Western Digital Upgrades Suite of Storage Drives With Thunderbolt 3, Optimized Speeds, and More

After revealing the G-Drive USB-C a few weeks ago, Western Digital today announced the launch of a trio of upgrades coming to a few of its G-Technology product lines, including the G-Drive with Thunderbolt 3, G-Raid with Thunderbolt 3, and G-Speed Shuttle XL. The performance upgrades mainly account for optimized speeds that will help creative professionals who capture and transfer heavy loads of high-resolution content.

The new G-Drive with Thunderbolt 3 includes dual TB3 ports, a USB-C port, and supports USB 3.1, allowing users to daisy chain as many as five additional devices at once so multiple drives can remain connected, enabling complex workflows through a single connection. The G-Drive with Thunderbolt 3 includes a HGST-brand Ultrastar 7200RPM Enterprise-class hard drive, transfer rates up to 245 Mb/s, and includes the G-Drive line's usual Time Machine plug-and-play set-up.

Users interested can pre-order the G-Drive with Thunderbolt 3 now, and it's available with four optional storage capacities: 4TB ($399.95), 6TB ($499.95), 8TB ($599.95), and 10TB ($699.95). An additional 12TB version will debut sometime "next quarter" at $799.95.

“G-Technology recognizes the need for a complete workflow solution that takes advantage of the power of Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C,” said Sven Rathjen, vice president of marketing, Client Solutions, Western Digital. “The result is a substantial upgrade across several product lines that delivers reliable, fast, and easy-to-use storage solutions to fit the current and future needs of our customers.”

Western Digital is also updating its line of high-performance, removable dual-hard drives with the G-Raid with Thunderbolt 3, which features two TB3 ports, one USB-C port, and one HDMI port that is out-of-the-box ready for video running at 60fps in 4K as well as HDR content. The G-Raid has dual removable 7200RPM hard drives, can daisy chain up to five additional devices, and has a transfer rate of up to 500 Mb/s.

Storage tiers for the G-Raid with Thunderbolt 3 start at 8TB ($749.95), and increase to 12TB ($849.95), 16TB ($1,099.95), 20TB ($1,549.95), and 24TB ($1,999.95). The first four tiers will launch this June, while the 24TB model is set to launch next quarter.

The last of Western Digital's updates centers on the company's high-performance, transportable 8-bay RAID solution -- which now comes with two Thunderbolt 3 ports -- called the G-Speed Shuttle XL. The new unit offers hardware RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, and 50 configurations and comes equipped with G-Technology's usual Ultrastar 7200RPM Enterprise-class hard drives, and boasts transfer rates up to 2000 MB/s.

The G-Speed Shuttle XL will be available to buy in the following storage tiers: 32TB ($4,099.95), 48TB ($5,399.95), 64TB ($6,999.95), 80TB ($8,599.95), and 96TB ($10,199.95). Similar to the previous G-Technology products announced today, the first four tiers will debut ahead of time in June, while the highest-capacity model will see a launch sometime after.

All of Western Digital's G-Technology devices come pre-formatted for Macs, enabling easy set-up and storage drive compatibility with Time Machine. More information about G-Technology's new Thunderbolt 3 family of products -- including new ev Series bay adapters -- can be found on the company's website.