i-tec MySafe M.2 Thunderbolt 3 + Samsung 970 EVO 2TB

[MXBY]

I'm on the lookout for fast external storage for my 2018 Mac Mini and/or Late-2017 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.

I was originally looking at ready-to-buy external storage such as the SanDisk Extreme 900 Portable SSD 1.92TB or the Samsung X5 Portable SSD MU-PB2T0B 2TB, but the prices are very high and I'm unsure of the durability of these drives over long periods of time.

I therefore started considering external drive enclosures, and found this new product: i-tec MySafe M.2 Thunderbolt 3.

So presumably, it would work with a M2 NVMe SSD such as the Samsung 970 EVO Series MZ-V7E2T0BW 2TB, over a Thunderbolt 3 connection.

Now, I'm however cautious as I realize that there may be hidden traps here.

• First off, is there any reason to think that this will / will not work?
• Are full M2 NVMe / TB3 speeds supported with MacOS Mojave on the 2018 Mac Mini and Late-2017 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar?
• If it does indeed work, will it lead to potential problems like preventing computer hibernation or something like that?

Since the product is brand new, I don't expect many people to have tried it and can speak from personal experience – but even anecdotally from knowledge of how Macs handle this sort of equipment could be valuable. Thanks!

 

[gwerhart0800]

I therefore started considering external drive enclosures, and found this new product: i-tec MySafe M.2 Thunderbolt 3.

Well, based on the fact that it is brand new to the market, someone is going to have to make a leap of faith and buy one to see if it works. I have been looking in this area too, but will probably go with a Akitio Node Lite + PCIe adapter board ... yes, it is big, bulky and not portable, but it will work for my 2017 iMac.

If you do chose to purchase one, please post a review here.

 

[Ploki]

Just buy the Leidian one, many of us bought one so it's already tested and proven.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/JEY...VME-TO-TYPE-C-aluminium-TYPE/32952100894.html

also, it has a detachable cable

sleep works, speed is great. tested on the Mini 2018. around 2000mb/s write and 2500mb/s read, on 970 EVO 1TB.

 

[campyguy]

Intel hosts web portal for TB3 products, here's a link to storage-related products. "Leidian" and "i-tec" aren't in the Intel product portal, synonyms for "junk" to me. If they're not buying TB3 chipsets from Intel, good luck...

 

[Ploki]

Intel hosts web portal for TB3 products, here's a link to storage-related products. "Leidian" and "i-tec" aren't in the Intel product portal, synonyms for "junk" to me. If they're not buying TB3 chipsets from Intel, good luck...

Leidian has the exact same board (and part number) as the TEKQ Rapide, which is on the list.

It works great by the way.

 

[Stephen.R]

Intel hosts web portal for TB3 products, here's a link to storage-related products.

Thank you. That is an amazing find. Now to find out which of those products is available outside of US/EU.

 

[MXBY]

OP here. I just wanted to add for the sake of historicity, that I actually purchased the combination in my first post:

i-tec MySafe M.2 Thunderbolt 3 enclosure + Samsung 970 EVO Series MZ-V7E2T0BW 2TB.

I've had it for a couple of months with the 2018 Mac Mini and it has worked fine for me so far, although it hasn't seen heavy usage. It was expensive, but transfers are blazingly fast, just taking a few seconds to transfer 50 Gb.

Notwithstanding the discussion in the thread about the Intel product portal.