OWC’s update of the Mercury Elite Pro can help future proof your iMac, Mac mini, or Mac Pro when it comes to storage. It can do the same for laptops, but is better suited for desktops as it requires a dedicated power supply and can’t run off a portable’s bus power.
OWC’s external storage systems also work on Windows systems, Linux machines, Smart TVs, and PS4 and Xbox consoles, but I’m only used it with an iMac.
Mercury Elite Pro sports a 3.5-inch 7200RPM hard disk drive and up to 16TB capacity and real-world performance speeds up to 283MB/second.
It’s not an SSD and, for some, that’s a negative. However, unless you’re flush with cash, it’s a viable option. Let’s look at a few examples. It would cost $600 to upgrade the standard MacBook Air to 2TB of SSD storage (the most available). It would cost $2,200 to beef up the standard 16-inch MacBook Air to 8TB of SSD storage (the most available). And it would cost an extra $700 to bump up the entry level iMac (which is way overdue for an update, by the way) to 2TB of SSD storage (again, the most available).
The Mercury Pro Elite’s pricing ranges from $99.88 for 1TB of storage to $549.88 for 16TB. We’re talking major savings.
While it’s no SSD, the OWC drives are plenty fast for most of us. I use mine to store thousands of photos and home movies, music and movies purchased from the iTunes Store, games downloaded from Apple Arcade, and more. There are no hiccups in performance whether watching a film or playing a game that sits on the OWC drive.
Plus, it’s fast enough to handle most high-end tasks such as pro-level video editing projects. It’s also great for Time Machine and File History backups of your data and migrating data from an existing machine to a new Mac.
It’s not meant to be portable, but the Mercury Elite Pro’s fanless brushed aluminum chassis keeps it running quietly and cool, while the shock isolation design decent protection in case it gets dropped or knocked off a desk
Peaking of desks, the Mercury Elite Pro fits on any desktop with the included vertical orientation stand. Or you can place it horizontally with the included non-skid rubber feet.
If you have the money for an expansive SSD, that’s the way to go. But the Mercury Elite Pro is the best high capacity, fast storage solution for most of us.
Apple World Today Rating (out of 5 stars): ★★★★★
