Carbon Copy Cloner

A sleek new look and faster copying make the latest version of this disk–cloning tool a significant upgrade

$40.00 From bombich.com

Needs macOS Catalina or later

Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) is one of two disk–cloning tools Mac users turn to when they need to make a complete copy of a disk, its only real competition being Shirt Pocket’s SuperDuper. The latest version of Mike Bombich’s popular tool features a redesigned interface, including Dark mode and significantly faster copying, among a host of other features.

The interface overhaul sees CCC’s main window reduced in size, but font sizes and controls are larger. That makes everything much easier to see and use. The progress indicator that shows running tasks is now more detailed, and also shows the estimated time remaining. Additionally, file processing and transfer rates are displayed on a live chart as the task runs.

The heart of CCC is its file copier, and it has been updated to meet the needs of modern storage media. One of the key improvements is that it is now able to hook into macOS services to read the list of folders that have been modified on the source volume since the last backup. This means CCC doesn’t have to scan the disk itself to discover that information, and it makes the whole process of updating backups much quicker — up to 20x, according to Bombich.

Other improvements include a Snapshot Navigator that lets you quickly find a specific version of a file you want to restore, and a new automation option that allows you to specify a task runs when a certain amount of data has been modified on the source volume. You can also visually compare the source and destination volumes, and it keeps audits of every backup so you can see what was changed during every task and why.

Carbon Copy Cloner has long been a useful tool for backing up your Mac regularly or creating one-off clones before you, say, perform a clean install of macOS. It’s as easy to use as ever, but now faster and sleeker. Version 6 is a significant upgrade, and something of a no-brainer for existing users. New users can download a 30–day trial version.

THE BOTTOM LINE. Version 6 makes this essential disk–cloning tool easier to use and more useful than ever. If you don’t already use it, you owe it yourself to give it a try.

CARBON COPY CLONER 6

Faster than previous version

Progress indicator

New automation options

Snapshot navigator makes it easy to find file versions

Carbon Copy Cloner’s user interface has been overhauled, making it less daunting and easier to find what you want.

The progress of a task is now displayed in the main window as a graph while it runs.