OWC Express 4M2 SSD enclosure delivers USB4 speeds & smart cooling

AppleInsider

OWC's new Express 4M2 enclosure gives creative pros USB4 performance, smart cooling, and flexible RAID options in a compact, near-silent package.

Express 4M2 enclosure

Other World Computing (OWC) has released a new Express 4M2 enclosure with USB4 support, improved cooling, and expanded RAID flexibility. It's designed for creators needing fast, reliable external storage for tasks like 8K video editing, multi-camera offloads, and large batch processing.

The Express 4M2 supports up to four NVMe SSDs in 2230, 2242, or 2280 formats. It reaches real-world speeds of up to 3,200 MB/s when connected to USB4 or Thunderbolt 3 or 4 ports.

The enclosure features adaptive smart fans that only activate under heavy loads, allowing near-silent operation during lighter workflows. Combined with an aircraft-grade aluminum chassis for passive cooling, the design minimizes thermal throttling and distracting noise.

Expanded RAID support and Mac compatibility

The new Express 4M2 supports RAID 0, 1, 4, 5, and 1+0 configurations using OWC's SoftRAID software, Apple Disk Utility, or Windows RAID tools. These capabilities make it suited for workflows that require high-speed data access, redundancy, or a balance of both.

The enclosure features adaptive smart fans. Image credit: OWC

Mac users with Apple Silicon or Intel-based systems released since 2020 will be able to take full advantage of the enclosure's performance. The device works best when connected to a USB4 or Thunderbolt 3 or 4 port.

Older Macs with only USB 3.2 will still work but at reduced speeds, closer to 1,000 MB/s. For certain RAID setups or when using 512-byte sector SSDs, macOS 14 or later may be required.

Pricing & Availability

The OWC Express 4M2 is available now for preorder starting at $239.99. That base model ships as an empty enclosure with no SSDs installed, giving users full control over the drives they use.

A bundle with a three-year license for OWC's SoftRAID software is also available for $379.99.

The OWC Express 4M2 is available now for preorder. Image credit: OWC

The unit supports up to four NVMe M.2 drives in 2230, 2242, or 2280 formats. OWC recommends using high-performance NVMe SSDs, such as its own Aura series, which currently go up to 8TB per module.

Larger capacities are expected to be supported as higher-density drives become available. Orders placed now are expected to ship the week of July 1 through OWC's official store.



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botsauce

Is it fully bus powered? If not, what does the brick look like? 

nicholfd

botsauce said:

Is it fully bus powered? If not, what does the brick look like? 

It cannot be fully bus powered.  TBx can only provide 15w per port & 1 x slower enclosure with 1 x NVMe can pull that much power (from personal experience & discussing with Apple support.)

clarus

This is great news. I’ve literally been waiting for this 4m2 upgrade for YEARS...one that works properly. The reason is, OWC previously had a nice little black 4m2 which said it was Thunderbolt 2 and 3 compatible. The catch was, if you weren’t ganging up multiple SSDs as a RAID, it could only do a single slot transfer at under 900MB/sec (slower than USB 3.2) because of the older PCI standard it used, but I wanted to use it as JBOD. Also, people said the fan was noisy. So I didn't buy it.

This new 4m2 looks like it's fully modernized for Thunderbolt 4/USB4. It would be nice if AppleInsider could test one when it becomes available and confirm that the 3200MB/sec that OWC claims really applies to every slot individually. That is how it should work. Also, if AppleInsider could verify that the OWC claim of "near silent operation" is actually true this time.

edited June 24

clarus

botsauce said:

Is it fully bus powered? If not, what does the brick look like? 

For the reasons Nicolfd said, if you have an external enclosure that can take more than one drive, it is rarely bus-powered. I have shopped for just two-bay NVMe enclosures and they either need a wall adapter, or in some cases can be bus-powered if you use a crazy adapter cable to plug it into two of your USB-C ports. That is for just two bays. This one has the power draw of four drive bays, which means the chances of it being bus-powered by today's computers is probably zero.

Now, about the power brick...that seems to be answered by going to the web page for this product on the OWC website. In the specs, I found a line that says "Secondary/replacement power supplies are also available." That was linked to this page:
https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/PWR12V6A/

So it looks like it uses the same power brick that they ship with many other enclosures that they sell. Look at the Specs section of that link to learn the dimensions and weight of the power brick.

edited June 24

nicholfd

Clarus said:

Now, about the brick...that seems to be answered by going to the web page for this product on the OWC website. In the specs, I found a line that says "Secondary/replacement power supplies are also available." That was linked to this page:

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/PWR12V6A/

So it looks like it uses the same power brick that they ship with many other enclosures that they sell. Look at the Specs section of that link to learn the dimensions and weight of the power brick.

Yep - that's the same brick on my current (old) OWC Express 4M2.  And you're correct about the old model fan being noisy.  I replaced the fan with a $3 fan from Amazon, that I don't hear at all (verified it is running).

stevewhitemd

To Nicholfd -- which fan at Amazon? I have two of the current (old) Express 4M2, and the fan on one of them definitely needs to go. A pointer would be great.

nicholfd

stevewhitemd said:

To Nicholfd -- which fan at Amazon? I have two of the current (old) Express 4M2, and the fan on one of them definitely needs to go. A pointer would be great.

I can't measure/check it now, but I believe it was this one (measure the dimensions of your fan):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099NGS1R1?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_22

That item is no longer available.  Dimensions (x/y/z), 12v (like original), brushless & ball bearings are the important part when shopping.  The connector on the fan above is not the correct connector for the enclosure.  I cut the connector off of the factory fan & replacement, and soldered the connector on the replacement fan.

Here are several options (verify details above:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=60mm+x+15mm+fan+12v+quiet&crid=2HMM9N5SI5AGP&sprefix=60mm+x+60mm+x+15mm+12V+fan%2Caps%2C320&ref=nb_sb_ss_p13n-pd-dpltr-ranker_1_26

momoaz

Does anyone have suggestions for a good replacement for the Thunderbay Mini Quad TB3 Enclosure? This enclosure looks great but 4 8TB drives at $600 each are a bit spendy for an ssd plex array. I used the Mini TB3 which are getting hard to find  with 4 Samsung 8TB 2.5 in Sata  and they are adequate for about $350 per drive. even though the speed is significantly less that are great for data hoarders. The only other option I can think of is like the Crucial 8TB external and a small usb hub to hook them all up. 

edited June 25

atonaldenim

Like Clarus said, the old model was very limited in its design, it only assigned 1x PCIe lane to each of the 4 NVMe slots. So the only way to get full performance out of it was if you had all 4 SSD slots filled and in a RAID together. 

If you just wanted to access one SSD in the enclosure say, that one drive would be limited to 1/4 the top speed of the connection. 

Do we know for sure whether this design flaw is fixed now, or still remains?

This one would sure look nice next to my Mac Studio!

nicholfd

atonaldenim said:

Like Clarus said, the old model was very limited in its design, it only assigned 1x PCIe lane to each of the 4 NVMe slots. So the only way to get full performance out of it was if you had all 4 SSD slots filled and in a RAID together. 

If you just wanted to access one SSD in the enclosure say, that one drive would be limited to 1/4 the top speed of the connection. 

Do we know for sure whether this design flaw is fixed now, or still remains?

This one would sure look nice next to my Mac Studio!

It is improved - more than twice the speed, for striping across the 4 x NVMe drives, and I expect double for accessing a single NVMe drive.  My old one is striped across 4 x NVMe drives.  I just ordered the new model, I'm glad to test when it arrives.  if I remember, I'll reply here.

Or you could simply call OWC, get a real person in the US, and ask them.  They have great customer service.

faolan

Clarus said:

It would be nice if AppleInsider could test one when it becomes available and confirm that the 3200MB/sec that OWC claims really applies to every slot individually. That is how it should work. Also, if AppleInsider could verify that the OWC claim of "near silent operation" is actually true this time.

From the manual, Section 3.6 regarding single drive speed, and the fan speeds.

• Single drive performance up to 1600MB/s.
• The OWC USB4 Express 4M2 has (2) 40mm fans for with variable cooling based on device temperature.
  
• • < 35°C (FAN OFF)
  • >= 35°C (FAN-PWM 40%)
  • >= 45°C (FAN-PWM 60%)
  • >= 50°C (FAN-PWM 80%)
  • >= 55°C (FAN-PWM 100%)