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OWC Debuts 'Fastest USB-C SSD Ever' With Up to 2TB of Storage

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OWC, a well-known maker of storage solutions for Macs and PCs, today debuted what it says is "the fastest USB-C SSD ever."

owc-envoy-pro-ex-usb-c-800x402.jpeg

The new OWC Envoy Pro EX with USB-C is a bus-powered NVMe M.2 SSD with transfer speeds up to 980MB/s, one bay with up to 2TB of storage, and Thunderbolt 3 compatibility on both Macs and PCs. The external drive has a silver anodized aluminum housing with IP67-rated water and dust resistance.

Regular pricing is as follows: Enclosure alone: $89.99
250GB SSD: $129.99
500GB SSD: $179.99
1TB SSD: $249.99
2TB SSD: $429.99The new OWC Envoy Pro EX with USB-C is available now at MacSales.com.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with OWC. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

Article Link: OWC Debuts 'Fastest USB-C SSD Ever' With Up to 2TB of Storage
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2019/06/25/owc-debuts-fastest-usb-c-ssd-ever-for-mac/
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I was thinking about getting a t5 to replace my current external.......but this is way cheaper than I expected.

Edit: never mind I forgot reading comprehension. Still just usb 3.1 gen 2, thunderbolt is just for a spec sheet.
 
Pbrutto said:
I was thinking about getting a t5 to replace my current external.......but this is way cheaper than I expected.

Edit: never mind I forgot reading comprehension. Still just usb 3.1 gen 2, thunderbolt is just for a spec sheet.
Click to expand...

Most likely because it's TLC instead of MLC, SLC is even much more expensive.

I for one would not touch TLC.
 
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There are a bunch of competing NVMe enclosures available for a fraction of the cost of this one. Here’s one for $29:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07MNFH1PX

OWC makes great products though, I’m sure their $90 one is very well built and backed by a reliable warranty. I’ve got one of their old Mercury Elite Pro 3.5” enclosures on my desk.
 
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This OWC product doesn't really state what USB version it supports. The USB-C version (denotes the connector only) supports Thunderbolt 3. Does TB3 contain some version of USB 3.1 on top of TB3 speeds?

I would think for a TB3 product and a NVMe SSD, they would be able to push more than 980MB/s out a TB3 port.
 
dmylrea said:
This OWC product doesn't really state what USB version it supports. The USB-C version (denotes the connector only) supports Thunderbolt 3. Does TB3 contain some version of USB 3.1 on top of TB3 speeds?

I would think for a TB3 product and a NVMe SSD, they would be able to push more than 980MB/s out a TB3 port.
Click to expand...

1) it literally does state that on the linked website, in the specs. USB 3.1 gen 2.

2) it isn't actually a Thunderbolt 3 product. I'm not sure what "Thunderbolt 3" compatibility really means beyond being able to plug it in without enjoying the full speeds. it's like a USB mouse advertising USB 3.0 compatibility.
 
dmylrea said:
This OWC product doesn't really state what USB version it supports. The USB-C version (denotes the connector only) supports Thunderbolt 3. Does TB3 contain some version of USB 3.1 on top of TB3 speeds?

I would think for a TB3 product and a NVMe SSD, they would be able to push more than 980MB/s out a TB3 port.
Click to expand...

These NVMe enclosures are always capped at these speeds when they’re USB 3.1 gen 2. This one is clearly not TB3.
 
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nicho said:
1) it literally does state that on the linked website, in the specs. USB 3.1 gen 2.

2) it isn't actually a Thunderbolt 3 product. I'm not sure what "Thunderbolt 3" compatibility really means beyond being able to plug it in without enjoying the full speeds. it's like a USB mouse advertising USB 3.0 compatibility.
Click to expand...

I went to the macsales.com website and clicked on the front page link for this product and it takes me to a page for the product that literally does NOT show what USB speeds the TB3 version supports.

The page DOES SAY there are two versions of the product...a TB3 version and a USB version.

This product clearly is NOT a Thunderbolt 3 device.
 
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dmylrea said:
I went to the macsales.com website and clicked on the front page link for this product and it takes me to a page for the product that literally does NOT show what USB speeds the TB3 version supports.
Click to expand...

Do you get upset that Apple doesn't list cellular bands for wifi + cellular ipads on this page - https://www.apple.com/ipad/ - too? It's not rocket science to find.

The page DOES SAY there are two versions of the product...a TB3 version and a USB version.
Click to expand...

It does say there are two versions. It does not say there is a TB3 version and a USB version. Look again at the page you linked. [edit: depending on your point of view it either says there are two USB versions - the ones on this page, side by side - or three versions total, a TB3 version and two USB ones]

This product clearly is NOT a Thunderbolt 3 device.
Click to expand...

Well yeah, i already said that in the post you replied to. Odd choice of capitals.
 
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It does not make sense. Why claim to be the fastest USB 3.1 drive? USB 3.1 is good for compatibility but it is a bottleneck since many NVMe SSD's are faster.
I am still looking for a Thunderbolt enclosure, not a USB-C enclosure..
Now looking at the page instead for their
2.0TB OWC Envoy Pro EX with Thunderbolt 3 - Rugged High-Performance Ultra-Compact External SSD
which has the same price for more than twice the speed! That is rather what I need!

However that post is already one year old!

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/owc-envoy-pro-ex-thunderbolt-3

Performance
  • Up to 2500MB/s
Interface (chipset)
  • Thunderbolt 3 (Intel DSL 6340)
Drive Interface
  • M.2 NVMe (PCIe 3.0)
Max Data Transfer Rate
  • Thunderbolt 3: 40 Gb/s(or 5000 MB/s)
[doublepost=1561480038][/doublepost]
jdclifford said:
E
I believe the drive ships in the included enclosure doesn't it? It's an external drive, not an internal one being converted.
Click to expand...
I think they sell the enclosure alone so you can add your own NVMe M2 drive..
 
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So what is the most reliable external SSD on the market now, please? Is it the Samsung ones, OWC or another one?
I'm thinking to get 1-2TB of SSD storage and was wondering which one to get. I'm looking for one that will not malfunction on me. Anyone has an insight, please?
 
I have a T5 and love it. I think it was $83 for 512Gb. Very fast, tiny, reliable.

You can build a similar drive as this new OWC pretty cost-effectively. I've had OWC external SSDs in the past and they always worked and I never had a problem with them.

I wonder how much speed is really required? I can't imagine needing more than this Samsung T5. I guess if you were moving around 40G video files all day between your laptop and the external SSD you could save quite a bit of time. Not my use case, however.
 
dmylrea said:
The page DOES SAY there are two versions of the product...a TB3 version and a USB version.
Click to expand...

nicho said:
It does say there are two versions. It does not say there is a TB3 version and a USB version. Look again at the page you linked. [edit: depending on your point of view it either says there are two USB versions - the ones on this page, side by side - or three versions total, a TB3 version and two USB ones]
Click to expand...

Maybe they're continually changing the web page, but it looks like there are actually 4 versions all apparently called "Envoy Pro EX":

On the linked page there's a 980MB/s USB-C version (more accurately, a USB-C connector running USB 3.1 gen 2 protocol) alongside a 400MB/s "USB 3" version (more accurately, a USB 3 micro-B connector running USB 3.1 gen 1 which is effectively the same as USB 3.0).

There's also a link saying"Need more speed? Get up to 2800MB/s with Thunderbolt 3!" (i.e. ~28Gbits/s) leading to a page describing two variants (regular and 'video edition') of a full Thunderbolt-3 version.

nicho said:
I'm not sure what "Thunderbolt 3" compatibility really means beyond being able to plug it in without enjoying the full speeds
Click to expand...


Obligatory XKCD:
free.png

(Or see TVTropes... for a fuller explanation at the risk of wasting rest of your day)

I.e. It's one of those 100% true statement and 100% misleading statements from the department of redundancy department. All Thunderbolt 3 ports are USB-C connectors that also support USB 3.1 host* mode so pretty much any USB device is 'Thunderbolt 3 (port)" compatible - although most wouldn't quite have the brass neck to apply that to a product that only came with a USB A connector.

* the other way around - connecting a true TB3 peripheral to USB - is more complicated: any dual-protocol USB/TB3 peripheral used to need separate TB3 and USB 3.1 'input' ports, even if they were both USB-C connectors. The latest TB3 controller chips - released - early this year ISTR - potentially allow peripherals with TB3 ports to 'fall back' to USB 3.1 - but only if their innards can cope with both USB 3.1 and PCIe (from TB) protocols. The true TB3 version of this particular drive doesn't support USB 3.
 
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