OWC’s Thunderbolt 5 Storage Roll-out Continues

Posted on by Larry

CES saw the announcement of a number of Thunderbolt 5 storage devices. While the big benefit to Thunderbolt 5 is support for more and larger monitors, this new protocol will essentially double the file transfer bandwidth of Thunderbolt 3/4.

To support this new protocol, OWC announced several new products designed for this faster technology. First is the ThunderBlade X12, a Thunderbolt 5 RAID containing up to 12 NVMe SSD blades. OWC reports initial speeds of up to 6,500 MB/second with capacities that range from 12 – 96 TB, configurable as RAID 0, 1, 5 and 1+0.

Small and rugged enough to throw in a backpack, yet it can easily handle workflows of 8K RAW media, 16K frame sizes or dozens of multicam streams. Pricing not announced, shipping in March.


To connect Thunderbolt devices, OWC also announced the OWC Active Optical Cable. According to the OWC press release, this cable “provides up to 40Gb/s of stable bandwidth, up to 240W of power delivery, and up to 8K video resolution at up to 15 feet. Featuring universal USB-C connectivity and optical fiber technology, it eliminates the 2-meter distance limit of traditional copper-based Thunderbolt and USB4 cables so devices can be placed further away for noise reduction, provide more convenient access, be hidden for a more aesthetic work environment, or enable more efficient cable management in professional settings.”

The OWC USB4 40Gb/s Active Cable is available now in lengths of 3 meters ($98.99) and 4.5 meters ($129.99.


Finally, OWC announced the general availability of the OWC Thunderbolt 5 Hub. This takes a single Thunderbolt 5 port on your computer and splits it into three Thunderbolt 5 ports and one USB-A port. This provides up to 80Gb/s of bi-directional data speed – up to 2x faster than Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 – and up to 120Gb/s for higher display bandwidth needs. Retail price is $189.99.


These new products join OWC’s other Thunderbolt 5 device: the OWC Envoy Ultra. This NVMe SSD is available now for preorder for $189.99. Shipping scheduled for early 2025.

EXTRA CREDIT

Here’s the OWC press release with more details.


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