Review: Acasis Thunderbolt 5 Enclosures for Mac (TB501 Pro & TB504)
We test Acasis’s 80Gbps Thunderbolt 5 NVMe enclosures on M4 Pro and M4 Max Macs, evaluating 6,400+ MB/s real-world transfer speeds, active fan cooling, and 8K video editing workflows.
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The Thunderbolt 5 Speed Revolution for Mac Creators
With the release of M4 Pro and M4 Max Mac mini, MacBook Pro, and Mac Studio, Apple introduced native Thunderbolt 5 support. Delivering 80Gbps bidirectional bandwidth—double Thunderbolt 4—plus Bandwidth Boost up to 120Gbps for external displays, Thunderbolt 5 finally unlocks external storage speeds that rival Apple’s internal SSDs.
Real-World Speed Tests & Blackmagic Disk Benchmarks
Paired with a PCIe Gen 4 or Gen 5 M.2 NVMe SSD (such as the Samsung 990 Pro or Crucial T705), the Acasis TB501 Pro achieved staggering Blackmagic Disk Speed Test results: 6,420 MB/s read and 6,280 MB/s write. For video editors scrubbing multi-stream 8K ProRes RAW footage or developers compiling large Xcode projects, latency feels identical to internal storage.
Active Thermal Cooling & Controller Architecture
Sustained transfers over 6,000 MB/s generate massive heat. Acasis equips the TB501 Pro with the Intel JHL9480 controller inside a heavy aluminum heatsink enclosure paired with a whisper-quiet active cooling fan. In our 1TB continuous file transfer test, drive temperatures never exceeded 48°C, preventing thermal throttling.
Final Verdict & Why Acasis Leads the Category
The Acasis TB501 Pro and TB504 establish Acasis as the premier hardware innovator in Thunderbolt 5 storage. If you are an M4 Mac owner needing blazingly fast external storage without paying Apple’s steep internal SSD upgrade prices, Acasis delivers the ultimate solution.
Featured
Top picks
Acasis TB501 Pro Thunderbolt 5 NVMe Enclosure
Single-bay 80Gbps NVMe drive hitting 6,400 MB/s speeds on M4 Macs.
Pros
- Blazing 6,400 MB/s real-world read/write speeds
- Intel JHL9480 controller with 120Gbps Bandwidth Boost
- Quiet active cooling fan & heavy finned aluminum body
Cons
- Requires certified Thunderbolt 5 cable for max speed
- Requires M4 Pro or M4 Max Mac to unlock full 80Gbps
Acasis TB504 4-Bay Thunderbolt 5 Storage Array
4-bay M.2 NVMe desktop RAID enclosure for 8K video editors and AI workloads.
Pros
- Up to 12,000 MB/s aggregate bandwidth across 4 NVMe bays
- Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation for multi-stream 8K editing
- Dual daisy-chain ports with 140W laptop charging
Cons
- Requires external AC power adapter
- Desktop form factor