Finally, another Thunderbolt 5 SSD has landed, and boy, is it fast! The LaCie Rugged SSD Pro5 from Seagate is a stunner
- This is only the second TB5 SSD on the market after the Envoy Ultra
- Seagate says it can reach speeds of 6700/5300 MBps on read/write
- This rugged SSD costs up to $600 for the 4TB version
LaCie, Seagate’s premium brand, has launched the Rugged SSD Pro5, a fast external drive designed for creative professionals.
The Thunderbolt 5 drive will be available in 2TB and 4TB capacities and offers fast data transfer speeds, making it ideally suited for demanding creative workflows such as editing 6K and 8K RAW video files on the fly.
The Rugged SSD Pro5 delivers ultra-fast read speeds of up to 6700 MB/s and write speeds of up to 5300 MB/s with a 50 GB cache, enabling faster rendering, backups and media transfers. LaCie says that once the cache is exceeded, the drive will deliver speeds of up to 5000 MB/s for reads and 1800 MB/s for writes.
Price matched
Created by award-winning Scottish designer Neil Poulton, who worked on many of LaCie’s previous products, the Rugged SSD Pro5 measures 17mm x 65mm x 98mm and weighs 150g. It retains the brand’s signature rubber casing for durability and is drop-resistant up to three meters. The IP68 rating for dust and water resistance makes it suitable for use in extreme environments. LaCie says the enclosure is made from at least 45% recycled materials.
LaCie Rugged SSD Pro5 is compatible with Thunderbolt 5, Thunderbolt 4, and USB-C devices supporting speeds up to 40 Gbps and comes with a five-year limited warranty and Seagate’s Rescue Data Recovery Services for added data protection.
It will be available worldwide in January 2025 for $399.99 for the 2TB model and $599.99 for the 4TB version, which is incidentally the same price as OWC’s Envoy Ultra SSDs of the same capacities.
“The storage demands of creative professionals have increased, especially for those incorporating generative AI into their routine,” said Lance Ohara, VP Endpoint Marketing at Seagate.
“The LaCie Rugged SSD Pro5 is equipped to handle those demanding workloads and data-intensive applications. This makes it an invaluable tool for experts looking for unparalleled transfer speeds and editing power.”
This is only the second portable TB5 SSD to be released after Other World Computing (OWC) launched its rugged Envoy Ultra in October 2024. That device sold out quickly, but OWC says it expects new stock later this month.