Akitio has announced the release of the its Thunder3 Quad Mini, a 2.5" four-bay Thunderbolt 3 external storage solution for the latest MacBook Pro.

akitio-quad-thunderbolt-3
The aluminum storage device has removable trays designed to house up to four 2.5" SATA SSDs or hard drives purchased separately. The device is equipped with two Thunderbolt 3 ports—the first one connects to the MacBook Pro, and the second one can be used to connect or daisy chain Thunderbolt 3 or USB-C peripherals.

With Software RAID, Akitio said four striped SSDs can reach data transfer speeds of up to 1375 MB/s, while four striped hard drives max out at around 400 MB/s. Thunderbolt 3 provides sufficient bandwidth to connect dual 4K displays to the latest MacBook Pro and complete other data transfers simultaneously.

akitio-thunder3-quad-mini
A dedicated DisplayPort 1.2 video output provides connectivity to the 4K displays at 60Hz, while the device supports Power Delivery up to 15W to notebooks that support charging from a 5V/3A power source. 15W is hardly sufficient wattage for the latest MacBook Pro, which fully charges at up to 85W with Apple's own charger.

Akitio said the Thunder3 Quad Mini will be available in March for $329 alongside five other Thunderbolt 3 storage devices it sells.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Tag: Thunderbolt 3
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: MacBook Pro

Top Rated Comments

Joe Rossignol Avatar
Joe Rossignol
116 months ago
what is raid mode in simple terms?
This Thunder3 Quad Mini uses RAID 0, which essentially combines the four drives into one, but there is a risk of data loss as there is no redundancy.

https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1xp2tl/eli5what_is_raid_and_what_does_it_do_for_your/

Imagine you are storing a song on your computer, but instead of bits and bytes, there are little people in there that sing it back to you. You don't want to lose your song (singers quit all the time), and let's also pretend you want it sung as fast as possible. What do you do? You configure RAID.


* RAID-0: 2 or more people sing alternate words in the song. This is faster because they can breathe, turn the page, etc. while they're waiting for their next turn. If one of them quits, the song will be ruined forever, though. Hopefully you have a backup band!
* RAID-1: 2 or more people sing the song at the same time. If one of them quits, the song will still be sung because everyone else knows all the words, too. You can hire a new singer who will quickly learn the song from everyone else.
* RAID-5: 3 or more people sing alternate words, like RAID-0. But this time, every word in the song has exactly one backup singer. So it's faster and if one quits, someone else can jump in and cover the missing parts. It will take some time to get a new singer up to speed, though, and until the new singer is caught up, if you lose another one you will lose the song!

Replace all references to "singers/bands" and "words" with "hard drives" and "blocks of data", respectively, and you've got RAID. There are more types of RAID but in the past 30 years or so these have been the most popular types. Why, you might ask, doesn't everyone just do RAID 5? Well, singers cost money, and it slows them down just a bit to learn each other's lines.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hfg Avatar
hfg
116 months ago
what is raid mode in simple terms?


:D

Attachment Image
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joe Rossignol Avatar
Joe Rossignol
116 months ago
any details on speeds WITHOUT being in a RAID mode for SSDs? assuming it does support JBOD and would show as 4 separate drives if setup for that.
Looks to be around 400-500 MB/s.


Attachment Image
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lincolntran Avatar
lincolntran
116 months ago
The potentials of the new MacBook Pro are starting to show.

I predict "multiple cables" will be a thing of the past by the end of 2018.......



.....except for a few people on MR of course.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bsbeamer Avatar
bsbeamer
116 months ago
any details on speeds WITHOUT being in a RAID mode for SSDs? assuming it does support JBOD and would show as 4 separate drives if setup for that.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kwikdeth Avatar
kwikdeth
116 months ago
This Thunder3 Quad Mini uses RAID 0, which essentially combines the four drives into one, but there is a risk of data loss as there is no redundancy.

https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1xp2tl/eli5what_is_raid_and_what_does_it_do_for_your/
That is one of the best layman's explanations for RAID I have ever read.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments

Popular Stories

apple store down feature

Here's Why the Apple Store is Going Down

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:01 pm PST by
Apple's online store is going down for a few hours on a rolling country-by-country basis right now, but do not get your hopes up for new products. Apple takes its online store down for a few hours ahead of Black Friday every year to tease/prepare for its annual gift card offer with the purchase of select products. The store already went down and came back online in Australia and New Zealand, ...
Read Full Article • 14 comments
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Three Breakthrough Features

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
Read Full Article • 122 comments
streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
Read Full Article • 27 comments
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket is Now Completely Sold Out Worldwide

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:16 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released. iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...
Read Full Article • 136 comments
streaming black friday 2025

Best Black Friday Streaming Deals - Save Big on Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, and More

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:14 pm PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
Read Full Article • 16 comments
General Apps Messages Redux

Singapore Orders Changes to iMessage by December

Tuesday November 25, 2025 6:39 am PST by
Singapore has ordered Apple to block or filter messages on iMessage that impersonate government agencies, requiring the company to implement new anti-spoofing protections by December as part of efforts to curb rising online scams, the Straits Times reports. Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that it had issued an Implementation Directive to Apple under the Online Criminal Harms...
Read Full Article • 30 comments
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red Green

The 30+ Best Black Friday Apple Deals on AirPods, iPads, MacBooks, and More

Thursday November 27, 2025 6:46 am PST by
Black Friday is finally here, and as always this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small...
Read Full Article • 5 comments
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red

Apple Black Friday Deals Available Now on AirPods, iPads, Accessories, and More

Friday November 21, 2025 8:48 am PST by
We're only a few days away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
Read Full Article • 4 comments