The OWC Express 4M2 Ultra is a Wicked Fast Thunderbolt 5 SSD Array
OWC, or Other World Computing, has announced the Express 4M2 Ultra, an SSD RAID enclosure that pairs NVMe M.2 drives with the speed of Thunderbolt 5 for up to 6,622MB/s performance for $400.
The Express 4M2 Ultra is meant to be a “DIY” offering for high-end filmmakers who want to take advantage of the maximum bandwidth offered by Thunderbolt 5. While OWC does already offer the excellent ThunderBlade X8 RAID array, that one is meant to be a full solution out of the box, and has a price to match (especially given the current flash memory shortage).
However, if a filmmaker already has NVMe M.2 SSDs but recently upgraded to a new computer that comes equipped with Thunderbolt 5 capability, the Express 4M2 Ultra is a reasonably-priced solution to get the maximum performance out of all that hardware.
OWC says that the new enclosure is the fastest compact DIY NVMe RAID on the market. Given that Thunderbolt 5 hasn’t seen broad adoption yet, it’s hard to argue with the company.
“Express 4M2 Ultra combines everything creative professionals like you dreamed about: the freedom to choose any NVMe M.2 drive, the flexibility to configure your storage exactly how you need it, and the dramatically improved efficiency of your workflow with Thunderbolt 5 bandwidth,” OWC says. “Now you can build a desktop powerhouse RAID with your choice of drives and experience up to 6622MB/s performance that turns massive 12K RAW video files, 8K multi-cam sequences, and monster photo libraries into effortless workflows. From backing up media cards on set to working through intense VFX compositing in post, Express 4M2 Ultra delivers the customization and speed you need to stay ahead of deadlines.”
The enclosure can take four M.2 2280 or 2242 NVMe SSDs and can be configured in RAID 0, 1, 4, 5, 10, or as JBOD with either OWC’s SoftRAID utility or any other a user might already have. The Express 4M2 Ultra has two Thunderbolt 5 ports on the back to allow for daisy chaining, and OWC says that up to six can be connected together at once. One enclosure can support up to 32TB of storage, and that can be expanded up to 128TB as one volume through daisy chain expansion.
Bear in mind, though, that each of these enclosures requires its own dedicated power brick, so any desktop trying to connect six Express 4M2 Ultra enclosures to a computer will need plenty of power access.
That’s not even mentioning price. To just equip one OWC Express 4M2 Ultra with four 8TB SSDs would be extremely expensive. As an example, Lexar’s 8TB NM790 currently costs $1,400, which totals $5,600 to get to the enclosure’s maximum capacity. Multiply that by six, and a fully-equipped system would cost $33,600 in solid-state storage alone. Luckily, the enclosures don’t add much to that investment since they are only $400 each.
It is also worth mentioning that OWC went with an active cooling solution on this enclosure instead of passive cooling, which the company usually employs for its SSD products — the ThunderBlade X8, for example, is passively cooled. The power consumption and heat generation of NVMe SSDs and Thunderbolt five must be enough to warrant it, though, and OWC says the Express 4M2 Ultra keeps itself cool using an adaptive fan that it promises is quiet.
The OWC Express 4M2 Ultra is available for pre-order starting at $399.99 for non-SoftRAID models and $549.99 with SoftRAID. OWC says it expects to start shipping units in Q3 2026.
Image credits: OWC
