Mac speed test app: SSD, external drive and internet

In your menu bar

The drive test sits in Drive, right under the live read and write speeds, and the internet test sits in Network, under the live download and upload speeds. Scope Free keeps one whole menu bar item of your choice, and every other panel opens from the Scope icon.

FinderTue 9:41

Write, then read

Choose a size, Quick · 1 GiB (one pass), Standard · 4 GiB or Extended · 8 GiB (three passes each), then Test speed. Scope writes first, then reads, with macOS file caching turned off and the time to finish each write counted, so memory can’t make the drive look faster. Before it starts, it says about how long the test will take.

How it measured

Test details shows how much the test wrote and read, the best pass and the range for each direction, and how long it took. It also says the test used one large file, so small files and busy apps can be slower. Copy copies the result as text; with Scope Pro, Export… saves it as a report file.

Internet speed

The internet test uses Apple’s built-in networkQuality engine, the one behind the networkQuality command in Terminal. It tests download, then upload, and says it uses data before you start. The result measures the path to Apple’s test service at that moment, so it isn’t a promise of your plan’s top speed.

Responsiveness

Responsiveness is how quickly your connection replies while it’s busy, in round trips per minute (RPM); higher is better. Here it’s 1410 RPM while downloading and 1170 RPM while uploading, which is 42.6 ms and 51.3 ms of latency under load. Idle latency, 11 ms, is how quickly the internet replies when the connection is quiet. Download speed alone doesn’t explain every connection problem, so the test reports both.

Past tests

Each test keeps its last 10 results on your Mac. Past tests shows a drive’s three newest, one line each, and See more shows the rest; the internet test lists the current connection’s results the same way. Clear history… removes one drive’s or one connection’s results and keeps the others.

Scope Free and Scope Pro

Questions people also ask

Is the drive speed test safe for my files?

Yes. Scope writes and reads only a temporary test file of its own, and never opens your documents for writing. It keeps 1 GiB of free space in reserve, and the test file is gone when the test ends.

Why is Scope’s drive result lower than other tests?

Because Scope turns macOS’s file caching off and counts the time to finish each write, so the result is what the drive itself did. It’s measured with one large file at that moment, not a guaranteed maximum.

How much data does the internet test use?

It can transfer several GB and fill your connection while it runs, so avoid running it during a call or on a limited data plan. It never starts by itself, and Stop ends it.

Does the internet test send my data anywhere?

It contacts Apple’s test service, only when you click Test speed, and sends test traffic. Your monitoring data stays on your Mac, and Scope has no analytics.

Can I test a USB flash drive or a memory card?

Yes. They start on Quick · 1 GiB, marked Recommended. A drive formatted as MS-DOS (FAT) can’t hold a file of 4 GiB or more, so it offers only Quick and says why.

Is it free?

Yes. Both speed tests are part of Scope Free, with past tests and Copy, for as long as you like. Scope Pro, a one-time purchase, adds saving test reports as files.