I'm going to wait to see what the Mac mini 5 new features are but I might replace my Studio with an M5 Studio. This would make for some nice, fast storage.
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OWC announces 1M2 at 80 gbps (I guess it's Thunderbolt 5)
- Thread starter pshufd
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I don't really get this, as it competes directly with their very own Envoy Ultra, which is also a TB5 drive. Maybe it's just that the 1M2 is more easily user serviceable ie, its an enclosure rather then a complete drive, unlike the Envoy Ultra which comes as a complete 'sealed' unit (even though it can also be easily opened via 4 screws and SSD replaced/upgraded)......
Either way the 1M2 are fantastic drives - I have a couple of 8TB units that I may be tempted to sell in order to upgrade to the faster drives!
I would only get the empty enclosures though - especially if OWC still prefer to use the Aura IV drives, which are from 2022 and starting to show their age a little......stick a 990Pro or a SN850X into these enclosures and they fly!!
Either way the 1M2 are fantastic drives - I have a couple of 8TB units that I may be tempted to sell in order to upgrade to the faster drives!
I would only get the empty enclosures though - especially if OWC still prefer to use the Aura IV drives, which are from 2022 and starting to show their age a little......stick a 990Pro or a SN850X into these enclosures and they fly!!
I think that OWC has sold a ton of the 1M2 enclosures as they generally get rave reviews at Mac forums that I visit.
They are also really nice if you have, say, an M1 Max Studio with an OWC 1M2 and a Samsung 990 Pro and you upgrade to an M4 Max Studio. If you really want TB5, you can just buy the enclosure and move the 990 Pro from the TB4 enclosure to the TB5 enclosure and then sell or repurpose the TB4 enclosure.
You could make the case that they don't need the Envoy Ultra anymore too, as they usually give you more storage options on the 1M2.
Fair points.
I guess you could also say the Envoy Ultra is for a slightly different target market - it's a IP67 sealed unit with a 'built-in' cable, so its waterproof and dustproof etc - ie, more hardwearing. Even though the cable and SSD can be replaced if you really wanted to (albeit voiding any warranty in the process considering its not a user serviceable drive). It's also only available up to 4TB in capacity, where the 1M2 goes up to 8TB (as you highlight already).
I currently have 3 of the 1M2 drives.
2 of them came pre-populated with 8TB drives from factory (OWC Aura Pro IV SSDs).
The third I purchased as an empty enclosure and installed a single 8TB SN850x (as you can't get 8TB in the 990 Pro), which provides a little better performance, but not noticeable in actual use TBH.
I'd be tempted to at least pick up the 80Gbps 1M2 enclosure and move that SN850X across to it......
Maybe more for the mobile market where these things will be moved around lot and placed in laptop carrying backs where stuff can get in. Its odd, because we're not talking about a hard drive with spinning platters where dust can cause a head crash. I think its more marketing then anything else. As for the cable its, not soldered into the logic board, its replaceable if the need arises. I watched a teardown and while its unnecessary, its not the end of the world to replace it. My use case is such that it sits on my desk and doesn't move.
What I found with the Envoy ultra is that it does a great job at shedding the heat, that metal enclosure is an efficient heat sink and it stays fairly cool
When you talk to their tech support they state that own has no thunderbolt 5 enclosures. Just what they tell me