I understand. There's the right time, for such change-outs.

That's actually a pretty good price on your link.

The WD G drive mobile is $349 USD for a 1 tb. More expensive.

If price at this time is a concern (and we all have other priorities), perhaps go with a HHD external USB 3 drive. You could always keep it as your main backup later. Even a 2 to 4 Tbyte HHD drive is cheaper than a 1 Tbyte SSD. Make certain it is 7200 rpm though. Internal 7200 rpm HHD drives using PCI are still going to be faster, than the same 7200 rpm HHD through USB, so that is my point about keeping external HHD's as backup. It's just not going to be as robust. If your internal drive is 7200, I'd store, and save songs from there. I think I asked, but sorry if I forgot. Do you have an internal 5400, or 7200 rpm drive? If it's 5400, you almost have to go the SSD route for external use, and you just may want to look down the road for a faster computer (in the broad sense of power/price).

Since SSD drives are very competitive right now, there is no rock bottom pricing. The prices are faily similar. Another advantage of the SSD is shock resistance. It's pretty alien for us to think of drives as being shock proof, but the SSD drives within reason are.

Honestly, I'm not quite sure how to check what my internal drive is on this MacBook Pro. I only know what I posted earlier in the screenshot.

timalexander wroteHonestly, I'm not quite sure how to check what my internal drive is on this MacBook Pro. I only know what I posted earlier in the screenshot.

A mod who uses a Mac, or someone will chime in. Sorry I can't help there. I quoted your response for visibility. Let's find that out what those innards are. Also, going forward, you can post your specs in your signature (text them in). That way, you'll get fast response from fellow Mac users, or related hardware users. Look at some Mac user signatures to get an idea.

I've seen both drives utilized in a MacBook Pro, so someone will have to chime in, or Google how to view what the internal drives RPM speed is.

Going through Apple / About this Mac / System Report yields nothing with RPM details so far, including in SATA / SATA Express. From your specs I am assuming 5400 RPM.

Under the SATA/SATA Express selection you will find Rotational Rate. From your posted specs I would assume 5400 RPM.

Skip

I have done some digging around and have found put some information about Mac internal drive speeds. They used a 2.5 inch drive a lot which is definitely only 5400 rpm. Earlier models of MacBooks and 21" iMacs are running at this speed. A late 27" iMac however uses a 3.5 inch drive and do run at 7200rpm.

Not I can vouch for this because each term we do a 24 track multitrack recording of our music elective students. They have learned 10 songs by the time we do this. So at work for instance I am using a late model 27" iMac. This is a nice machine running Logic. It all works fine and I record to the one and only internal (3.5") drive. It handles it with ease. (Even after in a mix with heavy plugin loads it plays great) We use a Focusrite Clarett thunderbolt interface as the main audio hub in and out, I can do this even at under 2 mS latency. i.e. I monitor certain tracks live to a PA at the same time through the software with no delays anywhere. At the end I transfer over to an external drive (Mac and PC formatted) and put it on my machine at home to mix.

The Mac Pros use 7200 rpm but can have a 10,000 rpm drive installed. There is a new iMac Pro coming too. I suspect it will also be at 7200 rpm as well. With a possible 10,000 rpm upgrade. (not standard though) 7200 rpm is fine for most large track count sessions. I can play 200 or more tracks with ease.

They are recommending using SSD drives to replace slower internal Mac drives e.g. the 5400 rpm models would be more common in the earlier MacBooks and 21" iMacs. Not sure about late model MacBooks though. They would still be in the 2.5 inch category and hence I suspect sill at lower speeds. If the newer models come with an all SSD drive then that would be fine indeed.

I would still only be recording temporarily to any MacBook but then moving sessions onto a machine that has standard 7200 rpm speeds. PC based Towers are still good for putting in the drives you want. I feel it is just as important to have a separate drive for audio as well. I keep that drive mostly empty by archiving projects. You can defrag this drive too real quick. Playback will always be good with well de-fragged drives playing back large sessions.

A good thing to do is run the Disc Drive Utility on your own drive on your Mac, no matter what it is. You will get the details of the media model number of the exact internal drive you are running. You can look up the specs for that drive. My 21" iMac is running at 7200 rpm which is good to know. Mine is a 3.5" drive as well. I am a little surprised as I though the 27" iMac only got that size but obviously not.

Skip Jones wroteUnder the SATA/SATA Express selection you will find Rotational Rate. From your posted specs I would assume 5400 RPM.

Skip

Alas, there is no mention of Rotational Rate there.

Lokeyfly wroteIf it's 5400, you almost have to go the SSD route for external use, and you just may want to look down the road for a faster computer (in the broad sense of power/price).

Since SSD drives are very competitive right now, there is no rock bottom pricing. The prices are faily similar. Another advantage of the SSD is shock resistance. It's pretty alien for us to think of drives as being shock proof, but the SSD drives within reason are.

Given the above posts, I'll assume I have a 5400RPM internal. With that in mind, may I ask your recommendations? The computer is new and I bought specifically for music so I'd rather not replace that again.

You know, it may not be a bad idea, You could try a SSD 512 or even 256 for that matter, given the prices are quite good. Once you know things are stable, then opt for a larger drive. I'm pretty sure no matter what the feedback, you're going to have to take the plunge. Go for an SSD, for the simple fact that they are very much everywhere now. Plus the speed even with USB3, will be wonderful. Just backup, as I can't emphasise that enough. It's your data.

As for some external SSD drive, I've been happy with WD, and PNY for example. But you can't go wrong with a Samsung, Kingston, or any name brand.

So you think, either way, I'd need both an internal SSD & external?

Condensed.version of what I messaged you.


Since you have a potentially intermittent problem with not just your external drive, but USB port, or controller, it might be best to pick up a $40 smaller capacity drive/stick, play some songs, and see what those results are.
I'd hate to see you buy a SSD drive that's $300 only to find unwanted results via USB with the intermittent issue. Maybe it was only thar drive you had. Dunno.

Even a small capacity drive will tell you a lot. Some users simply pop in a memory stick, and have been very happy with the thru put. But I don't know how many tracks, they are recording.

SSD drives commonly have very high read/write times, and transfer rates.

I'll always recommend a backup. Always have. A routine might be twice the capacity drive as a HHD, alternating and not overwriting each successive backup.

Yes, I mentioned replacing your internal drive with an SSD drive, only you were hesitant to go that route. You'll want to reach out to a knowledgeable Mac user for that. That would eliminate external drive interrupts you were experiencing

Google how to proceed that way, if you wish,
Yeah, the general and most reliable concensus even overlooking this thread is go for an internal SSD.
If you can't swap the drive out (on your own), then perhaps add it internally. Again, investigate those choices with the MacBook pro.

OK thank you. I think it's safe to say the only problem is with my old external hard drive.

Please can anyone recommend any SSD 512 external hard drives that are 7200RPM and that is Thunderbolt connected? Is has been an absolutely minefield looking for the right one to get started and I'd really appreciate any more help with this so I can start.

A friend has offered me a what he thinks is an Apple AirPort Time Capsule - 3TB (2011 version). However, I suspect this will only be useful for back ups.

Can anyone can recommend any SSD 512 external hard drives that are Thunderbolt connected?

Only one comes up in a Newegg search...
https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductL ... 0601286604

The only reason I was asking for External was that I was scared to open up my MacBook.

I've just seen how you can have Internal SSD with an enclosure so can be outside my laptop. I'll be interested in doing this - does anyone has any suggestions or recommend any Internal SSDs/Enclosure combinations that would work for me?

Again, this makes me wonder - would it have to be a Thunderbolt enclosure or would that not make a difference to the speed of the SSD?

All I want is for the sample libraries to run super smoothly and not have any problems loading for use with my Komplete plugins.

Would anyone recommend the Samsung 850 PRO 512 GB 2.5 inch SATA III Solid State Drive?

If so, what enclosure would it need if I'm keeping it outside my laptop?