OWC has announced its Mercury Helios Thunderbolt-based storage solution. It is essentially a Thunderbolt PCIe adapter, with inside OWC's own Mercury Accelsior+E2, supposedly the only PCIe SSD that is supported by Macs. It has read speeds of up to 617 MB/s and write speeds of up to 524 MB/s.
Because the internal SSD is SSD-based, users can also remove it and use it in a PCIe port in their Mac Pros. The empty Helios enclosure can then be filled up with other PCIe devices such as video capture cards or sound cards.
Externally, the device features two eSATA ports, allowing users to connect even more external drives, and have them still run at 6 Gb/s speeds. Beyond this, the device can also be daisy-chained, a feature of numerous Thunderbolt devices.
"The Helios+E2 is the ultimate Thunderbolt external SSD solution for Thunderbolt enabled Macs. It's incredibly fast, easy to connect, offers additional capacity expansion potential, and adapts to changing workflow needs. It's robust enough to handle the rigors of pro audio and video studios producing HD-quality work, yet can unlock the performance potential of Thunderbolt for the masses," said Larry O'Connor, CEO of OWC.
The Mercury Helios+E2 is already available at select retailers in capacities ranging from 120 GB to 960 GB, with pricing ranging from $659.99 through $1,679.99, respectively.
