OWC ships Aura Pro X2 SSDs for upgrading select Macs

OWC on Tuesday launched several Aura Pro X2 SSD drives and upgrade kits, meant to enhance speed and capacity on a select range of older Macs.

The drives have maximum read performance topping 3.2 gigabytes per second, and can write at 2.4 gigabytes, OWC said. Some kits come with an external USB 3 enclosure for repurposing an original SSD and/or transferring old data.

Compatible Macs include 2013-2017 models of the MacBook Air, 2013-2015 MacBook Pros, the 2013 Mac Pro, and the 2014 Mac mini. Though some configurations may already have SSDs, OWC is promising better power consumption, cooler temperatures, and potentially extra storage, depending on the drive.

Each one also comes with a 5-year limited warranty.

The cheapest X2 drive is a 240-gigabyte unit for $119.99. Prices rise to $179.99 for 480 gigabytes, $299.99 for 1 terabyte, and $699.99 for 2 terabytes. OWC claims that similar upgrades through Apple can cost several hundred dollars more apiece.

OWC's full upgrade kits vary in price depending on the target Mac. Beyond external enclosures, they can ship with a heat sink and/or any necessary tools.

6 Comments

oseame 72 comments · 15 Years

About 5 years ago

I just replaced the SSD on a 2013 MBP with an M.2 SSD and a very cheap adapter. Why pay more for this?

sedicivalvole 231 comments · 17 Years

Oh yes 2TB for my 2015. I’m not budging off this until it dies to death or you release a MacBook Pro that isn’t a complete PoS and broken before it’s removed from the box Apple.

oseame said:

I just replaced the SSD on a 2013 MBP with an M.2 SSD and a very cheap adapter. Why pay more for this?

No adverse effects?

Mike Wuerthele 6901 comments · 8 Years

sedicivalvole said:

Oh yes 2TB for my 2015. I’m not budging off this until it dies to death or you release a MacBook Pro that isn’t a complete PoS and broken before it’s removed from the box Apple.

oseame said:

I just replaced the SSD on a 2013 MBP with an M.2 SSD and a very cheap adapter. Why pay more for this?

No adverse effects?

I did this with my 2012 RMBP. The drive itself was fine, but the adapter board died, twice. Caveat emptor.

jameskatt2 722 comments · 16 Years

oseame said:

I just replaced the SSD on a 2013 MBP with an M.2 SSD and a very cheap adapter. Why pay more for this?

OWC costs about $100 more than a M.2 SSD plus cheap adapter. It is fully compatible with MacOS. And you can be assured of high quality.
It is like Samsung SSDs vs other cheaper SSDs.

DuhSesame 1270 comments · 8 Years

jameskatt2 said:

oseame said:

I just replaced the SSD on a 2013 MBP with an M.2 SSD and a very cheap adapter. Why pay more for this?

OWC costs about $100 more than a M.2 SSD plus cheap adapter. It is fully compatible with MacOS. And you can be assured of high quality.
It is like Samsung SSDs vs other cheaper SSDs.

I think it runs little bit better than 970 PRO most of the time, though not the best.

https://www.anandtech.com/bench/SSD18/2449