Time Machine backup speed on Mac

It is kind of a waste, but you can use a faster external SSD instead of an external HDD for Time Machine.

What I recommend, is to use a slow but reliable external HDD for Time Machine and then use a faster external SSD for redundant Clone backups. For Cloning software, I recommend using either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper.

I agree with den.thed although SSD coats have dropped so using an SSD for many is no longer an issue. I had an extra one so I'm using for TM drive which makes restoring much faster if required.