Apple charges $3,800 to upgrade the new M5 Max Mac Studio from 512GB to 8TB. You have better and more flexible choices that can save you money.
Before Apple's June price increases, the storage upgrade prices were easier to justify. They're much harder to swallow now.
The new M5 Max Mac Studio starts at $2,499 and is available to preorder ahead of its September 22 release. Selecting 8TB in Apple's configurator adds $3,800 to the base model's price.
An external SSD adds 8TB without replacing the 512GB already inside the Mac. It can also move between computers, be replaced later, and remain useful after the Mac Studio attached to it is retired.
The comparison isn't perfectly equivalent. Apple's internal storage needs no cable or power adapter, takes up no desk space, and avoids the latency and protocol overhead introduced by an external connection.
Still, current external storage is more than fast enough for demanding video, photo, and audio work. Five of the finished options below use 80Gbps connections, while the sixth trades a lower peak speed for steadier performance during long transfers.
Every finished 8TB option was commercially available for less than the M5 Max upgrade as of August 27, though SSD prices can change quickly.
And one more note: this is not just a random list. Our Managing Editor Mike Wuerthele has used or reviewed all of these enclosures and drives. In the course of writing this piece, he helped me shop and gave me recommendations. It turns out, that we didn't need to look any farther than his suggestions!
Thunderbolt 5 and USB4 2.0 can provide an 80 gigabits-per-second bidirectional link, but external SSDs can't use all of it. PCIe tunneling is limited to 64Gbps, and protocol overhead pushes real-world peak performance just over 6 gigabytes per second.
Thunderbolt 5's advertised 120Gbps Bandwidth Boost doesn't make storage faster. The asymmetric mode redirects bandwidth for high-resolution displays, while storage remains within the ordinary 80Gbps connection.
Four of the six products come from OWC because the retail-packaged 8TB market at this speed is still unusually thin. The list reflects what's actually shipping under the price ceiling rather than forcing a wider mix of brands with slower products.
The iodyne Pro Mini is the one deliberate exception. Scroll down for that one.
The 8TB Express 1M2 80G costs $2,199.99. OWC claims more than 6,000MB/s from its 80Gbps USB4 connection when attached to a compatible Thunderbolt 5 Mac.
The drive is bus-powered, fanless, and wrapped in a finned aluminum enclosure that serves as a heat sink. OWC includes the required cable, and the case can be opened later to replace its M.2 SSD.
The Express 1M2 is the simplest choice for anyone who wants fast, silent storage they can carry around and upgrade later. It's available for $2,199.99 on Amazon.
Buying the Express 1M2 instead of Apple's 8TB upgrade saves you $1,600.01.
The 8TB Envoy Ultra costs $2,299.99. It's a Thunderbolt 5-certified portable SSD, and OWC rates its peak performance at more than 6,000MB/s.
The fanless enclosure is IP67 rated and described as crushproof, while its short Thunderbolt cable is built into the drive. It remains bus-powered, so there's no external adapter to carry.
OWC reports initial writes above 6,000MB/s, but longer writes fall to 1,350MB/s on the 2TB model and 1,700MB/s on the 4TB version, which is normal for most SSDs as their caches fill. The manufacturer doesn't publish an equivalent sustained-write result for the 8TB model.
The rugged construction makes the Envoy Ultra the better choice for field work, travel, or moving large projects between locations. The 8TB model is available for $2,299.99 from OWC.
Buying the Envoy Ultra instead of Apple's 8TB upgrade saves you $1,500.01.
The 8TB Atom EX80 costs $2,399.99. Glyph rates the drive for transfers of up to 7,000MB/s over its 80Gbps USB4 connection.
Its compact, fanless enclosure has a removable silicone sleeve and a magnetic mounting system for attaching the drive to MagSafe accessories or other metal surfaces. Integrated location tracking also works with Apple and Android tracking networks.
The Atom EX80 has the highest claimed single-drive speed in this roundup. Its tracking and mounting features make it particularly useful for photographers and filmmakers carrying storage between sets, studios, and editing locations.
The 8TB Atom EX80 sells for $2,399.99 at Adorama.
Buying the Atom EX80 instead of Apple's 8TB upgrade saves you $1,400.01.
The 8TB StudioStack also costs $2,399.99. OWC rates its Thunderbolt 5 NVMe storage for peak transfers of up to 6,302MB/s.
This desk-bound option is designed to sit above or below a Mac Studio. Along with the 8TB SSD, it provides three downstream Thunderbolt 5 ports, three USB-A ports, and an empty SATA bay for adding a 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch drive.
