Prime Day: Add more storage to your Mac with these external SSD deals

Storage is always a problem for computer users, and it's especially true for the Mac. Since Apple makes it impossible to upgrade the internal storage of a Mac or MacBook, excluding the Mac Pro, you're going to have to look at external storage options if you want more space.

Handily, there's a lot of external drives available, all connecting over USB-C or Thunderbolt, enabling fast access to files stored on them.

With Prime Day sales underway, there's no better time to bite the bullet and pick up an external SSD or two. In many cases, you will need to be a Prime member to benefit from the savings, so be aware when checking out listings.

Here is a selection of some of the great offers available on Amazon this Tuesday, to bulk up your Mac's storage.

Crucial X6 and X8

The Crucial X6 4TB Portable SSD is a compact square device that's also light, with its weight less than a set of car keys. While small, it's also more than capable of dealing with most people's storage needs, both in capacity and speed.

Offering read speeds of up to 800MB/s, it also offers shock, vibration, and temperature resistance, and can even survive a 6.5-foot drop.

While it's available in capacities starting from 500GB, we recommend the 4TB model at $169.99, a saving of 62%.

The Crucial X8 2TB Portable SSD is available if you need more speed. With a durable design featuring an anodized aluminum core, it too is shock, vibration, and temperature proof, and can handle a 7.5-foot drop.

Storage capacities range between 1TB and 4TB, but our pick is the 2TB at $91.99, saving you 58%.

Samsung T7 and T7 Shield

As essential storage options go, the Samsung T7 Portable External SSD is hard to beat. Light and pocket-sized, it's housed in a sleek aluminum unibody construction, providing 6-foot fall protection and helping it stay cool.

It's also fast with read and write speeds of up to 1,050MB/s and 1,000MB/s respectively, making it great as a drive for creatives to work from.

Offered in a variety of colors, you can pick up 500GB and 2TB versions, but we would suggest the 1TB capacity, which you can get for $69.99. That's a 50% saving from the list price.

If you need more durability from your storage, the T7 Shield offers just that. Built with a rubber exterior that can also control heat, the storage is also rated to IP65 for dust and water resistance.

Available in capacities up to 4TB, we recommend the 1TB model that costs $74.99, down 53%.

SanDisk Extreme and SanDisk Professional Pro-G40

The SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD is a well-known model for those who need storage while on the move. Featuring a rubberized construction with IP65 water and dust resistance, the design includes a carabiner loop, allowing you to hook it onto things like a keyring.

Packing NVMe storage, it's also fast at up to 1,050MB/s for read speeds, 1,000MB/s for write speeds.

Offered in capacities up to 4TB, the best deal is the 2TB model, which you can get for 27% off at $109.99.

The SanDisk Professional Pro-G40 is the option if speed is important. The drive offers read speeds of up to 2,700MB/s and 1,900MB/s writes when connected to Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4, allowing you to move up to 50GB in a minute or less.

It's packaged in a rugged case with IP68 water and dust resistance, 3 meters of drop resistance, and a 4,000-pound crush resistance.

While you can get it up to 4TB in capacity, our recommendation is the 1TB model for $159.99, available at 47% off.

WD Elements SE and WD_Black

The WD Elements SE is a portable SSD with a compact, drop-resistant design. Connecting over USB 3.0, it offers essential storage capacities of 1TB or 2TB, with read speeds of up to 400MB/s.

Our recommendation is the 2TB model, which is down 9% to $99.99.

The WD_Black P40 Game Drive SSD is marketed for gaming purposes, especially to console owners, but it can be used far beyond that purpose. Not only will it work with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X or S, it can work with Macs and PCs.

Using a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 interface, the drive can handle read speeds of up to 2,000MB/s. It's housed in a shock-resistant casing, and if you connect it up to a Windows PC, you can customize its RGB lighting.

Available in capacities between 500GB and 2TB, our selection is the 1TB model, priced at $104.99 which is 42% below the list price.