Recommendation for 2.5" SSD enclosure?

[Fallinangel]

Hi,

I'm looking for a good 2.5" enclosure that can support one SSD of 4TB and has at least USB 3.1 or 3.2 connectivity?
It should also work with Apple Silicon macs.

Does somebody have a recommendation?

 

[satcomer]

So it's an old style SSD? Does it SATA connection on it?

 

[Fallinangel]

So it's an old style SSD? Does it SATA connection on it?

Yes, 2.5" with SATA!

 

[satcomer]

Maybe something like This might be up you ally!

 

[Traverse]

I've had great luck with an OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini for years. They also make a version that can house two SATA 2.5" drives and still be BUS powered. I'm now using the OWC ThunderBay 4 mini - it's a more expensive Thunderbolt enclosure that can hold up to 4 2.5" drives with no issue.

 

[DeltaMac]

Ugreen works well for me...

https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-Enclosure-Adapter-High-Speed-Compatible-dp-B0851B6TCC/

 

[justashooter]

I like these simple black plastic enclosures from Sabrent:

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

SABRENT 2.5 Inch SATA to USB 3.0 Tool Free External Hard Drive Enclosure [Optimized for SSD, Support UASP SATA III] Black (EC-UASP)

www.amazon.com

I've bought a number of them for clients after upgrading their MBP hard drive to SSD. I put the hard drive in the enclosure. You get 400 mb/s read from an SSD with them. I like the USB-A connector, they never accidentally unplug. You can get a USB-A to USB-C adapter or get a USB-a to USB-C cord. No, tools needed, they are durable.

 

[Fallinangel]

Maybe something like This might be up you ally!

Thanks, but I'm looking for something a little more permanent, an enclosure.

I've had great luck with an OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini for years. They also make a version that can house two SATA 2.5" drives and still be BUS powered. I'm now using the OWC ThunderBay 4 mini - it's a more expensive Thunderbolt enclosure that can hold up to 4 2.5" drives with no issue.

The OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini looks promising. Thanks.
My goal is also to move to the OWC Thunderbay 4 mini later this year, when I grow my storage to two 4TB SSDs. I'll configure them as RAID 0 array of 8TB. I currently only have one. Do you know whether the Thunderbay can be run with a single SSD?

Ugreen works well for me...

I think I've seen that one on amazon. It has very mixed reviews and it seems that you need to buy an extra Thunderbolt 3 cable for full speeds. The cable it comes with seems to be bad quality.

You get 400 mb/s read from an SSD with them. I like the USB-A connector, they never accidentally unplug. You can get a USB-A to USB-C adapter or get a USB-a to USB-C cord. No, tools needed, they are durable.

Thank you, these seem like a great option too.

 

[Traverse]

. Do you know whether the Thunderbay can be run with a single SSD?

You can run it however you want. Currently I only have three SSDs in it (so an empty slot). You can also RAID it using either OWC’s software or I think Disk Utility - but that’s not what I wanted. Each of my SSDs show up independently in Finder as I wanted a single enclosure to house all of my directories rather than plugging in multiple enclosures, but you can RAID if it helps your workflow.

 

[dizmonk]

Do you want it in one of those USB-C hubs which include that like Satechi's?

 

[Fallinangel]

Do you want it in one of those USB-C hubs which include that like Satechi's?

Not really thought of something like that, but thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Fallinangel]

You can run it however you want. Currently I only have three SSDs in it (so an empty slot). You can also RAID it using either OWC’s software or I think Disk Utility - but that’s not what I wanted. Each of my SSDs show up independently in Finder as I wanted a single enclosure to house all of my directories rather than plugging in multiple enclosures, but you can RAID if it helps your workflow.

Do you know if the enclosure gets to the advertised SSD read and write speeds?

 

[Traverse]

Do you know if the enclosure gets to the advertised SSD read and write speeds?

I’m only using cheaper QVC SATA drives that are stated for like 400MB/s or something so I do get full speeds.

I think the enclosure and Thunderbolt are more than capable. There are just speed bottlenecks for SATA itself. You can speed it up with RAID 0 though.

 

[Fallinangel]

I’m only using cheaper QVC SATA drives that are stated for like 400MB/s or something so I do get full speeds.

I think the enclosure and Thunderbolt are more than capable. There are just speed bottlenecks for SATA itself. You can speed it up with RAID 0 though.

OK, thanks. I think I'll just buy it, even though I'll probably just use it with a single SSD for around 6 months or so.

 

[justashooter]

Check out my post #6 at:

MBP External Hard Drive Storage Enclosures

The simple answer is NO. You are limited by the transfer rate of the hard drive itself. Hard drives don't even come close to the rate USB3 can transfer. You have to be using SSD's and NVMe drives to approach the speed thunderbolt can transfer. Here are some sample speeds from my own test using...

forums.macrumors.com

I posted some speed tests and the Thunderbolt speeds are from a Thunderbolt 2 OWC ThunderBay 4 Mini. That is OWC's 2.5 inch 4 bay enclosure.

 

[satcomer]

Then I firm believer the static shock because of carpets or heating in North or both! So Reset NVRAM or PRAMM on Your Mac and let bong twice! This will reset the USB chip in your Mac!