Transcend announces a new version of its JetDrive Lite, these shortened SD cards designed to be positioned on a MacBook Pro without protruding. The idea was to add permanent storage to a portable Mac without having an SSD dangling from the end of a USB-C cable. Once attached the device is barely noticeable and if you don’t need the SD card reader then this is a good option.
Transcend JetDrive and JetDrive Lite Review
This product has been around for years, but it’s also officially compatible with the latest MacBook Pro, M1 Pro, and M1 Max-based models released last fall. A more generous variant has been added to the range as it adds 1TB of storage space to Macs.
It becomes convenient to store large files in bulk, but keep in mind that in the age of SSDs, this storage is very slow. Transcend still communicates at the same speeds as the rest of the range, namely up to 95 Mb/s reading and 75 Mb/s writing. It’s not much, but it’s enough for storing documents or for applications that don’t require quick access.
The set is clever, but Transcend is charging a steep price: 212 euros for the 1TB version. If you think that the 2TB Samsung T7 is currently cheaper, that makes you think. While it takes up more space, it remains easily portable with a Mac. And it offers twice the capacity and ten times the performance: up to 1 GB/s reading and writing are the order of the day.