Expert’s Rating
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Our Verdict
It ’s not the fastest SSD you could grease one’s palms for your Mac , but the Extreme Portable SSD is a full all - rounder at a free-enterprise price . Its rugged designing is great for out-of-door use , and it now provides up to 8 TB of reposition , making it a estimable choice for your time - automobile back - ups and put in big picture and picture file cabinet .
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We last looked at SanDisk ’s rugged Extreme Portable V2 way back in 2021 so it was certainly due for an update , and this latest manakin comes swaggering back with an even sturdier design and increased capacity that offers up to 8 TB of storage . It ’s dropped the variation number from the name , though , with SanDisk now but calling it the Extreme Portable SSD .
SanDisk ’s product gens can be a bit dodgy too , as the company has several portable solid - land drives that depend very interchangeable and have exchangeable name . There ’s a model call the Extreme Pro Portable that look identical and has a faster USB4 interface , but only offer a maximum of 4 TB storage . There ’s also a less expensive Portable SSD , which is competitively price but not especially tight , so you take to assure the name and technical details on Western Digital ’s website to make certain you consecrate the right model ( SanDisk is now owned by Western Digital , so its mathematical product are sell via WD ’s independent web site these day ) .
The external design has n’t changed much for this update either , stick with a perforate black case made out of Si that allow plenty of protection , and a hook for a lanyard so that you could strap it to your belt or back pack when you ’re out and about . We try the prominent 8 TB version of the drive , which is very slightly big than the previous model , measuring 9.6 mm thick , 52.5 mm wide and 100.8 millimetre long – liken to 8.9 x 52.4 x 100.5 – but it ’s still slight and fire up enough to easily drop off into your pocket when you ’re jaunt , and there are n’t many rival drive that provide that much storage in such a compact and portable excogitation .
Performance has n’t changed much either , as this Modern model use the same USB - century connector as its predecessor , with support for USB 3.2 ( Gen 2 ) . There ’s a USB - C cable include in the box , and SanDisk also throws in a USB - A adaptor for quondam computing machine as well . SanDisk quotes the same speed for this model too , at 1000MB / s and 1050MB / s for write and read performance respectively . And , unsurprisingly , our tests ground that the two driveway produce very like results when execute the Black Magic Disk stop number mental test , with the Extreme Portable reach 946MB / s for write execution and 910MB / s for read performance . That ca n’t match the performance of some of the quicker Thunderbolt drive that are now available , but it ’s still okay for cosmopolitan employment and Time Machine backups .
Take a look at thetop SSDs for Macthat we have tested .
The primary difference is that this update for 2025 is even tougher than before , now boasting an IP65 rating for resistance to weewee and detritus . This intend that it ’s seal closely to prevent insight of dust and other particles , and can withstand high - air pressure jets of water . It ’s not all water - trial impression though , so it ’ll be fine in the pelting , but you should avoid dropping it into rich bodies of water .
SanDisk also tell that the drive can hold out being set down from a top of 3 beat , and to back it up the society provides a full five - year warranty as well . And , as mentioned , this mannikin put up even more storage capacity too , starting at 1 GB and going justly up to 8 TB , so it will be a good choice for anyone that needs to stash away great , gamey - res pic or picture file on their MacBook when they ’re work outdoors . SanDisk also says that it has tested the Extreme Portable campaign to ensure that it ’s compatible with the iPhone 15 range as well , for mass who wish to shoot video recording on the move .
The crusade get pre - formatted using the cross - platform ExFat format , but it ’s easy toreformatit using Apple ’s Disk Utility on the Mac if you choose . SanDisk also includes its own Security app on the drive , which cater password - protection and 256 - fleck encryption for your significant files . We were also proud of to find that this 2025 exemplar is less expensive too , costing just $ 99.99/£94.99 for 1 TB of storage , and going up to $ 549.99/£538.99 for the 8 TB selection .
Should You Buy The SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD?
Professional user may opt a faster SSD that has a Thunderbolt user interface , but bolt of lightning driving do still incline to be pretty expensive . The military posture of the Extreme Portable SSD is that it provides good execution and high mental ability , along with an exceedingly uncompromising design that makes it ideal for outdoor exercise . Even best is the fact that it manage to do all that while still maintaining a competitive cost that will appeal to both professional and more insouciant users .