The First and Fastest Thunderbolt 5 Portable SSD
Rugged, Reliable, Revolutionary
Built like a tank for go anywhere ruggedness. Bus-powered with a built-in cable for ultra convenience. Jaw-dropping mind-blowing revolutionary real-world speed over 6000MB/s1,2. Envoy Ultra gives you the best of everything in the palm of your hand with reliability you can count on from the proven global leader of Thunderbolt innovations.
Be Your Best with the Best
With the best data transfer rates available in an external drive, Envoy Ultra is the ultimate solution when you need to be your best:
- DITs needing a high-performance shuttle drive for backups
- Professional video editors working with high bitrate codecs at high resolutions from cinema cameras.
- VFX artist and colorists handling DPX/EXR sequences
- Sports, wedding, and high-volume photographers seeking the highest workflow efficiency
- Performance enthusiasts seeking an external SSD with performance that matches internal storage
- Gamers wanting fastest load times, lag-free performance, and quick social shares of their gameplay.
Maximum Performance and Compatibility
Envoy Ultra utilizes advanced Thunderbolt 5 technology for a one-two performance punch that lets you match your machine’s internal storage speed. You’ll also blow away bottleneck barriers when you connect Envoy Ultra to Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4, or USB4 machine. Simply connect Envoy Ultra’s built-in cable to start enjoying maximum performance with maximum compatibility.
Envoy Ultra Connected to:
- Thunderbolt 5 host Over 6000MB/s1,2
- Thunderbolt 4 host Over 2800MB/s up to 3800MB/s
- Thunderbolt 3 host (Mac only) Up to 2800MB/s
- USB4 host Over 3800MB/s
Imagine the possibilities when you can work 2x faster vs Thunderbolt 4 and USB4…
All The World is Your Stage
Produce your next masterpiece anywhere you want with Envoy Ultra. With the best of all worlds in portable storage – rugged reliability, revolutionary speed, and massive capacity – Envoy Ultra is your co-star on the creative stage where your performance must be memorable.
Place a massive asset library on this portable powerhouse for unlimited creativity at your fingertips. Edit and render massive images and video footage then transfer them at ridiculously fast speeds. Expand your notebook’s storage while matching its internal SSD’s performance. And when you need to share the Envoy Ultra, you can use it interchangeably with Macs and PCs hassle-free using OWC's MacDrive software (sold separately).
Level Up Your Gaming
Your gaming will be oh so much more enjoyable when you take your capabilities to the next level with Envoy Ultra. Carry your favorite titles with you and load them in a blink. Leave lag behind forever. Record, edit, and share gameplay videos, screenshots, and livestreams on YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook near instantly.
A Captivating Performance Advantage
There’s way more to Envoy Ultra’s captive cable than it always being ready to use and never having to hunt around for a connection cable. The use of the encapsulated cable enables the Envoy Ultra not only to be waterproof, but specific tuning to enable it to be the absolutely highest performing and most reliable Thunderbolt 5 bus-powered device possible in a Thunderbolt certified device
Ability to tune the storage within the device for highest possible realworld performance.
The encapsulated cable supports/allows for user replaceability should this ever be necessary.
Works for Everybody
OWC products are loved around the world over for their It Just Works™ ease-of-use and reliability. Envoy Ultra comes Apple File System (APFS) formatted so you just plug it into your Mac or iPad Pro and you’re ready to go. Don’t fret if you’re a PC user, OWC’s free Drive Guide helps you easily reformat for Windows in seconds.
Certified Confidence
Like all OWC storage products, Envoy Ultra underwent rigorous development testing processes, including intensive mandatory Thunderbolt certification. This hyper-focused attention to detail helps ensure you’ll enjoy a guaranteed consistent experience using Envoy Ultra with a wide range of products and brands.
Then it was subjected to near sadistic environmental abuses to give it our legendary tank-like toughness that pros working in the field stake their reputation on. As a final reliability assurance, each Envoy Ultra goes through a multi-step performance verification prior to shipping.
Ready to go. Right out of the box.
OWC products are loved around the world for It Just Works™ ease-of-use and reliability. To provide the highest performance, reliability, and ready-to-run convenience available, your solution comes formatted in the native APFS macOS and iPadOS file system. With OWC, you don’t have to worry about reformatting hassles or confusion like other solutions — just plug your drive into your Mac or iPad and you’re good to go.
- Up to 6000MB/s sequential read/write (max) performance based on testing a 2.0TB OWC Aura Pro IV equipped Envoy Ultra connected to a Windows 11 PC equipped with an Intel Core i9-14900HX 2200 MHz 24 Core processor and 32GB 5600MHz RAM running AJA System Test (4K-Full resolution, 64GB file size, 16bit RGB codec, single file test). Performance will vary depending on drive and application used.
- Initial data rates of over 6000MB/s for continuous data write. Longer data write sessions will have sustained write speeds of 1350MB/s (2TB) and 1700MB/s (4TB). Read speeds consistently over 6000MB/s end to end.
- PCs, Chromebooks, and Surface devices require a Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 5, or USB4 port to use Envoy Ultra.
- Envoy Ultra enclosure is IP66 rated. Connector/plug end of the built-in Thunderbolt cable is not waterproof and must be dry/clean before connecting Envoy Ultra to a machine or device.
- In the unlikely event the integrated cable must be replaced, it is a user serviceable item and will be available beginning 2025.
Product Specifications
Storage
- Drive Bays
- 1 bay
- Total Capacity
- 3840GB Useable Capacity
- Total Capacity: 4096GB
- 256GB Allocated to real-time data redundancy and error correction
- Drive Mechanism
- (1) 4.0TB OWC Aura Pro IV PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 2280 Solid-State Drive
- *OWC reserves the right to replace or upgrade to equivalent or better components.
- Plug and Play
- Yes
- Boot Support
- Mac only. Boot Camp is not supported.
- Drive Format
- APFS for Mac and iPad systems
- Windows, Chrome, and Android users please consult OWC Drive Setup for Windows, Chrome, and Android Platformsfor formatting instructions
Ports
- Captive Cable
- (1) Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C)
Performance
- Data Transfer Rate (Maximum)
- Thunderbolt 5 : Up to 80Gb/s
- USB4 : Up to 40Gb/s (or 5000MB/s)
Chipset
- Chipset / Controller
- Thunderbolt: JHL9480
Compatibility
- Host Interface Requirements
- Thunderbolt 5 port
- Thunderbolt 4 port
- Thunderbolt 3 port (Mac Only)
- USB4 port
- Mac OS Compatibility
- macOS 14.x Sonoma
- macOS 15.x Sequoia
- PC OS Compatibility
- Windows 10 32-bit Edition
- Windows 10 64-bit Edition
- Windows Server 2019
- Windows Server 2022
- Windows 11
- Linux OS Compatibility
- Yes
- Mobile OS Compatibility
- iPadOS 17
- iPadOS 18
- Other OS Compatibility
- Chrome OS
- Driver Required
- No
- Other Requirements
- Thunderbolt 5 for Mac requires macOS 15.x or later.
- Thunderbolt 5 for PC requires Windows 11.
- Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 connections on an Apple silicon Mac require macOS version 14.x or later.
- Thunderbolt 3 support is Mac only and requires macOS version 15.x or later.
- USB4 connections for a Chromebook or Surface require the latest version of Chrome OS.
- Linux users should use the latest version of Ubuntu.
Power
- External Power Adapter
- No
- Power Supply
- Bus-powered
Physical
- Captive Cable
- (1) Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C)
- Security Slot
- No
- Housing Color
- Black
- Housing Material
- Aluminum
- Dimensions
- Height: 2.0 cm (0.8 in)
- Length: 13.0 cm (5.1 in)
- Width: 7.5 cm (3.0 in)
- Captive Cable Length: 23.3 cm (9.2 in)
- Weight
- 341.0 g (0.75 lbs)
- IP Rating
- IP67 (Dust-tight, protected against the effects of temporary immersion in water)
Certifications
- Certifications
- CE
- FCC
- RCM
- VCCI
- UKCA
- IC
Environmental
- Ambient Temperature
- Operating: 41°F to 95°F (5°C to 35°C)
- Non-Operating: 68°F to 140°F (20°C to 60°C)
- Altitude
- Operating: -304.8 m to 3,048.0 m (-1,000 ft to 10,000 ft)
- Non-Operating: -304.8 m to 12,192.0 m (-1,000 ft to 40,000 ft)
- Humidity
- Operating: 8% to 90% non-condensing
- Non-Operating: 5% to 95% non-condensing
Acoustics
- Noise
- 0.0dB
Notes
- Thunderbolt 3 support is Mac only.
- Thunderbolt 3 or later and USB4 connections on a Mac require macOS version 14.x or later.
- Intel based Mac systems require macOS 15 or later
- USB4 connections for a ChromeBook or Surface require the latest version of Chrome OS.
- Linux users should use the latest version of Ubuntu.
Manufacturer provided specifications for OWC p/n OWCTB5ENVU04
OWC(Other World Computing)
