WD My Passport 4TB portable external hard drive for Mac is ready to use out of the box so you can start transferring files, saving your valuable memories and backing up right away. You can import your photos, videos and docs to the drive from popular social media and cloud storage services like Facebook, Instagram, Dropbox and Google Drive with.
WD My Passport Ultra USB-C Edition
Pros
- Easy to use
- Sleek design
A fantastic storage companion for MacBook users.
I’ve been a fan of Western Digital storage options for a very long time. A company I used to work for had to do daily backups and per project backups and we relied on Western Digital products to ensure that our data was secured. In all the time we used WD hard drives, I don’t think we ever had a drive fail. Now that I am working independently and I need storage solutions for my media backups, I immediately looked to Western Digital. I have a 2016 13-inch MacBook Pro, which only had USB-C ports on it so I was grateful to find that WD had a portable storage option for people in my situation -- the My Passport Ultra USB-C edition.
DETAILS
The My Passport Ultra USB-C edition has the same compact design as classic My Passport drives from WD with the addition of a USB-C port. The case has been modified slightly from previous versions to include a metal cover. The drive is USB-C ready (as previously mentioned) and compatible with USB 3.0 (with the use of a provided adapter). The hard drive can act as an automatic backup drive and features password protection as an option. The hard drive can also be encrypted using 256-bit AES hardware encryption through WD Security.
Thanks to WD’s built-in software, WD Discovery, the drive also features social media and cloud storage import. This utility software can also help to manage your hard drive with WD Drive Utilities. Out of the box, the drive is Windows 10 ready, but it can be formatted to work with Mac computers, too.The My Passport Ultra USB-C is available in three sizes -- 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB. It’s very easy to use and has a 3-year limited warranty. There are two color options -- Blue/Black and Silver.
USB-C version (blue) versus USB 3.0 version (white/gold)
Package Includes:
- My Passport Ultra Portable Storage
- USB-C™ cable with USB 3.0 adapter
- WD Discovery™ software* for WD Backup™, WD Security™ and WD Drive Utilities™
- Quick install guide
USER EXPERIENCE
The My Passport Ultra USB-C is an updated version of the My Passport Ultra (2017). The older version was only available with a USB 3.0 connection cable, which meant that users like me (with a USB-C MacBook computer) would have to use an adapter or dock in order to interface with the hard drive. The physical size of the hard drive hasn’t changed much model-to-model except that the corners are rounded on the 2018 model and it simply looks sleeker. Both models are formatted for Windows machines out of the box, but you can reformat using Paragon NTFS for Mac (included with the drive).
The My Passport Ultra USB-C is really an exceptional hard drive. It does a beautiful job of storing data and makes it really easy to keep a portable drive with me at all times. The one thing you really have to be cautious of is the fact that this is a mechanical hard drive and not an SSD. Because of that, the hard drive does not have any shock protection. If it is thrown around a lot, it will be more prone to fail. That said, because it is a ‘portable’ hard drive, I think that it’s probably a bit more svelte than other mechanical drives. To date, I’ve not had any issue with Western Digital’s portable hard drives being carried by hand during daily treks through the urban jungle or on a coast-to-coast airplane ride.
One of the first things I usually do with any hard drive I test out is to open up Disk Utility to see that the capacity of the drive matches what the box says. In this case, Disk Utility stated that it was a 2TB hard drive which matched up with the packaging. Because the drive is formatted for Windows and I use a Mac, I did end up using Paragon NTFS to erase and reformat the drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) so I could use it freely with my MacBook Pro. After the formatting, the drive showed up as a 2TB drive, but space was shown as ‘free’ instead of used like it did when it was formatted as NTFS.
At this point, I ran two disk speed tests on the drive -- AJA System Test Lite and Blackmagic Disk Speed Test. The AJA test is unique because you get a sense for how specific video files will be processed using the selected hard drive. Typically, I get the same type of speed from both tests, but I like running them both regardless. With the AJA test, I selected 1080p (1920×1080) and 4K-Full (4096×3112). Each test returned approximately the same results with a read/write time of 124/122 Mb/s and 126/122 Mb/s respectively. With the Blackmagic Speed Test, I got a read/write result of 125/121.4 Mb/s. The Blackmagic test will show whether or not the speed of the drive tested will hold up with some common video formats.
The final test I ran on the My Passport Ultra USB-C was a file transfer test. I used a video file that was 2.36GB in size. Using the stopwatch function on my iPhone, I timed the transfer at 19.01 seconds. After converting the file size to MB, I calculated the transfer rate to be 124.1 Mb/s, which is in line with what I was seeing from the disk speed tests.
CONCLUSION
The WD My Passport Ultra USB-C is a solid hard drive for any user of USB-C compatible products. Not only does it have a stylish look to it, but it also functions exceptionally well. I believe that the investment in this product is well worth it. Even though it is still a mechanical hard drive, the cost difference between this drive and the SSD version is quite a lot (2TB My Passport SSD, $599.99 vs. 2TB My Passport Ultra USB-C $89.99). This hard drive is much more affordable and it does a great job as a backup drive.
NOTE: There is also a My Passport Ultra for Mac available. It’s designed to work with macOS out of the box without having to format it. That drive is available in 2TB and 4TB sizes, but is only available in silver.
For more information, visit wd.com.
Find WD on Facebook and Twitter.
Find WD on Facebook and Twitter.
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Related
Western Digital My Passport Ultra Portable Hard Drive
Pros
- Easy to travel with
- Available with high capacity storage
- Very stylish design
A stable, well-made hard drive that’s great for anyone to use.
I was first introduced to portable storage when I was in my early 20s (nearly 20 years ago now!). It was not exactly ‘portable’ by modern terms. It was an early LaCie dual drive enclosure that created a RAID. We used it to back up media projects and unfortunately, it failed on us at the most inopportune time. We immediately moved to the WD MyBook series hard drives and even though they were in their infancy, they never failed us. Ever since then, I’ve been sold on Western Digital and their products. Today, there are a lot more options from WD for portable storage including the Western Digital My Passport Ultra, which I’ve been fortunate to be testing out for the past couple of weeks.
DETAILS
The My Passport Ultra is a portable hard drive that is pocket-sized. Measuring 3.2”x 4.3”x 0.85”, the My Passport Ultra is very easy to carry around from place to place. It packs a lot of storage into a small package. There are four sizes — 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, and 4TB — and two colors — white/gold and black/gray — to choose from. The drive features USB 3.0 and is backward compatible with USB 2.0. In addition to being an easy-to-use, plug-n-play hard drive, the My Passport Ultra includes WD Discovery software integrated on the drive. This software allows you to connect to social media and cloud storage services like Dropbox and Google Drive as well as backup your files in a secure manner. The WD Security app provides 256-bit AED hardware encryption to keep your content private and secure. With it, you can set personalized passwords and activate encryption and data protection. The drive utilities that are also included, you can ensure that your drive is always in pristine health. It’s a very succinct package wrapped up in this one stylish hard drive.
PACKAGE INCLUDES
- My Passport Ultra hard drive
- USB 3.0 cable
- WD Discovery software for WD Backup, WD Security and WD Drive Utilities
- Quick install guide
USER EXPERIENCE
One of my favorite thing about this drive is that it’s ready to use out of the box. All you have to do is plug it in and start using it. Most of the time I’m a little annoyed by the pre-installed software on hard drives, but after using the WD apps, I was actually pretty impressed with how it rounds out the data storage package. I am running a MacBook Pro as my main computer. It’s a 2016 model so it’s only inputs are USB-C ports. I do use a docking station when I’m at my computer, but the USB ports are in the back so it’s a little hard to connect a drive at a moment’s notice. So, I connected to the WD My Passport Ultra using a USB-C Hub that I recommend everyone with a USB-C MacBook/MacBook Pro carry with them. I’ve thoroughly tested this particular USB-C Hub and noted that it’s connection does not cause any loss of speed for connected devices.
When plugged into my computer the hard drive mounts quickly. I did notice that Paragon NTFS for Mac detected the drive slower than the WD Utility App did. It showed up in the menu utility before it popped up on my desktop or the sidebar of my Finder window. To see how much available space was on the drive, I opened Disk Utility to get a profile on the drive. As it turns out, the drive is formatted as NTFS and even though more than 750MB is taken up with WD software packages, the drive still shows 4TB available space. I double checked this by getting info on the drive and reviewing the drive specs in Apple System Profiler.
When I test out a hard drive, I run a few tests on transfer speed, the endurance of the drive, and overall performance. Here are the results for the WD My Passport Ultra.
Endurance: With this being a mechanical hard drive, I was a little leery of leaving it plugged in or moving it around too much. I’ve had a lot of SSDs lately and have to admit I was a little out of practice with a mechanical drive. I didn’t handle it with kid gloves though. I plugged it into my laptop and let it sit idling while I wrote some articles. I believe I had it running for approximately 2 hours and even though I could feel the drives spinning furiously in the case, I didn’t detect any heat or noise coming from the drive itself. Leaving it plugged in and carrying my laptop — with the drive attached — didn’t seem to affect it’s performance either. The drive remained connected and steady as I moved from one room to another.
Data Transfer Speed: Given that the hard drive is compatible with USB 3.0, one should expect that the WD My Passport Ultra can maintain speeds up to 5gbps. I ran two separate tests on the hard drive — Blackmagic Disk Speed Test and AJA System Test Lite. They both ended up with very similar results as you can see in the screenshots included. A secondary test I ran for speed testing was to copy a file to the drive and time how long it takes. I selected an MP4 file that was 2.36GB in size. It copied to the hard drive in just under 20 seconds. This averages to a transfer rate of 118.2 MB/s, which was also in line with the speed test apps.
CONCLUSION
The WD My Passport Ultra hard drive is a great option for keeping storage available — even when you are traveling. I love its high capacity availability and portability. You do have to be a little cautious about how you travel with it since it’s a mechanical drive. I can recommend the WD My Passport Ultra to any type of user.
For more information, visit wdc.com.
Find WD on Facebook and Twitter.
Find WD on Facebook and Twitter.
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