Open Radar

 
Summary:
macOS does not provide S.M.A.R.T. health and status information for external USB drives. FreeBSD, Linux and Windows do.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Open Disk Utility
2. Select USB HDD
3. Show Information

Expected Results:
Disk Utility shows S.M.A.R.T. information about the selected USB HDD.

Actual Results:
Disk Utility does not support S.M.A.R.T information, supposedly because the USB stack doesn't support it.

Regression:
It always occurs.

Notes:
Today, Apple no longer ships any Mac that provides space or support for user-serviceable, internal hard disk drives. Therefore, those in need of more storage or with intentions to build a Mac-based server need to attach drives externally.

With USB 3 now standard across the entire Mac lineup, users can choose from a large set of options to add fast storage to their Macs.

However, without support for requesting S.M.A.R.T. information through the macOS USB stack, Mac users are barred from using any tools to assess an external drive's health and benefit from a timely warning. It also makes monitoring drive details (like f.ex. its temperature) impossible.

With FreeBSD, Linux and Windows already supporting S.M.A.R.T. information for external USB drives, macOS is the only major OS left that does not support it. Please add support for S.M.A.R.T. information for external USB drives in macOS, so users get a chance of noticing a failing drive early and can use macOS in situations it is currently not fit to be used in due to this omission.

Thanks for your consideration!