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Tom’s Guide
Tom’s Guide
Technology
Jacob York

This portable drive is the culmination of 20 years of storage advancement

The Western Digital Emerald Anniversary My Passport.

It's hard to describe to people who weren't there how it felt to experience the quick advance of technology in the 90s. It's most clear to me in the evolution of digital storage. I remember getting my first real desktop computer in middle school. As we were setting it up, my dad turned to me and said, "Do you know how big the hard drive is? A gig. We'll never fill it up."

Back then, I had a hard time imagining how much of my life would end up on the computer. You know who didn't have a hard time imagining it? Western Digital. One of my first portable hard drives was the WD® My Passport® Portable Drive, and it has remained a constant companion for people like me who take their data security seriously. Now that we've reached the 20th anniversary of the My Passport, Western Digital is celebrating with the emerald-green My Passport Ultra, 20th Anniversary Edition. It doesn't just look good, though. Like every Western Digital drive, it'll quickly become an irreplaceable part of your daily digital life.

(Image credit: Western Digital)

As easy as plugging it in

The My Passport was originally launched in November 2004, and since then, Western Digital has sold approximately 130 million of them.1 That's about 180 exabytes of data.1 You don't get to a number like that without having the two basic things everyone wants from their portable hard drives: lots of storage and ease of use.

The 20th Anniversary Edition comes in two sizes: 2TB and 6TB2. Either would be absolutely mind-boggling to that middle schooler who was blown away by the 1GB hard drive in their computer, but today, they're still capable of reliably storing a vast amount of videos, photos, music, and documents. Need a place to store files for a movie you're editing? Want to back up your thousands of vacation pictures to free up phone space? Moving your old collection of 2007-era MP3s to a new computer for the fifth time? This drive has the space to accommodate any of those.

Not only does it have plenty of space, but it's reliable and ready to use out of the box with a variety of devices. It offers seamless compatibility with all sorts of USB-C devices — including both Windows® and Mac computers — mobile phones, tablets, and more. An adapter is also included for devices with USB-A ports. It doesn't get easier than plugging it in.

(Image credit: Western Digital)

Portable peace of mind

Getting a portable hard drive isn't worth much if you can't take it out into the world with peace of mind. The My Passport Ultra offers a durable, anodized metal casing in a sleek emerald finish. Along with the 3-year limited warranty3, you can confidently take your data with you.

This drive also includes Acronis® True Image for Western Digital to make it easier to schedule your backups and help protect your data against ransomware attacks.4 That's in addition to the 256-bit AES hardware encryption and password protection that helps ensure your private files stay private.

That's all about the inside of the drive, though. You can rest easy knowing that the drive’s enclosure is made with over 50% post-consumer recycled plastic and the packaging carton is made with over 50% post-consumer recycled pulp and fully recyclable. Helping protect your data while helping protect the environment is a win-win.

1 - Based on internal estimates.

2 - 1TB = 1 trillion bytes. Actual user capacity may be less depending on operating environment.

3 - The term of the limited warranty depends on the country in which the product was purchased. Visit our website at http://support.wdc.com/warranty/policy.asp for the detailed terms and conditions of our limited warranty and for a list of the specific countries in these regions.

4 - Available for Windows 10+ and macOS 11+ devices only. Download and installation required. Terms and conditions apply. User account registration may be required.

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