LaCie, which serves as the premium consumer arm of Seagate's product line, debuted two new products designed by Neil Poulton.
d2 Thunderbolt 3
The d2 Thunderbolt 3 makes the step up to a dual Thunderbolt 3 connection and also features a USB-C port. Like its Thunderbolt 2-equipped predecessor, the unit supports a dual connection that allows you to daisy chain two 4K displays, one 5K display, or up to six d2 enclosures.
The d2 also brings up to 10TB of capacity to bear, which eclipses the previous limitation of 8TB, and it also comes in 6TB and 8TB options. The enclosure packs the enterprise-class 7,200-RPM Seagate Barracuda Pro HDDs. The single drive provides up to 240MBps of throughput, which is a slight increase over the previous-generation drives. Of course, the HDD isn't suitable for random access. The previous generation offered an SSD upgrade path, but there is no mention of that option with the new model.
The svelte aluminum unibody can be a bit misleading, because the enclosure uses an external power supply, which isn't pictured. The unit features a Kensington lock, which would be helpful in an office environment.
LaCie includes a 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 USB-C cable, along with a USB 3.0 USB-C to USB-A adapter cable. All capacities come with a 5-year warranty and start at $430. The drives will be available worldwide this quarter.
LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt USB-C
LaCie's Rugged Thunderbolt USB-C drives are designed to stand up to not only rough-and-tough use but also the elements. LaCie claims the drives can withstand the force of being run over by a 1-ton car, a 6.6-foot drop, and dust and water (IP54-rating). The drives also support AES 256-bit software encryption.
The Rugged series features a USB-C connector and supports up to Thunderbolt 2 speeds.
The rugged drives come in both SSD and HDD flavors. The SSD models come in 1TB and 500GB capacities and offer transfer speeds up to 510MBps. The HDD models top out at 130MBps and use the Seagate BarraCuda drives. They come with 2TB, 4TB, and 5TB options, and prices start at $250. The drives will be available worldwide this quarter and carry a three-year warranty.
