Express 4M2 Ultra

The Fastest Compact DIY NVMe RAID. Period.

Your Drives. Your RAID. Powered by Thunderbolt 5.

You asked for it. We delivered. Express 4M2 Ultra combines everything creative professionals like you dreamed about: the freedom to choose any NVMe M.2 drive, the flexibility to configure your storage exactly how you need it, and the dramatically improved efficiency of your workflow with Thunderbolt 5 bandwidth. Now you can build a desktop powerhouse RAID with your choice of drives and experience up to 6622MB/s performance that turns massive 12K RAW video files, 8K multi-cam sequences, and monster photo libraries into effortless workflows. From backing up media cards on set to working through intense VFX compositing in post, Express 4M2 Ultra delivers the customization and speed you need to stay ahead of deadlines.

OWC Express 4M2 Ultra on desktop next to Mac Studio
OWC Express 4M2 Ultra on desktop with NVMe M.2 SSD exposed
Four OWC Express 4M2 Ultras on desktop
Rear, top-down view of OWC Express 4M2 Ultra on desktop connected to OWC Envoy, OWC ThunderBay 8, Mac mini, and display
OWC Express 4M2 Ultra on desktop next to Mac Studio
01
Maximum Performance

Up to 6622MB/s1 real-world speed for 12K RAW video, 8K multi-cam sequences, batch processing of high-res images, and large data sets.

02
Time is Money. Save Big on Both.

The DIY design lets you swap in faster, larger drives as they become available without having to buy a new enclosure while taking advantage of Thunderbolt 5’s incredible speed to cut your ingestion times in half.

03
Scale As You Grow

Start with up to 32TB today in a single enclosure and expand up to 128TB as one volume through daisy chaining additional Express 4M2 Ultras.

04
Connect All Your Devices

Daisy chain up to five additional Thunderbolt devices plus one USB peripheral via the second Thunderbolt 5 port.

05
Work Fast with Full Focus

A smart adaptive fan quietly activates inside the solid aircraft-grade aluminum body only when needed to keep your drives running at full speed without the noise that breaks creative focus or thermal throttling that kills productivity.

Build Your Perfect Storage Solution

Engineered to support any NVMe M.2 2280 or 2242 SSD, this compact powerhouse gives you total freedom to choose your preferred brand, capacity and performance level, whether it’s bleeding-edge fast PCIe 5.0/4.0 drives or mid-level speed PCIe 3.0 drives you may already own.1 Add up to a massive 8.0TB capacity per drive for 32TB total. When tomorrow's 16TB drives hit the market, you can easily boost your Express 4M2 Ultra's capacity without buying a new enclosure. Your storage. Your choice. Your future.

Expands With Your Growing Needs

Start with up to 32TB in a single compact enclosure. When you need more capacity, daisy-chain additional Express 4M2 Ultra units through the second Thunderbolt 5 port to create one huge, unified volume instead of juggling multiple drive letters or splitting projects across locations. Four enclosures give you 128TB and beyond. The second Thunderbolt 5 port also lets you connect up to five additional Thunderbolt devices plus one USB peripheral. Your workspace grows exactly how you need it. Production companies building shared storage arrays and solo creators future-proofing their setup get the same limitless scalability.

Four OWC Express 4M2 Ultras on desktop

Unleash Maximum Speed with Thunderbolt 5

Express 4M2 Ultra is the fastest DIY multiple NVMe SSD enclosure we offer and was purposefully built to harness Thunderbolt 5's incredible 80Gb/s bandwidth. Experience up to 6622MB/s performance with your Mac or PC. Connect to Thunderbolt 4 or USB4 systems and still get speeds up to 3200MB/s. Even Thunderbolt 3 Macs tap into blazing performance. You're never locked out, and you're always ready for your next system upgrade.

Express 4M2 Ultra Connected to... Runs as Real-World Speed Up to

Mac computer

with Apple silicon M3/M4/M5 or newer with Thunderbolt 5

Thunderbolt 5 (80Gb/s)

6622MB/s

Mac computer

with Apple silicon M-series with Thunderbolt 3/4

Thunderbolt 4 (40Gb/s)

3200MB/s

PC

with Thunderbolt 5

Thunderbolt 5 (80Gb/s)

6622MB/s

PC

with USB4/Thunderbolt 4

USB4 (40Gb/s)

3200MB/s

Intel Mac computer

with Thunderbolt 3

Thunderbolt 3 (40Gb/s)

2800MB/s

OWC Express 4M2 Ultra on desktop photo station

Over 2x Faster Multi-Camera Ingest

In the fast-paced, tight-budget world of filmmaking where time is money, every minute saved is critical. When you're juggling multiple cameras or offloading a variety of media cards simultaneously, you’ll keep your production running ahead of schedule by ingesting over twice as fast with Express 4M2 Ultra vs 40Gb/s storage.

Full Speed with Full Focus

High-performance NVMe drives in RAID configurations generate serious heat. Whether you're rendering 8K footage, ingesting multiple media cards, or running intensive database operations, you get maximum performance without the noise that breaks creative focus or the thermal throttling that kills productivity. Express 4M2 Ultra's solid aircraft-grade aluminum body provides passive cooling and rugged protection, while a smart adaptive fan quietly activates only during sustained workloads.

OWC Express 4M2 Ultra on desktop
OWC Express 4M2 Ultra on desktop next to Mac Studio

Your Drives, Your RAID

DIY easy install four NVMe M.2 2280 or 2242 single or double-sided PCIe 3.0/4.0/5.0 SSDs based on your current budget and performance needs. With support for RAID 0/1/4/5/10/JBOD via SoftRAID or another RAID utility, you decide the RAID level that meets your workflow needs.

Express 4M2 Ultra is ideal for:

Video editor at workstation

DITs and Filmmakers wanting to build the fastest compact NVMe SSD RAID with expandable capacity and the ability to daisy-chain additional enclosures as a massive single volume or connect devices for additional capabilities through the second Thunderbolt 5 port while experiencing maximum offload speeds and thermal stability when backing up media cards from multiple cameras on set.

Video editor at workstation

Professional video editors, VFX artists, Colorists, and high-volume photographers seeking the fastest NVMe SSD RAID to handle demanding post-production and editing workflows including 12K RAW video, VFX compositing work, multicam sequences in 8K RAW or ProRes video, and batch editing ultra-high-resolution pictures.

Video editor at workstation

Performance-driven professionals, power users, and technical teams who require full control over capacity, speed, and scalability. Express 4M2 Ultra is the ultimate DIY Thunderbolt 5 NVMe RAID platform for pushing demanding workflows and data intensive applications beyond conventional limits.

Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation

More than just great song lyrics, you need to consider which PCIe SSD generation is appropriate for your unique needs. Check out the speeds you can experience when using different generation SSDs in Express 4M2 Ultra:

PCI Generation Single Drive or JBOD RAID 0

PCI Express 5.0

Engineered for higher sustained write performance, maintaining peak speeds longer during massive transfers and parallel offloads.

up to

1600MB/s

up to

6622MB/s

PCI Express 4.0

Delivers full Thunderbolt 5 bandwidth with an ideal balance of speed, efficiency, and value for most professional workflows.

up to

1600MB/s

up to

6622MB/s

PCI Express 3.0

Perfect for repurposing existing drives, delivering impressive performance for many real-world production tasks.

up to

950MB/s

up to

3800MB/s

The Most Powerful RAID Tool on the Planet.

SoftRAID is the world’s fastest and most flexible application to configure, maintain, and protect your RAID volumes on Mac and PC.

  • High-Performance RAID 0/1/4/5/1+0 (10) volumes
  • Predictive Health Monitoring proactively notifies of Volume and Disk issues well before failure — provided on your computer and remotely
  • Seamless Cross-Platform Sharing with support for Apple-formatted APFS and HFS+ SoftRAID volumes between Mac and Windows at no additional cost
  • 35+ Years of Experience of Pro Support to provide peace-of-mind with setup help, ongoing questions, or urgent disk issues
  • And many more unique features.
  • Learn more about SoftRAID

Select OWC solutions and enclosures include 3 Years of SoftRAID Premium! See includes section for details.

iMac Pro with SoftRAID

Your Data’s Reliability is Our #1 Priority

Anyone can put a bunch of components in a housing and call it an enclosure or a drive. OWC is not just anyone. We’re a group of filmmakers, musicians, designers, content creators, and parents just like you wanting to capture and preserve that irreplaceable moment. Our data storage products go through countless hours of ongoing development testing and certification processes. We then subject them to extreme real-world abuses. The priority for some storage devices is to be a mass-produced, lowest price commodity. We do it differently because the reliability of your data and the longevity of an OWC product is priority #1.

Video Editor at workstation
Three Environmental Icons

Discover the OWC Difference

Since 1988, our mission has focused on maximizing the usefulness and longevity of your technology investment. Our business operations share that same sustainability commitment. As the first 100% on-site wind powered technology manufacturer/distributor in the U.S., we now generate excess power. 97% of solid waste is recycled. These and other actions have resulted in our headquarters being Energy Star® and LEED® Platinum certified. Learn more about our passion for the planet we share here: Environmental Sustainability

Three Environmental Icons
  1. Up to 6622MB/s achieved with PCIe 4.0 and later SSDs. PCIe 3.0 SSDs are limited up to 3800MB/s.