Other World Computing (OWC) has unveiled the Express 1M2 80G portable SSD enclosure, a high-performance storage solution designed to leverage the capabilities of Thunderbolt 5 technology. This new enclosure aims to provide creators and professionals with substantial performance gains, rivaling the speeds of internal SSDs while offering the flexibility of external storage.
The Express 1M2 80G is engineered to connect via Thunderbolt 5, a cutting-edge technology currently featured in Apple’s M4 Pro and M4 Max MacBook Pro models, the M4 Pro Mac mini, and the most recent Mac Studio. Despite its Thunderbolt 5 focus, the enclosure maintains broad compatibility with Thunderbolt 4 and USB4-enabled Macs. This ensures that users can utilize the enclosure with both current and previous generation Apple devices, providing a versatile storage solution for various workflows.
OWC’s performance claims for the Express 1M2 80G include real-world speeds exceeding 6,000 MB/s. These speeds position the enclosure as a viable alternative to the internal SSDs found in recent MacBook Pro models. While internal drives may still demonstrate faster sequential transfer rates in certain benchmark tests, the Express 1M2 80G offers competitive performance that can, in some cases, even surpass internal storage speeds, particularly in random read and write operations. The all-aluminum chassis serves as a heat sink, passively dissipating heat and maintaining consistent transfer speeds without the need for active cooling solutions such as fans.
The applications for the Express 1M2 80G are diverse, encompassing demanding tasks such as offloading and editing large video projects, running applications directly from the external drive, and managing substantial photo libraries that can span multiple terabytes. OWC also highlights the enclosure’s cross-platform compatibility, stating that it functions seamlessly with PCs, iPad Pro models, Chromebooks, and Microsoft Surface devices, expanding its utility across different operating systems and hardware ecosystems.
The OWC Express 1M2 80G is available in multiple configurations to suit varying user needs and budgets. A do-it-yourself (DIY) enclosure is offered at a price of $219, allowing users to install their own NVMe M.2 SSD with capacities up to 8TB. Pre-configured versions of the enclosure are also available directly from OWC, starting at $349 for a 1TB model and scaling up to $1,299 for the 8TB variant. The OWC Express 1M2 80G is currently available for purchase through OWC’s website and Amazon.
