Best NAS for Mac in 2023

Apple ships its Mac desktop and laptop computers with a choice of storage capacities, but these can prove costly when configuring your dream PC. When packing your Mac full of data, it may not take long before you begin to run out of available space. This is where network-attached storage (NAS) can help alleviate the problem by taking your data off the Mac and onto a network drive. An added bonus of the best NAS enclosures is the ability to run apps and services all while allowing you to access your files from anywhere in the world.

Our favorite NAS for Macs in 2023

Synology DiskStation DS224+

Best overall

One of our all-time favorite NAS

The Synology DiskStation DS224+ is the direct successor to the popular DS220+, which was praised for the value it offered to consumers looking to buy their first enclosure. The DS224+ has an Intel Celeron processor, 2GB of DDR4 RAM, and support for Synology’s excellent DSM operating system and catalog of apps.

Pros

• Excellent OS
• Easy to set up and use
• Supports up to 40TB

Cons

• Limited connectivity
• No expansion support
• Tough competition

The Synology DiskStation DS224+ is all you require if the plan is to expand the amount of storage space your Mac has access to. Two drive bays can be populated with up to one 20TB hard drive each, resulting in a maximum capacity of 40TB before taking into account RAID (more on that later). Powering this enclosure is an Intel Celeron, a quad-core processor with a maximum burst speed of 2.7 GHz. It’s not quite as potent as what you’d find in a Mac but the NAS is tasked with storing data and running a few apps, so not much computing power is needed.

What makes Synology NAS a popular choice for many is the easy-to-use operating system called DiskStation Manager (DSM). The installation process takes a few minutes and a wizard will happily run through the configuration of disks, setting up an account, and ensuring the latest version of the OS is downloaded and installed. Once up and running, the Synology DiskStation DS224+ truly shines with how responsive the NAS is. From transferring files across the network to running your own media server, this server can do it all.

It’s not all good news for the Diskstation DS224+. You cannot add to the two drive bays through the addition of an expansion unit. This means 40TB of storage is all you’ll be able to achieve without purchasing a larger enclosure. Then there’s the lack of any M.2 NVMe SSD slots for speedy storage or caching. The two 1GbE ports on the rear of the DS224+ are good enough for most home networks and what this NAS is designed for, but we’re seeing competitor two-bay NAS priced similarly with 2.5GbE connections.

Source: TerraMaster

TerraMaster F2-223

Runner-up

A DS224+ alternative with better specs

TerraMaster’s F2-223 is an affordable NAS enclosure with some beefy specs, including an Intel Celeron processor, upgradable DDR4 RAM, M.2 slots, 2.5GbE networking, and a decent operating system. It’s ideal for storing data and running some more demanding apps.

Pros

• Great value
• 2.5GbE networking and M.2 slots
• Supports up to 40TB

Cons

• OS is somewhat rough
• Fewer apps available
• HDMI port cannot be used for media

Speaking of value, the TerraMaster F2-223 is a direct competitor to the Synology DiskStation DS224+. It also has two drive bays and a maximum storage capacity of 40TB. TerraMaster designs its enclosures differently from the rest of the competition and uses an aluminum design language across its NAS range. They look great and this F2-223 has similar dimensions and specifications to our top Synology pick, though you’ll notice a few upgrades here over the DS224+.

The Intel Celeron N4505 processor has two physical cores, which is half of what Synology offers with its NAS, but these cores are capable of bursting all the way up to 2.9 GHz. While the F2-223 won’t be able to do as much as the DS224+ simultaneously, it still has enough raw performance to brute force its way through heavier tasks, making it a great choice for running Plex Media Server and transcoding 4K media. TerraMaster managed to include two M.2 NVMe SSD slots for improving overall system performance through caching.

Then there’s the rear of the TerraMaster F2-223, which happens to be an improvement over Synology’s DS224+. This NAS has two 2.5GbE connections, a considerable upgrade over the two 1GbE ports on the DS224+. There’s even an HDMI port, but this is more of a tease since you cannot use it for direct playback to the big screen. The TerraMaster TOS operating system is pretty good to get up and running, but there are fewer apps available for download compared to Synology’s DSM. It’s more affordable with better specs, but a slightly less user-friendly experience.

Source: Synology

Synology DiskStation DS223j

Best budget

A great entry point for storing some backups

The Synology DiskStation DS223j is an affordable entry point for those looking to buy their very first NAS enclosure. It has an ARM processor, two drive bays and some ports to hook it up to your network.

Pros

• Affordable
• Supports up to 40TB
• Access to Synology’s DSM OS

Cons

• Limited connectivity
• No RAM upgrades
• ARM CPU

We’re now moving into more affordable territory with the Synology DiskStation DS223j. This is one of the most affordable NAS the company offers. Costing less than $200, the DiskStation DS223 allows those on tighter budgets access to the best-in-class DSM operating system. The same collection of apps and services are available, though you won’t be able to run heavier tasks on this enclosure due to the ARM processor, which falls short of Intel chips used in more expensive NAS.

There’s also only 1GB of RAM and this cannot be expanded. The DS223j does have two drive bays for a maximum capacity of up to 40TB and a single 1GbE port on the rear is good enough for most home networks. This NAS is positioned as a budget-friendly choice for those who only have to store a few files or backups. Whether you’re bunkered down in a dorm doing classwork or need somewhere to stash some files on the network, the DS223j is a great NAS for the job.

Source: QNAP

QNAP TS-464

Best for Plex

Own music and movies? Create your own media server!

QNAP’s TS-464 is an impressive four-bay NAS with a striking design, powerful internal specs, and IR support for a remote control. If you’re seeking the best-equipped NAS for running Plex (or other media solutions) without spending a small fortune, this is the NAS for you.

Pros

• Excellent CPU for 4K transcoding
• HDMI for direct TV connection
• Supports up to 80TB

If you’re planning to offload data from your Mac and create your own media streaming service, look no further than the QNAP TS-464. An Intel Celeron N5095 powers the enclosure and is capable of handling multiple streams of 4K media with transcoding fully supported. The four drive bays can hold up to 80TB, which should be more than enough for most media collections. Two M.2 slots are at hand for expanding the storage pool with speedier SSDs or to improve NAS performance with data caching.

An HDMI port is available on the rear of the QNAP TS-464 and unlike TerraMaster’s NAS, QNAP made it so this port can actually be used for direct playback of media to a TV. This negates the need for transcoding, freeing up valuable resources on the NAS for performing other tasks or reducing power consumption. Two 2.5GbE connections ensure there’s enough bandwidth for busier households and small offices, making the QNAP TS-464 a great NAS for storing a lot of data and accessing it from multiple locations.

Source: TerraMaster

TerraMaster F4-423

Best value

A NAS with a great mix of features for the price

The TerraMaster F4-423 is an affordable yet powerful four-bay enclosure with an Intel processor, upgradable RAM, M.2 slots, and a decent OS for running all the available apps and services.

Pros

• Supports up to 80TB
• Great value with 2.5GbE networking
• Intel CPU for 4K transcoding

Cons

• Slightly rougher OS UX
• HDMI port cannot be used for media

I’m a massive fan of the TerraMaster F4-423 due to how much value the company managed to pack inside the four-bay enclosure. As well as supporting up to 80TB of data, TerraMaster installed the Intel Celeron N5095 processor, which makes this a compelling choice for those looking for a Plex NAS on a budget. Then there’s the 4GB of RAM, which TerraMaster supports expanding up to a whopping 32 GB. That’s likely more than what your Mac has right now.

A total of two M.2 NVMe SSD slots are available inside the NAS for enabling caching, which can have a positive impact on the performance of the disk array. Two 2.5GbE networking connections are available on the rear for excellent bandwidth at busier households or offices. For $500, there’s enough tech included with the TerraMaster F4-423 to create a powerful central server for handling data storage, backups, surveillance, media, and more.

TerraMaster has invested time and resources into further developing its TOS operating system and while it has come a long way over recent years, it still falls short of what’s offered by Synology, Asustor, and QNAP. There’s also an issue with app selection, with it being a little on the low side. This can be solved through the manual installation of community-developed apps, but it would be good to see TerraMaster address this problem in-house.

Source: Asustor

Asustor Nimbustor 2 Gen2 (AS5402T)

Best for content creators

Get more work done with super-fast storage

The Asustor Nimbustor 2 Gen2 (AS5402T) replaced the older Nimbustor which was a good pick for content creators on a budget. This new enclosure is even better with a capable Intel CPU, expandable RAM, four M.2 slots, support for two expansion units, and a few high-speed ports for good measure.

Pros

• Great Intel CPU
• Speedy networking and ports
• Full creator app support

The Asustor Nimbustor 2 Gen2 (AS5402T) is a NAS designed with content creators in mind. Not only is it packaged inside a sleek chassis, but it’s powered by an Intel Celeron N5105 processor with four physical cores. 4 GB of DDR4 RAM is present for storing lots of data and providing rapid access. What really sets this NAS apart from the competition is the inclusion of not two but four M.2 NVMe SSD slots. These can be used for expanding the storage pool with fast drives or enabling data caching.

Asustor allows for two AS6004U expansion units to be connected to the AS5402T to bring the total number of bays up to 10 from just 2. This alone makes the NAS incredibly versatile, depending on your immediate storage requirements. Then there are the two 2.5GbE connections on the rear of the enclosure and a dedicated HDMI port that can be used for directly streaming media to a TV. It’s just a shame there’s no option for installing a 10GbE NIC as an upgrade.

Source: QNAP

QNAP TVS-872XT-i5-16G

Best performance

The NAS to buy if you work with larger media files

The QNAP TVS-872XT-i5-16G is an impressive eight-bay NAS with a desktop-class Intel Core i5 processor, up to 32GB of RAM, 10GbE networking, and Thunderbolt 3 for good measure. It’s great for content creators who require high-capacity storage and bandwidth to work with various apps.

Pros

• Impressive performance
• High-speed 10GbE networking
• Supports up to 160TB

The QNAP TVS-872XT-i5 is a serious NAS. In fact, this enclosure has more power than some desktop computers and that’s because QNAP went all-out with installing a desktop-class Intel Core processor inside the chassis. The Intel Core i5-8400T is a few generations old at this point, but it’s considerably more powerful than Celeron chips frequently found inside NAS. With six cores available that can hit speeds of up to 3.3 GHz, the TVS-872XT-i5 is a NAS designed for heavier use.

16 GB of DDR4 RAM is installed by QNAP and this can be expanded up to 32 GB. Eight drive bays are available with a maximum capacity of 160TB. Two M.2 NVMe slots are also at hand for improving the overall performance of the NAS disk array and two PCI expansion slots can be used for installing aftermarket cards. QNAP ensured enough network bandwidth is available by default with a single 10GbE port on the rear, and this is joined by two Thunderbolt 3 ports, two USB-C 3.2 ports, and three USB-A ports.

It’s the most expensive NAS in our collection and is reserved for more enthusiast use. Think virtualization, file storage with big data, surveillance footage recording, and media streaming.

Source: TerraMaster

TerraMaster TD2 Thunderbolt 3

Best DAS

The best choice for direct storage access

The TerraMaster TD2 Thunderbolt 3 is a compact DAS with support for two 3.5-inch drives and high-speed Thunderbolt connections for use with a Windows PC or Mac. Transfer speeds are rated to reach 760MB/s, making this a good alternative to a NAS when only one or two devices need access to the stored data.

Pros

• Speedy data transfer between Mac and DAS
• Perfect for single-device use
• Good value with RAID support

Cons

• Limited device access
• Cannot install and run apps
• Only works through Thunderbolt 3

Direct-attached storage (DAS) behaves slightly differently from a NAS in that the network is not involved when connecting to the enclosure and transferring data. Instead of using network cables, all that’s required with a DAS is a single USB cable. This makes it easier for a DAS to quickly be set up without needing to install an OS or manage yet another system, but it limits what can be done on the enclosure. A DAS such as the TerraMaster TD2 Thunderbolt 3 can only be used for storing data.

This DAS shares the same design language as TerraMaster NAS, making it difficult to spot the difference for an untrained eye (the carry handle gives it away). Designed for portability, the TD2 Thunderbolt 3 offers rapid transfer rates with two Thunderbolt 3 ports on the rear of the DAS. It supports a few RAID configurations too, including RAID 0, RAID 1, and JBOD. We’d recommend using at least RAID 1 unless the data that is to be stored on this DAS is also saved elsewhere for safekeeping.

Source: Asustor

Asustor Flashstor 6 FS6706T

Best for SSDs

Put all those old NVMe SSDs to good use

The Asustor Flashstor 6 FS6706T is an SSD-only NAS with six M.2 bays for NVMe drives. This is designed with reliability in mind, as well as lower operating costs and less heat and vibrations generated by the SSDs. Need a NAS without all the spinning motors? This is the one to get.

Pros

• Six NVMe SSD bays
• Intel CPU for 4K transcoding
• Good port selection and support for expansion units

Cons

• Bandwidth limited by CPU
• Needs a 10GbE port
• Not completely silent

If you’re tired of using mechanical hard drives and enjoy the flash-only lifestyle offered by Apple with its Macs and other hardware, Asustor has the NAS for you. The Asustor Flashstor 6 (AS6706T) is a powerful NAS with six M.2 NVMe SSD slots. There’s not a single 3.5-inch drive bay present here, which allowed the company to have a little fun with the design of the AS6706T. It resembles almost nothing of a traditional NAS tower, instead looking more like a set-top box or old PlayStation console.

Asustor designed this NAS in such a way as to make it a more attractive option for those wanting to install network-connected storage in the living room. Running multiple hard drives inside a NAS enclosure can cause a fair amount of vibration and noise from the spinning motors, which the Flashstor 6 (AS6706T) also eliminates through the exclusive use of NVMe flash storage. This also makes using this NAS far more expensive, as NVMe drives can easily cost $300 or more for higher capacities.

Asustor did bear this in mind while designing the Flashstor 6 (AS6706T) and full support for up to two six-bay expansion units (with hard drive bays) is present. The processor is good enough for handling 4K transcoding through Plex and just about any other task you can think of running on such a NAS, but it will fall short of allowing all six NVMe SSDs to run at full-rated speeds. The two 2.5GbE ports may also cause a bottleneck if you manage to fully saturate disk bandwidth. Overlooking these minor complaints, the Asustor Flashstor 6 (AS6706T) is a great SSD-only NAS.

Source: TerraMaster

TerraMaster T12-423

Best capacity

Store up to 240TB of data on this NAS!

The TerraMaster T12-423 is a tower enclosure with a huge selection of bays. The 12 bays will handle up to 240TB of capacity, allowing for some serious data to be stored and made available across the network. Working with big data? This is the NAS for you.

What if you have a lot of data to store? I’m talking more than 100TB. If that’s the case, we’d recommend looking at TerraMaster’s T series of NAS enclosures. Our pick for the best capacity goes to the TerraMaster T12-423 with its impressive 12-drive bay array. This allows the NAS to support up to 240TB of stored data, though one should be prepared for the high cost of fully populating this NAS with 12 20TB NAS drives. If you’re serious about storing data on a larger scale, this is a good NAS to go for.

8GB of DDR4 RAM is included from TerraMaster and this can be expanded to 32GB. The Intel Celeron N5095 is perfect for running the TOS operating system and facilitating the connection of multiple Macs and other devices. Two 2.5GbE connections are located on the rear of the NAS and a single M.2 NVMe SSD slot can be used to improve overall NAS performance with the sheer volume of data. Like other TerraMaster NAS, don’t look too much into the HDMI port as it’s not a useful addition to the enclosure.

Choosing the best NAS for your Mac

Picking the best NAS for your Mac starts with planning how much capacity will be required. Each drive bay can usually support a hard drive of up to 20TB (if not higher). Simply multiply 20TB by the number of available bays, and you’ll work out the capacity of the enclosure. Some NAS support the connection of expansion units, which can bolster the number of available bays. We also factor in the specifications to ensure the enclosure will have ample computing power to keep up with the demands of a few connections.

Our favorite NAS right now is the impressive Synology DiskStation DS224+ with its two drive bays, good Intel CPU, and excellent DiskStation Manager (DSM) operating system. This is an ideal choice for those who don’t have too much data to store away and won’t be overloading the NAS with numerous users. It’s limited by the lack of expansion support, so once you run out of space, you’ll need a new NAS. Require more than 40TB of capacity? The TerraMaster F4-423 is our pick for best value NAS with four drive bays and expansion support. It’s a beast!

Synology DiskStation DS224+

Best overall

The best overall NAS for Mac

The Synology DiskStation DS224+ is the direct successor to the popular DS220+, which was praised for the value it offered to consumers looking to buy their first enclosure. The DS224+ has an Intel Celeron processor, 2GB of DDR4 RAM, and support for Synology’s excellent DSM operating system and catalog of apps.

FAQ

Q: What is RAID and why should I use it?

A redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID) is a configuration of drives into a storage pool with redundancies in place. How this is achieved through the reservation of space across the drives for data to be stored in the event of a drive failure. Should a disk need to be replaced, the RAID can repair itself using backup data. The downside to using RAID is the lower capacity of the NAS but it’s worth considering for data protection.