Cheapest External Thunderbolt 3 SSD - So Far

Patriot EVLVR SSD With Thunderbolt 3
PCIe Gen3x2 Solid-State Module
Offering Read speeds up to 1600Mbps and 1000Mbps Writes, the EVLVR from Patriot Memory isn't quite as fast as some competitor's PCIe SSD blade products that cost significantly more. So there's the tradeoff: A cheap Thunderbolt 3 SSD that's more than 'fast enough', or far more expensive ones that deliver proportionately higher speeds at higher prices.
Licensing Intel's Thunderbolt 3 chipset inflates the cost of computer peripherals significantly more than a dirt-cheap USB 3.0 / 3.1 chipset does. But Thunderbolt 3 is taking hold far beyond the Mac into the Windows PC world with unprecedented adoption and deployment. The economies of scale with make cheap Thunderbolt 3 storage and devices a reality sooner than you think.
Thunderbolt3 NVMe PCIe SSD Blade Enclosures For Mac
Thunderbolt 3 SSD Enclosure
For NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD Modues
Thunderbolt3 PCIe NVMe SSD Enclosure
Single M.2 PCIe SSD Solid-State Drive Case
This highly compact Thunderbolt 3 Enclosure for NVMe SSD's is small and lightweight. It measures around 4.0” x 1.5” x 0.5” (102mm x 38mm x 11mm) and weighs around 2.5 ounces. One of the world’s fastest portable SSD case to rapidly transfer all of your video, music, photography and other large files at lightning fast speeds up to 2800 MB/s. Your particular transfer rates will depend on the model of NVME M.2 SSD blade, your TB3 enabled computer and other factors.
Western-Digital NVMe PCIe SSD
Hi-Speed Flash Blade for Thunderbolt 3 Enclosures
The portable SSD enclosure with Thunderbolt 3 interface supports PCIe Rev. 3.0, has an LED activity indicator, and is completely Thunderbolt 3 bus powered, Passive cooling of the flash memory is assured by the all-metal housing with integrated cooling fins. System Requirements include Windows 7/8/10 as well as MacOS 10.13 and higher. Supports PCs or laptops with an available Thunderbolt 3 port. Most well-known brands of NVMe PCIe modules are supported. It includes the Thunderbolt 3 M-Key PCIe SSD enclosure, a 50cm Thunderbolt 3 Cable; 2x screwdrivers and a 1 Year warranty.
It's still early in this space so there's not many TB3 blade enclosures to choose from at this point. The demand for Thunderbolt 3 SSD backup drives for Mac AND PC users is exploding as USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 devices adopt the unifying Type-C connection. Sadly, the cost of the Thunderbolt 3 chipset is making 40Gbps enclosures a far costlier proposition than admittedly slower but far more affordable USB-C USB 3.1 SSD blade enclosures for literally a fifth or tenth the price.
Samsung Thunderbolt 3 SSD Mac Backup Drive
Thunderbolt 3 Samsung External SSD
500GB, 1TB and 2TB Storage Capacities
The Mac friendly X5 Thunderbolt 3 portable drive uses Samsung's NVMe PCIe based blades using the same 64-layer V-NAND flash as their highly regarded 860 EVO series laptop SSDs. The solid-state drive is supported on recent MacBooks and Macintosh desktop computers with the modern Thunderbolt 3 ports running MacOS Sierra, High Sierra and Mojave.
Although the 1TB and 2TB models may be a bit pricey for the average Macintosh owner, the 500GB version of the X5 solid-state drive is VERY price competitive with all the other smaller capacity Mac compatible Thunderbolt3 solid-state drives competing in this space.
The Cheapest Mac Compatible Thunderbolt 3 SSD - So Far
Cheap Thunderbolt3 SSD Drive
OWC Envoy Pro EX 500GB SSD
The collapsing cost of solid-state flash memory helps. Conventional off-the-shelf 2.5" SATA SSD's have become ridiculously cheap - and the trend towards high-density PCIe SSD modules / blades are even faster using far less raw materials and space. So Thunderbolt 3 SSD blade drives are appearing (or have been announced) leveraging the prowess of both technologies. We've seen LaCie introduce a $1999 Bolt 3 SSD months ahead of everyone else at a price few mortals could justifiably afford. We've also seen OWC ship their ThunderBlade(tm) 3 portable drive with prices ranging from $1199-$4999 MSRP. Ouch!
Fortunately some low-cost portable SSD ThunderBolt 3 drive alternatives came to market early. Both CableMatters and Plugable's TB3 external SSD's appear to be pretty much identical OEM devices, both 480GB in a portable form-factor with a short 6 inch ThunderBolt 3 cable integrated into the drive's case. These are shipping from both Plugable and Cable Matters with Plugable's offering currently about 30 bucks cheaper than the other. Priced just under $300 USD,they were temporarily the cheapest ThunderBolt3 SSD of 2018 and will deliver the most bang for the buck. The tradeoffs include incompatibility with USB 3.1, lack of Thunderbolt 3 pass-through ports for other devices and a non-removable cable.
OWC now sells their 'low priced' Envoy Pro EX ThunderBolt 3 SSD for Mac in either very affordable 240GB or 500GB versions. They're now on the shelves or available at online retailers.
As more competition arrives in force, downward price pressures will help somewhat. The insanely competitive USB 3.0 and USB 3.1 USB-C Mac backup drive market for HDD and SSD storage for Apple computers has become ridiculously cheap, TBolt will and always has carried a price premium for more demanding enterprise and professional market applications.
Relatively Cheap SSD Thunderbolt 3 External Blade Drives For Mac
Low-Cost Thunderbolt SSD For Mac
Patriot EVLVR TB3 Solid State Drive
These screamingly fast full 40Gbps Thunderbolt3 SSD drives from CableMatters and Plugable use PCIe NVMe SSD blade modules to achieve their impressive Read / Write speeds never before seen in consumer storage with a price tag near or just under $300 USD. For well under $1/Gigabyte they can deliver up to 2400MBps Reads and 1200MBps writes.
Cheap ThunderBolt 3 SSD
480GB - TBolt3 ONLY
These currently shipping drives from Cable Matters both offer 480GB / 512GB solid-state modules tied to a ThunderBolt 3 ONLY interface. Note that a new Mac's ThunderBolt 3 ports transmit BOTH native 40GbpsTBolt3 AND 10Gbps USB 3.1 Gen 2 protocols. However the two drives featured above do not operate on Type-C ports in USB 3.1 mode. So they are ThunderBolt 3 ONLY.
Also note that on some PC and Mac computer models (notably the first 2016 MacBook Pro series), some ThunderBolt 3 ports might operate at a maximum of 20Gbps -- Not the maximum 40Gbps. In these cases, the cheapest ThunderBolt 3 drives shown above will perform at somewhat lower speeds due to the reduced available bandwidth. Confusing, huh?
5 Portable SSD ThunderBolt External Drive Recommendations
SiliconPower Mini ThunderBolt SSD
Smallest Portable ThunderBolt Solid-State Drive
1. The size of a matchbox, the world's smallest eternal ThunderBolt SSD might be ideal paired with an Apple MacBook Air for ultimate mobility. 120GB and 240GB capacities from SiliconPower.
Akitio Portable ThunderBolt RAID SSD
Dual Solid-State MSATA Modules
2. The fastest portable SSD ThunderBolt solution ever uses 2 mSATA solid-state modules in a RAID 0 Striped Array for over 700+ MBps performance ideal for MacBook using Videographers and heavy Photographer needs. It also supports a RAID 1 Mirrored configuration from Akitio.
Portable SSD ThunderBolt From Monster Digital
With Integrated ThunderBolt Cable
3. Slim and affordable, this solid-state mobile ThunderBolt drive with attached cable delivers great bang for the buck - from Monster.
Transcend Portable SSD Drive
Preformatted For Mac - Capacity To 1TB
4. The very price-competitive portable ThunderBolt solid-state drive is pre-formatted for Mac OSX right out of the box. From Transcend.
LaCie Combo Interface Portable SSD
Integrated ThunderBolt Cable + USB 3.0 Port
5. One of the first to market, this very orange ThunderBolt SSD also features a SuperSpeed USB3 port for use with a wide variety of Apple computers. From LaCie.
All told, there's a reasonable selection of compact and highly mobile ThunderBolt storage devices available that leverage the high Read/Write speeds of flash memory based solid-state technology. If you can afford the slight price-premium over USB 3, they're a great way to take advantage of the often under-used ThunderBolt port(s) on your Apple computer.
Who Makes A Cheap DIY External ThunderBolt SSD Drive Enclosure?
2.5" SATA ThunderBolt SSD Enclosure
Ruggedized + Integrated TBolt Cable
That said, for those who want the utmost in performance (especially for multi-drive ThunderBolt SSD RAID arrays) ThunderBolt is the way to go to FULLY maximize a solid-state drive's potential Read / Write speeds without some of the additional overhead and limitations of USB protocol.
Currently the most affordable choice is G-Technologies ruggedized 2.5" SATA ThunderBolt drive case that comes with a short but integrated ThunderBolt cable that tucks away when needed. Paired with any of the top performing SATA III solid-state drives currently available it's quite possible to come up with a DIY drive for Mac OSX or Apple's TimeMachine for $200 or so.
In the earliest days of ThunderBolt, Seagate's ThunderBolt 2.5" drive SLED was the only and most affordable option. You could simply press a 2.5" SATA drive (HDD or Solid-State) onto the standard edge connector and have an instant DIY ThunderBolt SSD drive ready to go.