The OWC Thunderbolt 5 Hub includes three ports that move data up to twice as fast as Thunderbolt 4 and USB4. That’s professional-level connectivity, opening the possibility of portable SSDs running at 6000MBps or up to three 8K displays at 60Hz .
After an announcement in autumn 2024, the hub is now ready to buy.
If you want the biggest and highest-capacity external hard drive, Cyber Monday is the time to buy.
I have a personal recommendation on a Thunderbolt enclosure that fits four full-size hard drives or SSDs, so you can get the fastest storage in enormous capacities. I’ve used the OWC ThunderBay 4 for about a year (having purchased the hard drive last Black Friday, coincidentally enough) and it’s served me well for all my odd purposes.
Here’s how to get the fastest, biggest external storage this shopping season.
Other World Computing’s Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 SSD is for professionals needing the fastest data transfer rate available. The external solid state drive can move files at up to 6000 MBps or more, making it up to twice as fast as Thunderbolt 4 and USB4.
Plus, the SSD is rugged and designed to be ready to go wherever needed.
There’s a lot to love about M1 MacBooks, but easy connectivity with multiple external displays isn’t on the list. So people often wonder which dock or adapter might suit their need to use one or more external displays with the laptop. Today’s M1 MacBook Air user asked for advice and got it. You can check out the three main recommendations for a good dock for MacBook Air below.
Our setups coverage often reveals clues to Apple hardware’s functional longevity. An iOS and macOS developer uses today’s setup. Even though two new generations of powerful Apple silicon chips have supercharged more recent MacBooks, he’s still cranking away on an M1 Max MacBook Pro run through an OWC Thunderbolt 4 dock.
In fact, he just updated his setup. But that turned out to have nothing to do with the computer. It was all about adding decorative toy figures, an LED light strip and a new wooden countertop as a desk.
Known for docks, hubs and other Mac-friendly accessories, OWC has put together a big sale on Amazon. You can get up to $100 off Thunderbolt docks!
We’re focusing on Thunderbolt docks that can help you broaden your computer setup’s connectivity. But you can also find external hard drives, memory kits, keyboards, cables and more in the sale.
iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max can record ProRes video at 4K and 60 fps, but only if the handset is connected to an external drive that’s fast enough to handle it. To find out if your SSD is up to the job, there’s OWC Drive Speed.
This new app verifies transfer speeds between your iPhone and external drives. It displays the maximum frames per second a drive can handle. Because you don’t want to find out on the day of the shoot that the SSD you’re counting on is a dud.
When you remodel your home office, isn’t that a great excuse to revamp the ol’ computer setup? That’s what happened with today’s featured rig, which relies on a new MacBook Pro and a Samsung super-ultra-wide display.
But all commenters wanted to talk about was the accent wall and the solid-wood DIY standing desk. And the killer Klipsch audio got some love, too.
There’s nothing like stained wood to make a computer setup look like a class act. Today’s featured M1 Max MacBook Pro and custom PC workstation places those powerful machines on shelves off to the side that more-or-less match the desk.
Relocating the computers makes more room on the beautiful wooden desktop, which ups the quality even further with a handsome wooden desk shelf for the external display and other items.
Getting a complex computer setup just-so can be a daunting experience for even seasoned users. Maybe somebody should create a diagram or something? Well, someone did, making a highly capable MacBook Pro-and-PC setup with external display, storage, audio and more look even more complicated than it really is.
The sleekly executed diagram delighted viewers on social media. Check it out below.
We often see big upgrades to setups we’ve covered here in the past. But they’re not usually comprehensive, where everything from the daily-driver Mac to the input devices to the audio gear gets made over (and in some cases greatly expanded).
Let’s just say today’s featured MacBook Pro setup looked a lot different 2 years ago. It’s more evidence that a setup is never, ever “done.”
★★★★☆
The OWC Thunderbolt Go Dock was designed to be taken on trips, which is unusual for a hub that uses this extremely fast connection standard. While portable, it still has room for eleven ports in a range useful types, including Thunderbolt 4 (of course), USB-A, HDMI, USB-C and more.
I put the dock through a series of real-world tests to see how well it performs.
The OWC Thunderbolt Go Dock offers eleven ports in a range useful types, and is designed for portability. That sets it apart from typical Thunderbolt docks that are too bulky for travel.
The device was announced at CES 2023, going on now in Las Vegas.
★★★★★
The OWC Envoy Pro mini is a small external SSD with both USB-C and USB-A connectors so it works with Mac and iPad but also Windows, Android and more. It’s rugged, fast and comes with up to 1TB of storage.
I ran the tiny drive through a battery of tests. It passed with flying colors.
You, like many people, may build your computer setup around a MacBook Pro. But is yours the “standard setup” for MacBook Pro users?
If you answered “there’s no such thing,” you’re right. That’s why we were surprised to see a reference to such a standard in reaction to a setup with a MacBook Pro, a new Studio Display, an excellent CalDigit dock and a raft of excellent audio gear that not everyone has or even knows about. But maybe they should.
The OWC Envoy Pro FX is a very rugged external SSD that previously topped out at 2TB, but is now available with 4TB of storage capacity.
The solid state drive is dustproof, drop-proof, and waterproof. It’s compatible with Mac, iPad, and many other devices. Plus, it supports Thunderbolt as well as USB connections.
★★★★★
The OWC MiniStack STX is just the right size to stack with a Mac mini. The hub adds three Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports that can be hooked to high-resolution displays and external drives.
It also includes bays for SATA and/or NVMe M.2 drives. That’s space for up to 18TB of storage. Install your own drives or buy them from OWC.
I put the powerful accessory for Mac or iPad to the test over several weeks of daily use.
★★★★☆
MacBooks with an Apple M1 processor can handle only one external monitor, but the OWC USB-C Dual HDMI 4K Display Adapter with DisplayLink doubles the number. And Mac mini users can connect to three monitors with it.
I put the USB-C HDMI adapter through a round of testing to be sure it lived up to the claims.
The OWC Envoy Pro mini is a thumbdrive designed to work with almost any computer. It has both USB-C and USB-A connectors, and comes with up to 1TB of storage.
The tiny drive supports USB 3.2 Gen 2 and benchmark tests show it can transfer data at over 900 MBps.
There’s something special about old Apple gear. Maybe that’s why it comes up fairly frequently in Cult of Mac‘s Setups coverage. One of the most-beloved classics in Apple’s storied history of beloved products is the Cinema Display. Today’s featured setup sports not one but two 30-inch Cinema Displays, the big stunners Steve Jobs introduced to an absolutely dazzled Worldwide Developers Conference audience in 2004.
So, naturally, questions came up about how to best use them with a newer Mac.
Blogger Derek Seaman may be an IT systems architect in his day job, but he also designs and builds advanced computer setups. That is, if his home office is any indication. Which it is.
He shared his MacBook Pro-driven workstation — actually, the whole room — with Cult of Mac recently.
The OWC Mercury Pro U.2 Dual can handle up to eight U.2 SSDs. And it can be pre-configured with up to 64TB. That’s a lot of storage capacity. Or put in your own SSDs. And the external drive enclosure uses Thunderbolt for high-speed connections to your Mac. Plus there’s RAID support.
I put the drive holder through testing. Here’s what I found.
The OWC Envoy Pro SX uses Thunderbolt to provide the super fast data transfers that professionals need. And it’s drop-proof and waterproof so it can stand up to real life.
I put the 2 terabyte external SSD through testing. I’m impressed.
Not long ago we wrote about a person who fashioned an ergonomically healthy computer setup with little more than an M1 Pro MacBook. At the time, their fancy new display was still to-be-delivered, so they made-do without it. Now all the screens are in place and they make a magnificent workstation, with the MacBook running with one landscape-mode display and two portrait-mode monitors. It took some special connectivity tricks to make it happen.
If you have a MacBook Pro of a certain age, you probably know what it’s like to run out of storage. These days, apps, macOS updates and big media files like videos require more space than ever before. But memory and storage provider OWC has your 2016-2017 13-inch MacBook Pro covered with its new Aura Pro NT NVMe solid state drive (SSD).