Thunderbolt 5: the new standard for speed - an overview of the first external SSDs
Following the official announcement of the Thunderbolt 5 standard in September 2023, the market has finally seen the first external SSDs with support for this technology. Seagate, Sabrent and OWC presented their new products, promising a significant increase in data transfer speeds and reliability.
Here's What We Know
At CES 2025, Seagate announced the LaCie Rugged SSD Pro5. This drive offers read speeds up to 6700 MB/s and write speeds up to 5300 MB/s. It is available in 2TB versions for $400 and 4TB for $600. The device has a protective rubber enclosure that is drop resistant up to three metres and IP68 waterproofing.
Back in August 2024, Sabrent announced the Rocket XTRM 5, the world's first Thunderbolt 5 external SSD. It offers read speeds of up to 6000MB/s and write speeds of up to 5000MB/s. The device is available in 1TB, 2TB and 4TB variants and is on pre-order.
OWC introduced the Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 model in September 2024. This waterproof and dustproof drive offers read speeds in excess of 6,000MB/s. The 2TB and 4TB versions are priced at $400 and $600 respectively. The first batches have already sold out, but are available for pre-order with an expected delivery date of mid-January 2025.
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Despite the promised improvements, the introduction of Thunderbolt 5 has not been without its challenges. Some users, including PCWorld senior editor Mark Hachman, have experienced compatibility and performance issues. This indicates that the technology is not yet fully ready for mainstream use.
Overall, the arrival of the first Thunderbolt 5-enabled external SSDs marks a new era in data transfer speeds, but users should be prepared for possible "childhood diseases" of the new technology.
Source: The Verge
