Solid State Drives

Hard Drives & SSDs: Actual Formatted Capacity

When formatted, all drives will be recognized as having less space available than the number of GB or TB designated in the product name. The reason for this is that operating systems consider 1GB to equal 1,024 bytes, while manufacturers consider 1GB to b...

Hard Drives & SSDs: OWC Formatting Guides

Please visit this page for our latest formatting recommendations: https://www.owcdigital.com/support/formatting [https://www.owcdigital.com/support/formatting]...

OWC ThunderBlade: macOS Boot Drive Setup

RELEVANT PART NUMBERS: * OWCTB3TBV4T1.0 * OWCTB3TBV4T2.0 * OWCTB3TBV4T4.0 * OWCTB3TBV4T8.0 * OWCTB3TBV4T01 * OWCTB3TBV4T02 * OWCTB3TBV4T04 * OWCTB3TBV4T08 * OWCTB3TBL8X08 * OWCTB3TBL8X16 * OWCTB3TBL8X32 DETAILS * Please note th...

OWC SSDs: SLC Mode Background

OVERVIEW Please note that starting in 2017, many OWC SSDs include a feature known as "SLC Cache Mode." THESE DRIVES DO NOT CONTAIN SLC FLASH MODULES. Rather, they contain either MLC or TLC flash modules as well as a flash controller capable of providing ...

Mac: 10.13 or later - Driver Warning

RELATED ARTICLE: RELEVANT PART NUMBERS: * OWCSSDPHWE2R240 * OWCSSDPHWE2R480 * OWCSSDPHWE2R960 * OWCSSDPHWE2R2UP * NWTADPU3GIGE * NWTMXPCIE6GRS4E * J6GHPCI2E Please note that if you install an OWC-provided driver for the above noted p...

Envoy Pro (PCIe): Apple SSD Compatibility

RELEVANT PART NUMBERS * OWCMAU3ENPRPCI COMPATIBILITY ISSUE Apple NVMe SSDs (all models), and AHCI SSDs made by Samsung (models from 2015 or later), while physically compatible with the Envoy Pro (OWCMAU3ENPRPCI), are not supported. WHAT HAPPENS? ...

Aura SSDs: macOS 12.x Monterey Install Requirement

RELEVANT PART NUMBERS (DRIVE ONLY): (Aura Pro X2 SSDs) OWCS3DAPT4MB02 OWCS3DAPT4MB05 OWCS3DAPT4MB10 OWCS3DAPT4MB20 (Aura N2 SSDs) OWCS4DAB4MB02 OWCS4DAB4MB05 OWCS4DAB4MB10 In later 2019 iterations of macOS 10.x Apple's install failed to update firmw...

Aura Pro X SSDs: Performance Notes

RELEVANT PART NUMBERS: * OWCS3DAPB4MB02 * OWCS3DAPB4MB05 * OWCS3DAPB4MB10 * OWCS3DAPB4MB20 Please note that in circumstances where customers are pushing their Aura Pro X SSD to its performance limits — for example, when encoding high resolution...

Hard Drive: Expected and Unexpected Drive Noise

An external hard drive will make a range of sounds during regular use, which are perfectly normal and expected. There are also environmental elements which can impact sound perception:   * In an otherwise quiet room, HDD sounds can get exaggerated.   ...

Accelsior 8M2: Windows Mass Storage Controller

RELAVANT PART NUMBERS: OWCSSDACL8M200T, OWCSSDACL8M202T, OWCSSDACL8M204T, OWCSSDACL8M208T, OWCSSDACL8M216T, OWCSSDACL8M232T, OWCSSDACL8M264M The Accelsior 8M2 will not be recognized by name when used with Windows. Instead, the Accelsior 8M2 will be seen...

OWC U2 Shuttle: Accessing Drives and Thermal Pad Warning

RELEVANT PART NUMBERS: OWCU2SHUTTLE, OWCU2SHUTTLE01, OWCU2SHUTTLE02, OWCU2SHUTTLE04, OWCU2SHUTTLE08, OWCU2SHUTTLE16, OWCU2SHUTTLE32 Usage over time may result in the thermal pad of the U2 Shuttle sticking to the drives. Users when opening the U.2 Shuttl...

Incompatible SSD List: macOS 10.14 'Mojave' and Later

The following SSDs, as of February 1, 2021, have been tested by OWC and shown to be incompatible with Mac systems running macOS 10.14 'Mojave' and later regardless of how they are connected to the host computer. The behavior of each drive can vary but i...

Aura Ultra IV SSD: Thunderbolt 4 PC Mounting Issue

RELEVANT PART NUMBERS: OWCP4U8T1PT08, OWCTB3TBV4T01, OWCTB3TBV4T02, OWCTB3TBV4T04, OWCTB3TBV4T08, OWCTB3TBV4T16, OWCTB3TBV4T32, OWCTB3EX4M2, OWCTB3EX4M2SL ISSUE SOLUTION Aura Ultra IV NVMe SSDs used with multibay NVMe drive enclosures like the Thun...

4TB OWC Envoy Pro SX Heat Notice

RELEVANT PART NUMBER: OWCTB3ENVPSX04 The 4TB OWC Envoy Pro SX can reach temperatures of up to 57.2 degrees C during heavy operation. Placing the 4TB OWC Envoy Pro SX on a heat-resistant flat surface is recommended to avoid damage to the surface underneat...