If you do have more than one drive (such as an external drive), you can navigate to FILE > SELECT TARGET DRIVE to choose which one you would like to test, and how strenuously. If you only have one hard drive (if you’re not sure, then you probably just have one), all you have to do is hit “START” since the program only has one window. Blackmagic Disk Speed Testįirst, you’ll need to download BlackMagic from the Mac App Store (it’s completely free!). Two of the most popular are BlackMagic and NovaBench, so we’ll show you how to use both.įor context, most modern hard drives have read speeds averaging 120 Mbps and write at 128 Mbps. To test your HDD, you’re going to need a third-party program, since this functionality isn’t built into macOS. Knowing your hard drive speed can also help you determine if you’ll be able to run certain programs (such as heavy creative software) effectively or if you don’t have the necessary read and write speeds. The data you get by testing will provide a standard to measure customizations such as added extra RAM or drive replacements against, and will also tell you if you need an upgrade in the immediate future.
Measuring your hard drive speed is one of the easiest and most effective ways to benchmark your MacBook.
