External recording turned the iPhone into a real video camera; the cable to a pocketed SSD has been the clumsy part. The Lexar Professional Go is a thumb-sized portable SSD that plugs directly into the iPhone's USB-C port and stays there, 13 grams and no cable at all.
It comes in 1TB and 2TB, in Silver or Black. Lexar rates it at 1050MB/s reads and 1000MB/s writes over USB 3.2 Gen 2. The casing is IP65-rated and takes a 1-meter drop. In the box: a silicone bumper, a strap, label stickers, and a U-shaped USB-C adapter that flips the drive around to lie flat against the phone's back.
AppleInsider's Malcolm Owen scored it 4.5 out of 5, shot 4K60 ProRes with throughput well past the 220MB/s floor Apple sets for external recording, and called it "certainly worth it if you're serious about the craft." StorageReview's Lyle Smith clocked 976MB/s reads in the Blackmagic disk test and landed on "a compelling choice for mobile creators."
What works
- Plugs straight into the USB-C port, nothing to mount and no cable to snag
- Holds 4K60 ProRes with headroom past Apple's 220MB/s requirement, per AppleInsider's testing
- IP65 body with a silicone bumper in the box
What to know
- Runs noticeably warm on sustained takes, per AppleInsider
- A thick case crowds the connector; AppleInsider found the clearance wants a thin one
- The drop rating is 1 meter, against 3 meters for Lexar's own magnetic ES5
The same drive also sells bundled with a four-port USB-C hub that mounts the whole rig on the phone and feeds a microphone, a light, and up to 30W of passthrough charging while recording. StorageReview's main gripe with that version is the missing locking mechanism between hub and phone. AppleInsider found the hub a poor fit for Macs as well, so the bundle makes sense only as an iPhone rig. For plain storage duty, the bare drive is the saner buy.
ProRes recording from the Camera app starts with the iPhone 15 Pro, so iPhoners on older models are limited to using it as a plain pocket drive. It reads the same on Macs, Windows, and Android, and the warranty runs five years either way.
