Wrapup the Best Deals on Great Gear p. 28–29 p. 12 p. 07 p. 45 FREE DELIVERY ON ORDERS $49+ p. 46 p. 44 AND MEMORY ORDERS $25+ p. 49 QUALITY SOLUTIONS. EXPERT SUPPORT. SINCE 1988. 1-800-275-4576 | +1-815-338-8685 | MACSALES.COM Table of Contents In terms of interesting, 2020 has to be high on airborne bacteria and viruses. We are proud the list. Not the kind of interesting we’d prefer, to report there has not been a single on-site and I suspect even less so by the time this infection/transmission throughout COVID-19 letter is published. That said, it should also and we’re going to keep it that way. 04 OWC Eclipse 40 Pre-owned Refurbished Macs be a time in history where we can appreciate the challenges we have prevailed through and Team members that can work from home do 05 Education: Thunderbolt 4 42 Solid State Drives create new hope and expectation for a far so. As a result, they have given us a wealth different, far better 2021. of information about the realities of working 06 Envoy Pro Storage 46 OWC Memory from home. Their firsthand experience has Throughout it all, we are glad to be here helped us more effectively address the 09 World’s First Products 48 2019 Mac Pro Upgrades for you. We have been able to pull out all concerns of all of those working and learning the stops to ensure the best solutions and remotely today. 10 ThunderBay Storage 50 2013 Mac Pro Upgrades experience for you, our customer. We are absolutely here for you, and we exist because All of us at OWC genuinely care about 14 NVMe SSD Storage 51 Mac Pro Upgrades of you. Our mission centers around providing everyone’s health and well-being and are here top-level customer service, support, and the to help you day and night with all of your 16 Software 52 iMac Upgrades solutions you need today while preparing to computer, technical, and workflow needs. meet tomorrow’s needs. 18 Education: Understanding RAID 56 MacBook Pro Upgrades 2020 was certainly not the year we expected Our team that makes you number one, is or wanted, but regardless of how you 20 Mercury Storage 58 MacBook Air Upgrades number one for operational safety priorities. celebrate this year — we do wish you a Merry Being a manufacturer of electronic solutions, Christmas, Happy Holidays, and hopefully a 25 Bare Drive Storage 59 Mac mini Upgrades we have always taken cleanliness seriously. better New Year. Hygiene and sanitization have long been a 26 Praise from the Pros 60 Gaming Accessories standard operating practice for our team. We are in this together, Visitors have reflected that ou can practically and we will beat this... 27 Homeschooling Products 61 PC Accessories eat off the warehouse and manufacturing Together. floors at OWC. And th eats that you wouldn’t 28 Connectivity Solutions 62 Article: Think Green see aren’t there to see, thanks to MERV13 filt ation and UV ‘kill zone’ that combine for a 32 Cables & Adapters 63 Shipping & Customer Service 99.999% effectiveness in capturing/killing all 34 Education: U2 Technology 64 Holiday Specials 36 Expansion Solutions - LARRY O’CONNOR © 2020 Other World Computing, Inc. All rights reserved. Aura, Data Doubler, Mercury Electra, Mercury Elite Pro, Mercury Extreme, Mercury Helios, Mercury On-The-Go, OWC Envoy, OWC, the OWC logo, SoftRAID, ThunderBay and ThunderBlade are trademarks of New Concepts Development Corporation, registered in the U.S. and/or other countries. ClingOn, For all Computerkind, MacDrive, OWC Envoy Pro Elektron, OWC Express, OWC Mercury, OWC Rover Pro, and OWC U2 Shuttle are trademarks of New Concepts Development Corporation. Apple, FireWire, iMac, iMac Pro, iPad, iPad Air, iPhone, Lightning, Mac, MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, Mac Pro, macOS, MagSafe, OS X, Retina, SuperDrive, and Time Machine are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Thunderbolt and the Thunderbolt logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other marks may be the trademark or registered trademark property of their owners. VOYAGER trademark used under a license from the owner of U.S. Registration No. 3,089,301. Prices, specifications and vailability are subject to change without notice. Items returned within 30 days may be subject to a restocking fee. No return will be accepted without a Return Merchandise Authorization number. All Apple products/devices are not included, unless otherwise noted. Warranty terms may vary by product. *Free Shipping on qualifying orders shipped within the contiguous 48 states. See www.macsales.com/shipping for details and holiday shipping information. See www.macsales.com/tos for full terms and conditions. 2 Quality solutions, competitive prices, and expert support for over 30 years. 1-800-275-4576 +1-815-338-8685 www.macsales.com 3 Thunderbolt 4 vs. Thunderbolt 3 What’s in it for me? This past summer, Intel released the specifications and expectations of Thunderbolt 4. It caused quite a stir, initiated a lot of conversation, and created a bit of fear in those heavily invested in Thunderbolt 3. ADD UP TO 2 YEARS OF PEACE OF MIND In a nutshell, Thunderbolt 4 is still Thunderbolt 3. Let’s PROTECTION FOR YOUR MAC break it all down and answer a few questions about what Thunderbolt 4 is really all about. Throughout our 32 years of groundbreaking customer service and support, millions of computer users have come to trust OWC’s award-winning USA-based support team to get Can a Thunderbolt 4 computer use Can a Thunderbolt 3 computer use Thunderbolt 3 devices? Thunderbolt 4 devices? them through any issue. That dedication and love for the computing community is why Absolutely! Thunderbolt 4 is a new standard, not a new Affirmat e. Thunderbolt 4 devices are currently Hubs and Docks, that for the first technology. While Apple users have always benefitted f om time ever, let you add Thunderbolt 3/4 ports from a single port on your computer. OWC Eclipse Extended Service Protection is the standard to ensure your Mac is covered Thunderbolt 3’s remarkable capabilities, PC/Windows computers If you are an Apple user, you will need the latest macOS that includes support for above and beyond the initial warranty should an issue arise. have had various implementation levels when described as this new capability. If you are a PC owner, it’s a bit fuzzier – you will need to check having TB3 (see chart below). Now with TB4, a PC user can be with the actual PC maker. assured that they have the full Thunderbolt feature set. Remember, Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 devices do not displace each And yes, you can still use all your TB3 devices, knowing that they other – Thunderbolt 4 is merely adding features and capabilities to the existing are the latest and greatest. A TB4 device merely utilizes a new Thunderbolt 3 architecture. They all work together. Thunderbolt 4 does not replace feature set that supports and interfaces with all that came before. Thunderbolt 3 – it just allows for better use of all USB Type-C connected devices. YOU’RE COVERED HASSLE-FREE CLAIMS NO DEDUCTIBLES TRANSFERRABLE How is Thunderbolt 3 Different from Thunderbolt 4? Enjoy up to 2 years of extended We treat you like we would want We cover eligible repairs 100%. Add value to your Mac when it Thunderbolt 4 doesn’t make Thunderbolt any better – it just makes everything Thunderbolt 3 could service protection coupled with to be treated. It’s that simple. comes time to resell. already do a standard requirement. lifetime USA-based tech support. Thunderbolt 4 Thunderbolt 3 MAC Thunderbolt 3 PC Unrivaled One universal computer port ↈ ↈ ↈ Available with select New and Pre-owned, Refurbed Macs and Apple Simplicity Accessories with four Thunderbolt ports ↈ ↈ 1 Displays purchased from OWC. We make protecting your Mac easy. If Maximum Minimum PC speed requirements 40Gb/s 40Gb/s 20Gb/s Performance your purchase is eligible for OWC Eclipse Extended Service Protection, Minimum PC video requirements Two 4K displays Two 4K displays One 4K display PCIe 32Gb/s PCIe 32Gb/s PCIe 16Gb/s Minimum PC data requirements you’ll be presented with the option to add a plan during checkout. USB 3.2 10Gb/s USB 3.2 10Gb/s USB 3.2 10Gb/s Required PC charging on at least one computer port ↈ ↈ Standard, Required PC wake from sleep dock functionality ↈ ↈ Minimum PC port power for accessories 15W 15W 15W Thunderbolt Networking ↈ ↈ ↈ Security Required Intel VT-d based DMA protection ↈ ↈ A Thunderbolt 4 cable is the link you can count on, no matter what the link is. Thunderbolt 4 cables herald a new, fully certified, uni ersal compatibility. What does that mean? While others (including some Thunderbolt 3) aren’t fully interoperable with all USB-C port uses, Thunderbolt 4 cables will work regardless of the device or computer. Many tech support issues occur when a wrong Type-C cable is used – especially when someone thinks that the one Apple included with their laptop or iPad Pro is a fully enabled Thunderbolt cable. News flash: it is ’t. So, as long as your Thunderbolt 4 cable is from a reputable, certified manufactu er (like OWC) and is imprinted with a lightning bolt and the number 4, you don’t have to worry about what kind of USB-C/Thunderbolt/Power/Display device you’re using. It will work 100% of the time at the maximum specification supported by the device and computer. And yes, 40Gb/s Thunderbolt 3 cables also work fine with Thunderbolt 4 devices and computers too.