Mac Drive-to-Drive Transfer Question

December 21, 2019 5:22 PM

I have a mid-2015 Macbook Pro. My external drives get crap transfer speeds when connected to a quality powered USB 3.0 hub. If I need to move TBs of data between drives, is there an alternative to removing external monitor, keyboard, mouse, and Time Machine drive in order to free up both my Mac's two USB ports so I can directly plug the external drives?
posted by Quisp Lover to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

Are both drives connected to the hub? What happens if you leave one drive plugged into the hub, and attach the other one directly to the computer?
posted by kickingtheground at 5:43 PM on December 21, 2019

Best answer: What kind of throughput are you getting? What kind of throughput are you expecting?

You might look into using Thunderbolt drive enclosures. You could use a Thunderbolt 2 drive dock, the kind that you can just drop a bare SATA drive into. Or you could use a Thunderbolt 2 dock with the correct array of ports for whatever external drives you have (USB 3, Thunderbolt, etc).
posted by bcwinters at 6:08 PM on December 21, 2019

Response by poster: Getting 70 to 80mb/sec plugged into USB hub, 190mb/sec direct, one at a time. Both in hub = 30-40mb/sec
posted by Quisp Lover at 6:51 PM on December 21, 2019

What kind of hub do you have? Something marketed as USB 3.0 doesn't mean it achieves 3.0 speeds, only that it meets the technical standards necessary.
posted by ardgedee at 5:05 AM on December 22, 2019

Response by poster: I like the dock idea. It would free up ALL my Macbook Pro's USB slots, give me great transfer feed to/between external drives, and I could sell my audio interface (because I'd have Audio In via the dock).

Problem is 1. pricey, 2. out of stock, 3. future incompatibility
posted by Quisp Lover at 8:03 AM on December 22, 2019