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Following the arrival of the first Thunderbolt 5 cables<\/a> last July and the first Thunderbolt 5 dock<\/a> last September, it might finally be time to start upgrading your external storage to take advantage of the increased performance. It\u2019s been a slow rollout for Thunderbolt 5 hardware following its official reveal in September 2023<\/a>, but companies like Seagate, OWC, and Sabrent finally have SSDs en route supporting the new standard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Like previous LaCie rugged drives, the new SSD comes in a rubber enclosure in blue, black, and orange color options, helping it survive drops from heights of up to three meters. It\u2019s also waterproof with an IP68 rating, so it can survive a complete dunking to depths of one meter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There are a few other choices that have been announced, too, though with varying levels of availability. Sabrent, for example, was actually one of the first companies to announce a Thunderbolt 5 SSD<\/a> last August, but the SSD isn\u2019t out yet. The Rocket XTRM 5<\/a> comes in a silicone sleeve for extra protection from falls, and the company says it can reach read and write speeds of 6,000MB\/s and 5,000MB\/s, respectively. It\u2019s expected to be available in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities but is still listed as only being available for preorder through Sabrent\u2019s website.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n OWC announced its Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 SSD<\/a> last September. The company says the external drive is water-resistant, dust-resistant, and crushproof, and offers read speeds of over 6,000MB\/s. When it was announced, OWC said the Envoy Ultra would be available in a 2TB version for $399.99 and a 4TB version for $599.99, with shipping starting in late October. The first shipments of the drives sold out, but it\u2019s still available for preorder through OWC\u2019s website<\/a> with an expected ship date of mid-January 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n However, despite the promised performance improvements, and the yearlong wait for hardware to finally materialize, upgrading your setup to Thunderbolt 5 might still have a few speed bumps. That\u2019s what Mark Hachman, the senior editor of PCWorld<\/em>, discovered<\/a> when trying to get a Maingear ML-17 laptop, Kensington\u2019s Thunderbolt 5 dock, OWC\u2019s Envoy Ultra SSD, and Acer\u2019s Nitro XV5 displays to play nice. The setup was plagued by laggy performance and slow transfer speeds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n