At a glance
Expert's Rating
Pros
- Rugged design
- Competitive price
- Good performance
- USB-C interface, with USB-A adaptor included
Cons
- No Thunderbolt support
- Not completely water-resistant
Our Verdict
It’s not the fastest SSD you can buy for your Mac, but the Extreme Portable SSD is a good all-rounder at a competitive price. Its rugged design is great for outdoor use, and it now provides up to 8TB of storage, making it a good option for your time-machine back-ups and storing large photos and video files.
Price When Reviewed
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Best Pricing Today
Best Prices Today: Sandisk Extreme Portable SSD (2025)
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 model comes swaggering back with an even sturdier design and increased capacity that offers up to 8TB of storage. It’s dropped the version number from the name, though, with SanDisk now simply calling it the Extreme Portable SSD.
SanDisk’s product names can be a bit tricky too, as the company has several portable solid-state drives that look very similar and have similar names. There’s a model called the Extreme Pro Portable that looks identical and has a faster USB4 interface, but only offers a maximum of 4TB storage. There’s also a less expensive Portable SSD, which is competitively priced but not particularly fast, so you need to check the name and technical details on Western Digital’s website to make sure you order the correct model (SanDisk is now owned by Western Digital, so its products are sold via WD’s main website these days).
The external design hasn’t changed much for this update either, sticking with a perforated black case made out of silicon that provides plenty of protection, and a hook for a lanyard so that you can strap it to your belt or backpack when you’re out and about. We tested the largest 8TB version of the drive, which is very slightly larger than the previous model, measuring 9.6mm thick, 52.5mm wide and 100.8mm long – compared to 8.9 x 52.4 x 100.5 – but it’s still slim and light enough to easily slip into your pocket when you’re travelling, and there aren’t many rival drives that provide that much storage in such a compact and portable design.
Performance hasn’t changed much either, as this new model uses the same USB-C connector as its predecessor, with support for USB 3.2 (Gen 2). There’s a USB-C cable included in the box, and SanDisk also throws in a USB-A adaptor for older computers 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 found that the two drives produce very similar results when running the Black Magic Disk speed test, with the Extreme Portable reaching 946MB/s for write performance and 910MB/s for read performance. That can’t match the performance of some of the faster Thunderbolt drives that are now available, but it’s still fine for general use and Time Machine backups.
Take a look at the top SSDs for Mac that we have tested.
The main difference is that this update for 2025 is even tougher than before, now boasting an IP65 rating for resistance to water and dust. This means that it’s sealed tight to prevent penetration of dust and other particles, and can withstand high-pressure jets of water. It’s not completely water-proof though, so it’ll be fine in the rain, but you should avoid dropping it into deep bodies of water.
SanDisk also states that the drive can withstand being dropped from a height of 3 meters, and to back it up the company provides a full five-year warranty as well. And, as mentioned, this model provides even more storage capacity too, starting at 1GB and going right up to 8TB, so it will be a good option for anyone that needs to store large, high-res photo or video files on their MacBook when they’re working outdoors. SanDisk also says that it has tested the Extreme Portable drive to ensure that it’s compatible with the iPhone 15 range as well, for people who like to shoot video on the move.
The drive arrived pre-formatted using the cross-platform ExFat format, but it’s easy to reformat it using Apple’s Disk Utility on the Mac if you prefer. SanDisk also includes its own Security app on the drive, which provides password-protection and 256-bit encryption for your important files. We were also pleased to find that this 2025 model is less expensive too, costing just $99.99/£94.99 for 1TB of storage, and going up to $549.99/£538.99 for the 8TB option.
Should You Buy The SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD?
Professional users may prefer a faster SSD that has a Thunderbolt interface, but Thunderbolt drives do still tend to be pretty expensive. The strength of the Extreme Portable SSD is that it provides good performance and high capacity, along with an extremely sturdy design that makes it ideal for outdoor use. Even better is the fact that it manages to do all that while still maintaining a competitive price that will appeal to both professional and more casual users.
Best Prices Today: Sandisk Extreme Portable SSD (2025)
Author: Cliff Joseph, Contributor, Macworld
Cliff Joseph is a former editor of MacUser magazine and a freelance editor with 30(ish) years experience of Mac and PC technology. He first used a Mac working as a magazine sub-editor and found it so much better than using scissors and a pot of glue to make the words fit on the page that he become a convert to the Mac overnight. He has spent the rest of his career following the ups and downs of Apple (and is old enough to remember the time Apple came close to going bust). Cliff writes many of MacWorld’s games reviews - and is currently exploring options for getting Diablo IV to run on a Mac…