The Plugable TBT3-NVME480 480GB external NVMe SSD drive hits performance levels not possible before Thunderbolt™ 3. Connect the drive to a Thunderbolt 3 port to gain 480GB of extra storage with amazing speeds of up to 2400+ MB/sec read and 1200+ MB/sec write, all without the need for an external power connection. Great for content creators requiring blazing fast external storage, no-compromise gamers who want the fastest possible portable Steam library, or as a secondary/portable OS boot drive on supported host systems.

Intel Thunderbolt™ 3 technology offers blistering transfer speeds up to 40Gbps and is the perfect connection to take advantage of new storage technologies. Unlike traditional external storage solutions that are limited by the SATA III interface, NVMe technology allows solid state media to interface directly with your CPU via PCI Express, allowing vastly improved performance as well as lower latency and reduced CPU usage. With the TBT3-NVME480 external solid state drive, you can experience performance like never before, often as fast (or faster!) than your computer’s built-in storage, and roughly 5x faster than traditional SATA III solid state drives connected with USB 3.1 Gen 2.
Device Specifications

Portable aluminum design
Thunderbolt 3 interface with integrated 18cm/7″ 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 cable
480GB NVMe Solid State storage with PCIe Gen3 x4 link*
Sequential transfer speeds of 2400+ MB/s read and 1200+ MB/s write*
Warranty up to 36 months with product registration, or 698 TBW
Phison E7 controller with MLC NAND flash

*Formatted capacity and transfer speeds will vary depending on host system and workload.
In the Box

1x Thunderbolt™ 3 480GB NVMe Solid State Drive with included captive 40Gbps TBT3 cable
1x Quick Start Guide
Hardware Requirements

Compatible with Thunderbolt™ 3 host systems. USB-C systems without Thunderbolt™ 3 and USB-A (USB 3.0 / 2.0) systems are not supported.
Operating System and Driver Details

Supports macOS Sierra and later
Supports Windows 10, 8.1, 7
Not compatible with Boot Camp Windows installations at this time

System Compatibility

Compatible with Thunderbolt 3 Mac systems (Late 2016 / 2016 MacBook Pro, 2017 iMac / iMac Pro)
Compatible with Thunderbolt 3 Windows hosts

Setup Instructions

Plug the drive into a free Thunderbolt 3 port on your Mac / PC or Thunderbolt 3 docking station. Mac systems will automatically mount the drive with no additional setup needed.

On Windows systems, you’ll need to “Authenticate” Thunderbolt 3 devices before first use. Device authentication is somewhat intuitive, but a step-by-step guide can be found here:

Thunderbolt 3 Authentication on Windows

Learn more

Thunderbolt™ 3 480GB NVMe Solid State Drive

FAQs

Q: Do I need to format the drive before use?
A: The drive is pre-formatted in exFAT (cross-compatible with macOS and Windows) and should automatically be recognized without the need to initialize and format before use. If the drive has been reformatted after purchase with a file system not natively supported by your operating system, it may need to be mounted manually. Click here for instructions on reformatting drives if desired.

Q: What are the best practices to ensure compatibility with my Windows Thunderbolt 3 system?
A: Installing the latest Thunderbolt 3 and BIOS firmwares from your system manufacturer is strongly recommended. Some systems with outdated firmware may not be compatible with this (and other) Thunderbolt 3 devices. (Note: This only applies to Windows systems. Apple Thunderbolt 3 systems automatically receive firmware updates during macOS upgrades.)

Q: Are any host systems known to be incompatible at this time?
A: The only host platform to be confirmed as incompatible at this point is the Dell Latitude 7275.

Q: Why does the drive show up with a 480GB capacity in macOS, but 447GB in Windows?
A: Mac and Windows report space differently. On Mac, space is calculated using decimal/Base 10, where 1 GB=1,000,000,000B (so 480,000,000,000/1,000,000,000=480GB). In Windows, space is calculated using binary/Base 2, where 1GB=1,073,741,824B (so 480,000,000,000/1,073,741,824=447GB). An useful analogy would be considering distance in miles vs. kilometers; the distance traveled is the same, but the number used to represent that distance is different.

Q: Is the TBT3-NVME480 compatible with Boot Camp?
A: Not at this time.

Q: Will the drive perform at its maximum speed during all read/write operations?
A: Transfer speed is affected by many factors. While this Thunderbolt™ 3 NVMe drive is capable of sequential transfer speeds of 2400+ MB/s read and 1200+ MB/s write, results will vary depending on the program being used, OS, and workload.

Q: Some Thunderbolt 3 ports support a 2-lane PCI Express configuration (PCIe x2), and some support a 4-lane PCI Express implementation (PCIe x4). Will the drive perform differently based on the host system PCIe specifications?
A: This will depend on the specific workload. The maximum throughput of the drive be reduced in some scenarios on systems with a PCIe x2 implementation. In our testing, the maximum R/W results on an x2 system were ~1400MB/s R and 1200MB/s W.

Q: How can I tell if my system has x2 or x4 PCIe Thunderbolt 3 configuration?
A: Most system manufacturers list these details in their online system specifications. Dell has this information available for most of their popular hosts in a handy single document: here.