- The Helios 5S brings full PCIe expansion to small Apple desktop systems
- The expansion chassis supports full-height PCIe 4.0 x4 cards efficiently
- Users can connect three 8K displays for advanced creative workflows
The move to Thunderbolt 5 has caused OWC to rethink how external expansion should work for users who rely on small Apple desktops.
In response, OWC has introduced the Helios 5S, a new expansion chassis built to bring true PCI-E functionality to Thunderbolt 5 Macs.
The previous model relied on Thunderbolt 3 and only offered a single PCIe 3.0 slot, limiting how far users could push high-speed cards.
Improved PCIe performance and display support
The Helios 5S doubles the interface speed and adds new connectivity options aimed at meeting the needs of creative teams that rely on fast storage and demanding peripherals.
The new chassis connects through an 80 Gb/s Thunderbolt 5 link and offers three additional Thunderbolt 5 ports for daisy chaining.
OWC claims it can deliver up to 6,000 MB/s bandwidth, which is enough to drive PCIe 4.0 x4 cards at full speed.
However, it doesn’t support GPUs or cards that require power consumption beyond 75 watts, limiting the kind of upgrades possible.
The internal PCIe 4.0 x4 slot supports full-height cards and aims to deliver throughput levels closer to modern workstations.
Users can now run professional recording devices or external NVMe RAID hardware cards without the bottlenecks that appeared on Thunderbolt 3 setups.
The extended display support of Thunderbolt 5 means that the enclosure also enables up to three 8K displays, depending on the host system’s graphics hardware.
The Helios 5S replaces OWC’s Mercury Helios 3S, moving from Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 5 over USB-C, doubling bandwidth from 40 Gb/s to 80 Gb/s.
The older model had a single PCIe 3.0 slot, which was sufficient for moderate expansion but limited for high-performance tasks.
The Helios 5S supports PCIe 4.0 x4 cards at full speed and adds three additional Thunderbolt 5 USB-C ports, increasing connectivity and external expansion options for users of Apple’s compact desktops.
It supports three Thunderbolt 5 ports, each with 15 W power supply, allowing up to 120 Gb/s bandwidth for screen-heavy tasks.
With this connection, the device can handle up to three 8K displays or two at 120 Hz.
For more connectivity, it supports NVMe RAID controllers, 8K capture cards, high-speed network adapters and audio DSP hardware externally.
It also maintains compatibility with older Thunderbolt 4 and 3 Macs as well as USB4 PCs, offering plug-and-play operation when macOS 15.3 or later is installed.
Users working with Apple’s smaller desktops may find the Helios 5S useful if they need card-based features that macOS supports natively.
The Helios 5S is available for $329.99 and includes a Thunderbolt 5 cable and power supply.
OWC has also introduced StudioStack, which brings stackable hybrid storage to Mac Studio and Mac mini systems.
The device supports fast NVMe SSDs, large hard drives and additional Thunderbolt 5 connectivity in a compact aluminum housing.
“OWC continues to set the pace for Thunderbolt innovation,” said Larry O’Connor, founder and CEO, Other World Computing (OWC).
“With StudioStack and the Mercury Helios 5S, we’re giving creatives, business people and even hobbyists the tools to not only push performance further, but also expand what’s possible.”
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