Fastest External SSD Storage Enclosure Tested For M1, M2, M3 Macs and Win
In this video we build the fastest external M.2 Storage SSD Enclosure that we tested at over 3,300 MB/s. If you are looking to add external SSD storage to your M1, M2, and M3 Mac mini, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or even Mac Studio and Win PC then this is a perfect external M.2 NVMe SSD enclosure to build. This is the Satechi 40 Gbps USB4 NVMe SSD Pro Enclosure (Model: ST-EU4NPM).
This external storage enclosure will also be perfect for the M3 Mac mini when that comes out and provides up to 16 TB of extremely fast external storage. So if you need a ton of external storage for your Mac and especially Mac mini then watch this video. This will also work on Win PCs as long as you format the drives correctly.
In this video we discuss the following products:
(Satechi ST-EU4NPM External M.2 USB4 Enclosure)
Satechi 40 Gbps USB4 NVMe SSD Enclosure – https://amzn.to/3wlbPcV
(WD SN850X – Recommended Drive)
WD SN850X SSD 1 TB – https://amzn.to/48p7ovd
WD SN850X SSD 2 TB – https://amzn.to/48ho0os
WD SN850X SSD 4 TB – https://amzn.to/49JQs3D
(WD SN770 – Drive Used and Tested in Video)
WD SN770 SSD 1 TB – https://amzn.to/49IRVan
WD SN770 SSD 2 TB – https://amzn.to/4bKlslS
(Other Possible Drives)
Crucial P3 Plus SSD 4 TB – https://amzn.to/3wluJ3B
Other items to note:
Camera video was filmed with – Sony ZV-E10 – https://amzn.to/42N5lzB
Lens Camera is using – Sigma 14 mm – https://amzn.to/3OO3kgY
Microphone Zoom F2 – https://amzn.to/4bLKQaE
My MacBook Skin – https://fishskyn.com?sca_ref=5474177.FBTFufUYsE
Satechi Website – https://satechi.net/
Watch my other videos on Thunderbolt SSD Enclosures:
Acasis Enclosure – https://youtu.be/KcPKabfeNQs
Minisopuru Enclosure – https://youtu.be/gKgmfAZtx-g
Gigamundo Enclosure – https://youtu.be/98x__vCb2Lw
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what 16tb ssd would you recommend to use with this? very interested
thank you for this amazing review Craig.
Is there an external enclosure for Samsung 990 PRO with Heatsink installed to the drive?
Craig I did this exact setup but am getting much lower speeds (2000 write and 3000 read) on an M1 Max. What could be going on?
I tested. WD SN850X SSD 2 TB (MacOS APFS) + Satechi 40 Gbps USB4 NVMe SSD Pro Enclosure + M3 Max 36 GB RAM MacBook = 1014 MB/s. What am I doing wrong? All equipment is suitable according to this video!!!! There are even more.
Crazy thought but is that fast enough that you could install and run windows on the external? Always thought that would some 007 level stuff.
Where you buy your computer accessories? Like those hard drives
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
IMPORTANT ! If you are ordering the wd sn850x to use with this enclosure DO NOT order the one with the optional heatsink. It will not fit! I found out the hard way lol
I just purchased both the Satechi and the SSD for my MacBook and it doesn’t show up, even in Disk Utility, very sad
Is a 10 Gbps Enclosure enough ? as the write speed is only upto 5000 Mbps ?
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.
How are you getting such a fast write speed? I have an M1 Max 16in and I’m only getting 1970MB/sec! Is there something that I’m missing? I have the exact same drive in the same enclosure
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?
@CraigNeidel
Is it normal for this enclosure to get hot, may be more like warm to touch even when the drive is not used?
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?
Before ordering, just to confirm if this is compatible w/2023 mac mini pro. Thanks.
Criag, great work by the way! I was hoping you could cut through the maze of choices and give me your simple combination of hardware for an external SSD for my 2017 iMac 27". It’s the 3.5 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core I5, with 24 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 Memory. I’ve watched a ton of your videos so know there are many SSD routes, but what would you recommend today for my machine? I’m not a gamer or super user. I do a fair amount of video production and need faster iMovie for sure.
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.)
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.
How hot it gets? I got mine it gets crazy hot regardless of usage
can you test with small files like 10MB each with data alternating 1 and zeros
Hi, thank you for the review. For the NVME.M.2 SSD, do we use the one with the heatsink or without?
Hello! Love your channel. What mic do you use for recording ? The sound is always clear and crisp.
have you used these with Samsung 990 Pro 4TB SSD? thanks.
I think ascasis 405 pro is good option price is same as this 100-105 doller with 40gbs speed and also come with fan and temperature is also cooler than other enclosure crystal disk info is software in windows we can check temperature of ssd and health of ssd
@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!
Hi Craig! What about battery drain when using an external ssd?
I guess this is thunder bolt 3
What is this stopwatch app you are using?
Can i move apps such as after effects and priemer pro onto the drive and will it work fast ?
hi, can i use this enclosure and SN770 SSD for daily gaming ?
The reviews on Amazon are horrible for this enclosure.
Hi , great review ,, have you tested the Acasis tuv 405 pro enclosure, wonder how it would compare with this ??
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.
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 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?
Fantastic Video. Is this also possible on a Mac Mini M2 ?
He’s a small youtuber guys.
Awesome video 🙂
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.
9:49 how did you test it without connecting to your mac? Am i missing something?
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!
Craig I did this exact setup. Thank you for the recommendation!
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.
The Amazon description of the recommended drive says, "(3) Requires the WD_BLACK Dashboard (Windows only)" but you’re using a Mac. No issues?
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 bought the acasis and 770 on your recommendations yesterday. Hope you made some money from Amazon!
Great review
Just purchased the same setup from Amazon and used your links, hope you got the refs, thank you for the video 💫
Thanks for the video. It would be interesting to see comparisons with Sandisk professional pro-g40 4tb
As an indie filmmaker…. I might have to add this immediately 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀
And it works on a MacBook you say?!🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔