OWC's Thunderbolt 5 External SSD for Latest Macs is Impressively Fast

Apple's new Mac mini with the M4 Pro chip and MacBook Pro models with M4 Pro and M4 Max chips feature support for the faster Thunderbolt 5 specification, and reputable accessory maker OWC is ready with a new external SSD.

MacBook Pro OWC Envoy Ultra
Announced in September, OWC's Envoy Ultra external SSD is compatible with Apple's latest Macs, and it has Thunderbolt 5 support for advertised data transfer speeds of more than 6GB per second. That is up to double the speeds that OWC's previous high-end external SSDs with Thunderbolt 3/Thunderbolt 4 support can achieve.

The external SSD has a built-in Thunderbolt 5 cable, and it is powered by the Mac that it is connected to, rather than an external power supply.

Unsurprisingly, these impressive speeds come at a steeper price compared to the average external SSD. OWC is now accepting pre-orders for the Envoy Ultra through its online store in the U.S., with 2TB and 4TB storage capacities available for $399.99 and $599.99, respectively. Orders are estimated to begin shipping in early November.

OWC plans to announce a Thunderbolt 5 dock with an array of ports later in November.

Apple's new Macs launch on Friday.

Popular Stories

iCloud General Feature Redux

iPhone Users Who Pay for iCloud Storage Receive a New Perk

Thursday March 20, 2025 12:01 am PDT by
If you pay for iCloud storage on your iPhone, Apple has a new perk for you, at no additional cost. The new perk is the ability to create invitations in the Apple Invites app for the iPhone, which launched in the App Store last month. In the Apple Invites app, iCloud+ subscribers can create invitations for any occasion, such as birthday parties, graduations, baby showers, and more. Anyone ...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro teal 1

Apple Says iPhone Driver's Licenses Coming to These 8 U.S. States, But Rollout Remains Slow

Wednesday March 19, 2025 6:55 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly. It has been three and a half years since Apple first announced the...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock

iOS 19 Coming in June With These New Features

Thursday March 20, 2025 2:04 pm PDT by
While the first iOS 19 beta is still more than two months away, there are already plenty of rumors about the upcoming software update. Below, we recap the key iOS 19 rumors so far. visionOS-Like Design In January, the YouTube channel Front Page Tech revealed a redesigned Camera app that is allegedly planned for iOS 19. According to Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser, the Camera app...
Windows Vista

Apple Might Be Having Its Windows Vista Moment, Says Analyst

Thursday March 20, 2025 6:52 am PDT by
Is Apple experiencing a "Vista-like drift into systemically poor execution?" That was a question posed by well-known technology analyst Benedict Evans, in a recent blog post covering Apple's innovation and execution, or seemingly lack thereof as of late. He is referring to Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system, which was widely criticized when it launched in 2007 due to software bugs,...
iPhone 17 Air Fanned Feature

First iPhone 17 Air Case Has Camera Bar, Camera Control Button Cutouts

Wednesday March 19, 2025 5:29 am PDT by
Serial leaker Sonny Dickson today shared an image of what he claims is a first look at a third-party case for Apple's iPhone 17 Air. "If you didn’t know an Air was coming, you'd swear it was a Google Pixel case," he said. Case manufacturers often obtain design specifications of upcoming iPhone models before their release by collaborating with Apple through official partnerships or...
iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

Latest iPhone 17 Pro Dummies Highlight Apple's New Part-Glass Design

Thursday March 20, 2025 5:27 am PDT by
Seasoned leaker Sonny Dickson has shared more dummy models of Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 series, with the latest lot revealing a noticeable shift in Apple's iPhone Pro model design that goes beyond the much-talked-about new rear camera bar. Dickson points out that the iPhone 17 Pro dummy models feature an outlined area on the back, beginning just below the camera module and extending to the...
iphone 16 pro ghost hand

Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro Already Rumored to Have Five New Features

Tuesday March 18, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro models are still around a year and a half away from launching, there are already some early rumors about the devices. Below, we recap some key iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far. Under-Screen Face ID In April 2023, display industry analyst Ross Young shared a roadmap showing that iPhone 17 Pro models would feature under-display Face ID. In May 2024, however, Young said ...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock

iOS 19 and iOS 20 Must Include a Long List of Major Changes, EU Says

Wednesday March 19, 2025 10:26 am PDT by
The European Commission today announced a long list of changes that Apple is legally required to implement in future iOS 19 and iOS 20 updates. The announcement clarifies interoperability requirements that Apple is required to adhere to in the EU, under the Digital Markets Act, which has been fully enforced since March 2024. The changes will further open up the iPhone and its technologies to ...
airpods pro 2 gradient

AirPods Pro 3 Launch Now Just Months Away: Here's What We Know

Tuesday March 18, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for. Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as excellent for...

Top Rated Comments

Return Zero Avatar
20 weeks ago
Drive speeds these days are just crazy. We’ve come so far from the 5400rpm spinner days, which wasn’t even that long ago if you think about it.

Definitely continues to make apple’s upgrade pricing structure look more and more ridiculous each year.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MikeAllaway Avatar
20 weeks ago
$400 for a 2TB drive sounds expensive, until you remember it's $600 to upgrade from 2TB to 4TB directly with Apple

and the $600 4TB drive is half the price of Apple's upgrade from 4TB to 8TB at $1200!
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joe Rossignol Avatar
20 weeks ago

I purchased a 2Tb ssd drive from Amazon this summer for $89. This is no bargain to me.
Nobody said it was a bargain. The one you bought for $89 obviously doesn't reach anywhere close to 6 GB/s transfer speeds like this one does. That might be totally fine for you, but I don't get the point of your comment. It's not an apples-to-apples comparison.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rychiar Avatar
20 weeks ago
meh. I just want an empty enclosure to put an 8TB WD Black NVME In
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jphall Avatar
20 weeks ago

$600 for 4TB TB5 is unhinged. I don't care what anyone says about it being super fast or top tech. Just delusional pricing.
Obviously not a product intended for you.

This is a great deal for people who will need very fast drives on their new ThunderBolt 5 enabled computers and don't want to pay for the very fast internal storage that Apple offers.




no enclosure option?
This first ThunderBolt 5 drive has just been announced. Enclosures will come later, and will require drives fast enough to take advantage of ThunderBolt 5 and the computers with interfaces to take advantage of a fast drive.




Meh, not even full PCIE 4.0 speeds I get in my PC. Grabbed a 4TB SN850X for £215, tyvm.
Great. You know this is an external drive, right? And will be used for high end production on computers that aren't even available yet? How is your comment relevant to this article?



meh. I just want an empty enclosure to put an 8TB WD Black NVME In
There are plenty of enclosures for ThunderBolt 4 for NVME drives. I have several WD Black drives in currently available enclosures.

ThunderBolt 5 enclosures will become available not long after there are actually computers that could use it. At some point there will be enclosures that have not even been announced yet, perfect for those fast drives and faster than the enclosures I have now.



I purchased a 2Tb ssd drive from Amazon this summer for $89. This is no bargain to me.
Obviously not a product intended for you. It's great that the Amazon drive works for you, i have some of those too. But I need very fast drives on my video editing computers and the $89 drive is not in the same market as the ThunderBolt 5 drive.

Seriously, some people need to work on their reading comprehension and context. These new drives are announced before the computers that can use their optimal speed are even available. This is great news for those of us who are more productive when using very fast drives and didn't spend the extra thousand dollars on internal storage.

I'm never going to buy a Ferrari, but I don't tell everyone that they should buy a Nissan Versa instead because it's cheaper.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ignatius345 Avatar
20 weeks ago
Expensive, but also a lot cheaper than spec'ing additional terabytes of storage when you buy a new Mac.

Fortunately my needs are quite modest and I get away with a much slower external SSD for the media I've offloaded from my iMac's internal drive (Photos, TV and Music libraries).
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)