The Fastest Compact DIY NVMe RAID. Period.
- Maximum Performance: Up to 6622MB/s real-world speed for 12K RAW video, 8K multi-cam sequences, batch processing of high-res images, and large data sets.
- Your Drives, Your RAID: DIY easy install four NVMe M.2 2280 or 2242 single or double-sided PCIe 3.0/4.0/5.0 SSDs based on your current budget and performance needs. With support for RAID 0/1/4/5/10/JBOD via SoftRAID or another RAID utility, you decide the RAID level that meets your workflow needs.
- Time is Money. Save Big on Both: The DIY design lets you swap in faster, larger drives as they become available without having to buy a new enclosure while taking advantage of Thunderbolt 5’s incredible speed to cut your ingestion times in half.
- Scale As You Grow: Start with up to 32TB today in a single enclosure and expand up to 128TB as one volume through daisy chaining additional Express 4M2 Ultras.
- Connect All Your Devices: Daisy chain up to five additional Thunderbolt devices plus one USB peripheral via the second Thunderbolt 5 port.
Your Drives. Your RAID. Powered by Thunderbolt 5.
You asked for it. We delivered. Express 4M2 Ultra combines everything creative professionals like you dreamed about: the freedom to choose any NVMe M.2 drive, the flexibility to configure your storage exactly how you need it, and the dramatically improved efficiency of your workflow with Thunderbolt 5 bandwidth. Now you can build a desktop powerhouse RAID with your choice of drives and experience up to 6622MB/s performance that turns massive 12K RAW video files, 8K multi-cam sequences, and monster photo libraries into effortless workflows. From backing up media cards on set to working through intense VFX compositing in post, Express 4M2 Ultra delivers the customization and speed you need to stay ahead of deadlines.
Maximum Performance
Up to 6622MB/s1 real-world speed for 12K RAW video, 8K multi-cam sequences, batch processing of high-res images, and large data sets.
Connect All Your Devices
Daisy chain up to five additional Thunderbolt devices plus one USB peripheral via the second Thunderbolt 5 port.
Your Drives, Your RAID
DIY easy install four NVMe M.2 2280 or 2242 single or double-sided PCIe 3.0/4.0/5.0 SSDs based on your current budget and performance needs. With support for RAID 0/1/4/5/10/JBOD via SoftRAID or another RAID utility, you decide the RAID level that meets your workflow needs.
Work Fast with Full Focus
A smart adaptive fan quietly activates inside the solid aircraft-grade aluminum body only when needed to keep your drives running at full speed without the noise that breaks creative focus or thermal throttling that kills productivity.
Time is Money. Save Big on Both.
The DIY design lets you swap in faster, larger drives as they become available without having to buy a new enclosure while taking advantage of Thunderbolt 5's incredible speed to cut your ingestion times in half.
Highly Compatible
Use with Thunderbolt 5, 4, and USB4 Macs and PCs as well as Thunderbolt 3 Macs.
Scale As You Grow
Start with up to 32TB today in a single enclosure and expand up to 128TB as one volume through daisy chaining additional Express 4M2 Ultras.
Complete
Includes Thunderbolt 5 80Gb/s cable.
Expands With Your Growing Needs
Start with up to 32TB in a single compact enclosure. When you need more capacity, daisy-chain additional Express 4M2 Ultra units through the second Thunderbolt 5 port to create one huge, unified volume instead of juggling multiple drive letters or splitting projects across locations. Four enclosures give you 128TB and beyond. The second Thunderbolt 5 port also lets you connect up to five additional Thunderbolt devices plus one USB peripheral. Your workspace grows exactly how you need it. Production companies building shared storage arrays and solo creators future-proofing their setup get the same limitless scalability.
Build Your Perfect Storage Solution
Engineered to support any NVMe M.2 2280 or 2242 SSD, this compact powerhouse gives you total freedom to choose your preferred brand, capacity and performance level, whether it’s bleeding-edge fast PCIe 5.0/4.0 drives or mid-level speed PCIe 3.0 drives you may already own. Add up to a massive 8.0TB capacity per drive for 32TB total. When tomorrow's 16TB drives hit the market, you can easily boost your Express 4M2 Ultra's capacity without buying a new enclosure. Your storage. Your choice. Your future.
Unleash Maximum Speed with Thunderbolt 5
Express 4M2 Ultra is the fastest DIY multiple NVMe SSD enclosure we offer and was purposefully built to harness Thunderbolt 5's incredible 80Gb/s bandwidth. Experience up to 6622MB/s performance with your Mac or PC. Connect to Thunderbolt 4 or USB4 systems and still get speeds up to 3200MB/s. Even Thunderbolt 3 Macs tap into blazing performance. You're never locked out, and you're always ready for your next system upgrade.
Over 2x Faster Multi-Camera Ingest
In the fast-paced, tight-budget world of filmmaking where time is money, every minute saved is critical. When you're juggling multiple cameras or offloading a variety of media cards simultaneously, you’ll keep your production running ahead of schedule by ingesting over twice as fast with Express 4M2 Ultra vs 40Gb/s storage.
Full Speed with Full Focus
High-performance NVMe drives in RAID configurations generate serious heat. Whether you're rendering 8K footage, ingesting multiple media cards, or running intensive database operations, you get maximum performance without the noise that breaks creative focus or the thermal throttling that kills productivity. Express 4M2 Ultra's solid aircraft-grade aluminum body provides passive cooling and rugged protection, while a smart adaptive fan quietly activates only during sustained workloads.
Express 4M2 Ultra is ideal for:
- DITs and Filmmakers wanting to build the fastest compact NVMe SSD RAID with expandable capacity and the ability to daisy-chain additional enclosures as a massive single volume or connect devices for additional capabilities through the second Thunderbolt 5 port while experiencing maximum offload speeds and thermal stability when backing up media cards from multiple cameras on set.
- Professional video editors, VFX artists, Colorists, and high-volume photographers seeking the fastest NVMe SSD RAID to handle demanding post-production and editing workflows including 12K RAW video, VFX compositing work, multicam sequences in 8K RAW or ProRes video, and batch editing ultra-high-resolution pictures.
- Performance-driven professionals, power users, and technical teams who require full control over capacity, speed, and scalability. Express 4M2 Ultra is the ultimate DIY Thunderbolt 5 NVMe RAID platform for pushing demanding workflows and data intensive applications beyond conventional limits.
Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation
More than just great song lyrics, you need to consider which PCIe SSD generation is appropriate for your unique needs. Check out the speeds you can experience when using different generation SSDs in Express 4M2 Ultra:
More Powerful with SoftRAID
Need more power and protection? Choose a solution that includes OWC's powerful SoftRAID RAID software.
SoftRAID is the most powerful, intuitive software RAID utility on the market. Multiple RAID levels let you select the RAID level that fits you or your project’s needs best. If you need maximum volume capacity, optimum drive performance, data protection, or a combination of attributes, SoftRAID has you covered.
Packed with features like drive validation, verification and failure prediction—SoftRAID includes features you simply don’t get with hardware RAID. It’s like having a datacenter on your desktop! From home users looking to protect photos and documents to professionals needing to protect and quickly access projects, SoftRAID is the perfect solution.
Your Data’s Reliability is Our #1 Priority
Anyone can put a bunch of components in a housing and call it an enclosure or a drive. OWC is not just anyone. We’re a group of filmmakers, musicians, designers, content creators, and parents just like you wanting to capture and preserve that irreplaceable moment. Our data storage products go through countless hours of ongoing development testing and certification processes. We then subject them to extreme real-world abuses. The priority for some storage devices is to be a mass-produced, lowest price commodity. We do it differently because the reliability of your data and the longevity of an OWC product is priority #1.
Specifications
Drive Bays
4 bays supporting: M.2 SSDs
Supports single-sided and double-sided M.2 2280, M.2 2242 "M Key" drives
NVMe SSDs with a heatsink are not supported.
Supports PCIe Gen 3 and later SSDs with Gen 4 and later recommended for best performance.
Each bay offers PCIe 4.0 x1 performance.
Single drive performance up to 1600MB/s.
Hot Plug Support
Yes
Boot Support
All four drive bays are bootable on macOS. SSDs with 512 byte sectors require macOS 10.13 or later. Boot Camp is not supported.
RAID Capable
Yes
Device Ports
(1) Host Port - Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) up to 80Gb/s
Power Delivery
15W
UASP Support
UASP (USB Attached SCSI Protocol) is supported
Display Support
Up to two 8K displays @ 120Hz,
or three 4K displays @ 144Hz
Display Support by Port
Thunderbolt 5 up to two 8K @ 120Hz or three 4K @ 144Hz via a native Thunderbolt 5 display or other displays that support USB-C connections and DisplayPort 2.1
Data Transfer Rate (Maximum)
Thunderbolt 5 : Up to 80Gb/s
USB4: Up to 80Gb/s (or 10000MB/s)
Host Interface Requirements
Thunderbolt 5 port
Thunderbolt 4 port
Thunderbolt 3 port (Mac Only)
USB4 port
Other OS Compatibility
Thunderbolt 5 for Mac requires macOS 15.x or later.
Thunderbolt 5 for PC requires Windows 11 (version 22H2) or later.
Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 connections on an Apple silicon Mac require macOS version 14.6.x or later.
Thunderbolt 3 support is Mac only and requires macOS version 15.x or later.
Intel Mac systems require macOS version 15.x or later.
Chromebook or Surface systems require the latest version of Chrome OS.
iPad systems require the latest version of iPad OS.
Linux users should use the latest version of Ubuntu.
Driver Required
No
Other Requirements
When using one or more SSDs with 512 byte sectors, macOS 10.13 or later is required.
SoftRAID works with macOS 10.14 or later and Windows 10 or later. SoftRAID is licensed per computer. The SoftRAID serial number will work with both Mac and Windows but can only be active on one computer at a time. Additional seats can be purchased.
External Power Adapter
Yes (with Australian power plug)
Power Supply
External UL-listed universal auto-switching power supply
Wattage
90W
Fans
(1) 40mm 4,000RPM cooling fan
< 35°C (FAN OFF)
>= 35°C (FAN-PWM 40%)
>= 45°C (FAN-PWM 60%)
>= 50°C (FAN-PWM 80%)
>= 55°C (FAN-PWM 100%)
Security Slot
No
Power/Activity LED(s)
Yes
Housing Color
Black
Housing Material
Aluminum
Dimensions
Height: 12.3 cm (4.8 in)
Length: 11.7 cm (4.6 in)
Width: 6.0 cm (2.4 in)
Weight
900.0 g without installed SSDs
We are a registered New Zealand company (Upgradeable Limited), all orders include 15% GST. You are protected by local consumer law when you buy here. All product ships from our Australian warehouse until we can set up local distribution.