBook Air with USB 3.0, i.e. a computer with a "ÚeSBéček" with half the speed of 5 Gbit/s. Even so, transfer times were very fast. First, I tried several times to copy 200 photos (RAW + JPEG) totaling 7,55 GB. Both in the direction of the MacBook Air to the SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD and vice versa, this action took an average of 45 seconds. I then took 8 videos totaling 15,75GB. 40-45 seconds from Mac to disk, just over a minute the other way around. That's very decent, don't you say?
By the way, the claimed speed of this external drive is of course not only evident when copying or moving data. Thanks to it, you can also work with files on the disk without restrictions as if they were stored on the computer's system disk. That the SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD can also be used as storage for Time Machine is probably clear to everyone right away.
If you work with sensitive data, you can use the SanDisk SecureAccess software, which enables 128-bit AES data encryption on the disk. On the Portable SSD itself you will find the installation file for Windows, for Mac OS you need to download it from the SanDisk website.
The problem is that MacOS is bugged and you can't run Photos library on an external drive without problems! The disc cannot be ejected!!! You need to either force or kill some demons from Photos!!!
Crazy…