Akitio has announced the upcoming release of the US$329 Akitio Thunder3 Quad Mini. The company says it’s the first 4-bay, 2.5-inch, Thunderbolt 3 storage device designed for use with the new 2016 Apple MacBook Pro lineup (macOS), as well as Thunderbolt 3 Windows PCs.
The Thunder3 Quad Mini — due in March — offers fast transfers with the added flexibility of a DisplayPort video output in a small and portable form factor, says Richard Wright, vice president of Sales & Marketing for Akitio.
The Thunder3 Quad Mini can deliver transfer speeds of up to 1375 MB/s while simultaneously providing two 4K video streams to connected displays. It’s designed for consumers and professionals who desire high-speed external storage and/or video streams in one connection.
The Thunder3 Quad Mini features two Thunderbolt 3 ports and a DisplayPort video output to connect to the latest 4K 60Hz displays while also supporting Power Delivery (PD) up to 15W. The second Thunderbolt 3 port on the Thunder3 Quad Mini operates the same as a Thunderbolt 3 computer port by supporting Thunderbolt 3 (up to 5 daisy chained), as well as allowing users to connect USB Type-C devices (10Gb/s) such as external hard drives, and DisplayPort monitors. The four trays in the Thunder3 Quad Mini accommodate either 2.5-inch solid state drives or hard disk drives.