Best Time Machine Desktop Hard Drive

What's "best" will be based on your specific requirements for this drive.

Since your Time Machine (TM) drive doesn’t need to match internal SSD speeds, you’ve got flexibility here.

For capacity, a good rule is 2–3x the size of your internal SSD. So with a 2TB internal drive, I’d suggest going for at least 4TB, possibly 6TB if you want more historical snapshots or plan to keep multiple Macs on one backup. If you’re backing up only the MacBook, 4TB is sufficient and aligns nicely with your docking SSD size.

Brand-wise, I’d suggest looking at:

• Western Digital My Passport or Elements: Affordable, reliable, and come in 4TB+ sizes. USB 3.0 is totally fine for TM, and they won’t drag down your Mac’s performance.
• Seagate Backup Plus Portable: Similar to the WD — solid performer, often a bit cheaper than WD, and still Time Machine compatible after formatting.
• OWC Mercury Elite Pro Mini or Envoy Pro Elektron: If you want something with a slightly higher build quality and are okay paying a bit more, OWC drives are well-optimized for macOS workflows.

FWIW, I have been using WD & OWC drives for years for this purpose when it comes to my laptops when I also need portability. Otherwise, I use a Synology NAS for this.