We’ve been anticipating an entire range of new Thunderbolt-equipped gadgets since Apple announced the technology with its latest line of MacBook Pros, and today, the first high-speed external hard drive featuring Thunderbolt technology has hit the Apple Store.
The Little Big Disk from Lacie was first announced back in February, and has begun arriving at Apple Stores both throughout the U.S. and internationally, according to 9to5 Mac.
It is available with either a traditional hard disk drive or you can opt for the more expensive solid-state model, and features two Thunderbolt ports to make it suitable for daisy-chaining other Thunderbolt-equipped peripherals.
Lacie explains in the product’s description why Thunderbolt drives are a must-have:
This new high-speed cable technology connects computers and electronic devices together like never before. Thunderbolt technology supports two 10Gb/s bi-directional channels from a single port, the fastest data connection available on a personal computer. At 10Gb/s, a full-length HD movie can be transferred in less than 30 seconds.
Lacie is yet to make an announcement regarding the device’s availability, however, those Apple Stores that have taken delivery of the new drives are expected to begin selling them immediately. The 1TB hard disk model — seen in the image above — will reportedly cost $399.
Has your local Apple Store begun selling the Little Big Disk yet? Let me know by leaving a comment, or contact me on Twitter via @killianbell.
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
33 responses to “Lacie’s Thunderbolt-Equipped Little Big Disk Hits Apple Store”
dosent look very apple-like… just sayin
how much does it cost for the 7200rpm models?!
$399
The ‘little’ disk with a ‘Big’ Price !
Thanks Lacie !
$399 for 1TB… Thunderbolt won’t be successful unless the prices of devices with thunderbolt come down.
That price is very Apple-like
This little, compact disk is useless when you have to connect it with a 3m cable
Does the performance capabilities of the port mean nothing? Should you really get 10Gbps throughput for the price of USB? Granted eventually is a reasonable response but not initially.
it’s not made by Apple..
7:12am 9/20/11, don’t see it on Apple store.
Okay, well it’s a start. I’m looking forward to Thunderbolt’s future. The price is still too high for widespread adoption, but it’s a good start comparing to early firewire device pricing :)
Good luck finding one. I had a huge problem even finding references to it on Lacie’s site. Any sales links lead to an older 4 interface model and not the Thunderbolt bolt. I’m crying “Foul!” on this one. I think it is with the living unicorn or bigfoot – like it they are missing in action too. If someone does find one post a link to it please!!
I DONT WANT TO BUY A HARD DRIVE! Just sell me the enclosure without drives and I’ll take all my old drives out of my USB 2.0 enclosures and put them in new Thunderbolt ones. I’d pay $100 just for that… Someone invent one.. GO!
Wonder what the cost of the solid state drives will be…
Thats ridiculous. I think Apple needs to abandon Thunderbolt and use USB 3.0. Thunderbolt cables are fricken expensive, $50? Are you kidding me? I got a USB 3.0 hard drive, 2TB for under $100 and the transfer speed is pretty darn fast on my Windows computer. Plus compatibility. I can only see 10gbps being useful for professionals using tons of gigs of data.
You can still use USB and Firewire with Thunder Bolt Port so no need to get rid of it.
Really? can you adapt it for USB3?