At a glanceExpert’s Score
Professionals
Tremendous quick 6GBps studying, 5GBps writing through Thunderbolt 5
Rugged and weatherproof
Good-looking design
A cut price in comparison with Apple inside SSD upgrades
Cons
Costly in comparison with Thunderbolt 3/USB
Requires an M4 Professional/Max Mac for full 80Gbps efficiency
Restricted compatibility with older {hardware} and software program.
Our Verdict
We love that the brand new Envoy Extremely Thunderbolt 5 SSD from OWC is sort of as quick as Apple’s inside storage, however it’s not low cost and backwards compatibility isn’t all-encompassing.
Value When Reviewed
This worth will present the geolocated pricing textual content for product undefined
Finest Pricing At this time
Value When Reviewed
$400 for 2TB
Finest Costs At this time: OWC Envoy Extremely Thunderbolt 5 SSD
In the event you’re trying to take full benefit of the Thunderbolt 5 ports in your M4 Professional Mac mini or M4 Professional/Max MacBook Professional and probably circumvent Apple’s avaricious storage improve pricing, it’s best to think about OWC’s Envoy Extremely Thunderbolt 5 exterior SSD. The Envoy Extremely is hardly low cost, however it’s nowhere close to what Apple fees.
On the draw back, there are extra backwards compatibility points than anticipated.
That is the compatibility assertion from the Thunderbolt 5 PR deck. “Broadly” apparently doesn’t imply “Completely”. Particularly with older software program and {hardware}.
Thunderbolt 5 compatibility
Whereas the velocity is alluring, and Thunderbolt 5 itself is backwards appropriate with older Thunderbolt specs, it’s not practically as backwards appropriate as you would possibly suppose, we want, or is hinted at.
First, you want a Thunderbolt 5-enabled Mac or Home windows PC to take full benefit of Thunderbolt 5’s 80Gbps switch charges. 80Gbps? Sure. Whereas you could have seen 120GBps quoted in some articles as Thunderbolt 5’s high velocity, that’s solely unidirectional for shows. Bi-directional, as with storage, is restricted to 80Gbps.
The primary compatibility situation is that to make the most of a Thunderbolt 5 drive, Apple silicon Macs want both macOS 14 Sonoma, or macOS 15 Sequoia. Thunderbolt 3 Macs with Intel chips should run Sequoia. Notice that the Envoy Extremely did enumerate on my Mac Studio Thunderbolt 4 bus once I was again on Ventura, however it wasn’t accessible in Disk Utility or Finder.
Additionally, whereas the Envoy Extremely’s captive cable prevents me from testing it on older Thunderbolt 1/2 utilizing an adapter, the picture above signifies that that is off the desk. OWC confirmed that Thunderbolt 5 gained’t work with the older requirements, so follow Thunderbolt 3 gear for older Macs.
OWC’s Envoy Extremely Thunderbolt 5
SSD.
Jon L. Jacobi
Moreover, in my testing for PCWorld, there was a relatively massive situation with the official check mattress. That situation is that the Envoy Extremely utterly didn’t register within the BIOS, Disk Supervisor, or Thunderbolt utility. Oops. That is regardless of updating all of the drivers, eradicating every part non-essential, and even updating Home windows 11 to the newest launch on the check mattress. Ultimately, a BIOS/Thunderbolt firmware replace from Asus solved the difficulty.
This iffy backwards compatibility may very well be an issue for those who’re working in a combined working system setting. Some older gear may not be up to date.
Options
The OWC Envoy Extremely shares the good-looking, sculpted styling of the Thunderbolt 3 40Gbps/USB 3.2 10Gbps Envoy Professional FX. Nevertheless, it’s a bit bigger chunk of black steel, measuring about 0.75 inches thick, 2.8 inches large, and 5 inches lengthy. The Envoy Extremely weighs in at a satisfyingly substantial 10.5 ounces or so.
The OWC Envoy Extremely hooked up to the MacBook Professional M4 Professional used for testing.
I already talked about the captive cable, which is for weatherproofing (it’s not IP-rated, however it appears as if it might go the exams) and ensuring you may’t lose it. It does, nevertheless, make it a bit more durable to stow the Envoy Extremely in tight quarters. Additionally, as with all captive cables, it’s best to keep away from stressing the attachment level for longevity’s sake.
The OWC Envoy Extremely carries a three-year guarantee, however no TBW (Terabytes which may be Written) score was given.
Value
In the event you thought a Thunderbolt 5 SSD was going to be low cost….properly, I’ve some fascinating actual property properties you is perhaps eager about. The Envoy Extremely prices a cool $400 in its 2TB kind and $600 at 4TB.
Given which you could seize a Thunderbolt 3/USB4 SSD for roughly half that, and a 20/10Gbps unit for a lot lower than half, you’d higher really want or need the velocity. Notice nevertheless, that regardless of a brand new 20Gbps 3.2×2 tunneling protocol that will work with docking stations, 3.2×2 SSDs nonetheless drop to 10Gbps when hooked up on to a Thunderbolt 5 port. 20Gbps USB4 SSDs will function at full velocity hooked up to Thunderbolt 5.
Then once more, in contrast with Apple’s egregious worth gouging for inside storage upgrades ($1,200 for 4TB???), the Envoy Extremely is a implausible cut price.
Efficiency
Brief reply: Very quick. Benchmarks confirmed wherever from 5.2GBps (Blackmagicdesign’s Disk Velocity Take a look at), to six.5GBps studying (AmorphousDiskMark), to close 7GBps studying and 5.57GBps writing (ATTO). Even my real-world learn of roughly 330GB of .mov recordsdata confirmed a wonderful flip of kind–virtually 6GBps studying. Alas, writing was significantly slower, solely round 1.5GBps.
Notice I copied to and from the identical M4 Professional MacBook Professional (2TB) that I ran the artificial benchmarks on. By the use of comparability, and for the enlightenment of those that is perhaps trying to keep away from paying ridiculous sums for Apple’s inside storage, I included the benchmark outcomes from the MacBook’s inside SSD. These are proven to the precise of the OWC Envoy Extremely’s within the photos under.
The distinction between the interior and exterior storage isn’t as extreme as you would possibly anticipate. Lengthy story quick, learn outcomes are remarkably shut for probably the most half, although the interior SSD was a great deal quicker writing below practically all circumstances.
Notice that the quickest exterior SSD we’ve beforehand examined, the USB4 Adata SE920 solely simply exceeded 3GBps studying. Sure…Very quick.
Blackmagicdesign’s Disk Velocity check confirmed constant 5.2GBps efficiency in each studying and writing for the OWC Envoy Extremely (left). The Inner M4 Professional MacBook Professional SSD outcomes are proven on the precise.
AmorphousDiskMark confirmed higher numbers for the Envoy Extremely studying–a relatively scintillating 6.44GBps. Not that far off the MacBook Professional M4 Professional’s inside SSD. Roughly 5GBps writing from the Envoy Extremely appears to be the consensus from all three artificial benchmarks.
AmorphousDiskMark confirmed the Envoy Extremely studying far quicker than Disk Velocity check. Practically 6.5GBps.
ATTO Disk Benchmark paints largely the identical image, although learn speeds for the Envoy Extremely really exceeded these of the MacBook Professional M4 Professional’s inside SSD. Writes? No, although round 5GBps is hardly something to sneeze at.
ATTO Disk Benchmark paints largely the identical image, although learn speeds for the Envoy Extremely really exceeded these of the MacBook Professional M4 Professional’s inside SSD. Writes? No, although round 5GBps is hardly something to sneeze at.
Though our real-world file writes didn’t match the benchmarks, they had been nonetheless fairly good. In whole, the OWC Envoy Extremely is a really good improve performance-wise from the common Thunderbolt 3 SSD, and a worthy companion for any Thunderbolt 5 Mac.
Must you purchase the OWC Envoy Extremely?
If you’d like, and might afford absolutely the quickest storage on your new Thunderbolt 5 Mac, then the reply is sure. Have at it. Additionally, it’s a heck of rather a lot cheaper than Apple’s rapaciously priced inside storage and practically as quick. That mentioned, Thunderbolt 3/USB4 SSDs are nonetheless a lot quick, cheaper, and way more appropriate with older Mac {hardware} and software program. I’ll depart the worth equation as much as you.
