Computer accessory manufacturer Plugable has announced the release of its updated Thunderbolt 3 NVMe External SSDs, now with 1TB and 2TB capacities.
The compact drive is constructed of solid anodized aluminum, weighs 173g (6.1oz) and features an integrated 18cm (7in) 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 cable (read: not removable). Plugable claims the drive offers read and write speeds of up to 2800MB per second and 1800 MB per second, respectively, thanks to its PCIe Gen3 x4 connection.
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In our tests with a 1TB review unit Plugable sent our way to test out the claimed speeds, we were able to reach sustained write speeds of 1915MB per second and sustained read speeds of 2331MB per second using the Blackmagic Design Disk Speed test on macOS Catalina.
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| A screenshot of our test run on the latest beta of macOS Catalina using a 2016 15.6-inch MacBook Pro with Touchbar. |
These drives are backwards compatible with USB-C connections, but to get the fastest speeds, you’ll want to make sure the computer you’re plugging it into features Thunderbolt 3 connectivity. The drives come pre-formatted with exFAT out of the box, but can be reformatted to work with any other macOS or Windows system.
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The 1TB and 2TB Plugable Thunderbolt 3 NVMe External SSDs are currently available for $ 299 and $ 499, respectively. Plugable is offering a ‘launch discount’ of $ 50 on the 1TB drive and $ 100 on the 4TB drive for an unspecified amount of time. All units come with a 36-month warranty.
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