OWC Thunderbolt 5 Hub 5-Port Connectivity Solution

This OWC T5 Hub is a game changer. I use it to bridge my Mac mini/MacBook Pro with my OWC Gemini storage, and the efficiency is top-notch. Moving large files is a breeze, and I’ve experienced zero connectivity drops. It’s expensive, but you definitely get what you pay for in terms of build quality and performance. 5 stars!

This hub works great. Took me a little bit to figure out which port I needed to plug in my computer too but once I figure that out I was often running it’s great because it charges my MacBook so I don’t need to plug in a separate power supply to the MacBook.

The biggest highlight is how compact yet powerful this hub is. It instantly expands a single Thunderbolt port into multiple high-speed connections, making it easy to connect monitors, storage drives, and accessories all at once. It’s perfect for keeping a clean, clutter-free workspace. Performance is excellent—fast data transfer speeds and stable connections across all devices. I’ve had zero issues running multiple peripherals simultaneously. It also handles high-resolution displays with ease, which is great for productivity and creative work. Build quality feels premium with a solid, durable design, and setup is completely plug-and-play. No complicated configuration—just connect and go. Overall, this is a reliable, high-performance Thunderbolt hub that delivers exactly what you need for expanding your workstation. Highly recommend for anyone using a Mac or PC with limited ports!

So far, I’m not as impressed with this OWC product as I usually am. They are generally good products, but the throughput for this one is lacking. Everything connects properly, but the speed is disappointing. Seems like a burdensome speed penalty. While I’m not entirely sure what to expect with this Hub, it’s concerning that the writing speed drops ~2854 MB/s from when it’s when connected directly to the MacBook Air to ~1,808 MB/s when connected through the OWC ThunderBlot-4 Hub. I’ll do more testing as time allows and adjust the rating accordingly. Here’s the AJA speed testing data, which is similar to the Blackmagic speed data. Direct connect = 2854/3045 OWC Hub connect = 1808/2789 ADDITIONAL AI Researched data...updated 11/7/2025 13:40hrs INCREASED Rating from 3 to 5 stars...As OWC is performing above average for a Thunderbolt Hub... --- Write Speeds: Some Thunderbolt 3 and 4 SSDs may experience a more significant reduction in write speeds when connected via a hub (e.g., dropping from 2.1 GB/s to 1.5 GB/s or even lower), while their read speeds remain largely unaffected. This behavior can vary unpredictably depending on the specific SSD and hub combination.

This USB4.2/TB5/4/3 hub works well and supports all protocols from USB 4.2/Thunderbolt 5 back to USB 2/1.1 — I tested all of this. Note that you will need different cables and/or adapters to support Thunderbolt 2/1 and USB 3.0/2.0/1.1 on a Mac. Windows PC compatibility beyond TB5/4 and USB 4.2 is not promised nor can I test it. Anyway, this lets you add two USB 4.2 ports over USB-C (one pair of ports contains the uplink and replaces that port on your computer) plus a USB-A port for USB 3.0/2.0/1.1 only. Has enough bus power to charge nearly anything quickly. Why give it only 4 stars? It's design is nearly the same as the TB4 hub it replaces but some of the ports are in different locations on the unit. The old version had a logo that lit up different colors to let you know if your uplink is working and you are correctly connected—this one has an LED under the unit to let you know the status of your connection and that is not as good. Build quality is up to OWC's high standard. For the price, I hoped for more ports and an LED on the top. It's also nearly twice as large as the old version, no doubt to accommodate the larger charging capacity and new internal fan. Overall value is hard to say. USB 4.2/TB5 is twice as fast as the older TB4/USB 4 version. Good company and has a 2 year warranty. If your Mac/PC does not have TB5, this will not add it but if it does, you want one of these.

Works perfectly and a fair price, especially happy it can ramp up the power on its USB-A port in order to charge iPads and especially my superdrive, without connecting directly to my MacBook Pro M3 pro. I opted for this thunderbolt 5 hub, even though my MacBook is thunderbolt 4, to future proof myself. Thus, I can't really say I'd buy it again, because I won't need to, so instead I will say I highly recommend it. One caveat is, it's not exactly plug and play right out of the box, so I had to open up the MacBook and give the device permission to be used so that My BenQ monitor would fire up and the driver install to enable superdrive support is a little odd, because you have to roll back the software and driver to an older version for it to work, had to hunt around to find this little tidbit out. I won't hold that hiccup against it, because it is solidly build, silent, warm but not hot, and does everything OWC says it does. I can't really ask for more than that... What I'd like to see is updated software that includes superdrive & iPad/iPhone fast charging working or at least clear messaging about the software roll-back until they get it working in the latest software version.

These work great, they DO go on sale for significantly less so keep an eye out ( $30-ish less ). Special thanks to Amazon who honored a sale price on their own stock of this OWC item. I made my original purchase on Amazon, from OWC’s Amazon site, during a sale price timeframe but due to the holiday rush, OWC ran out of stock in their Amazon store before fulfilling my order. 6 weeks later, after watching stock return ( at the higher / regular price ) and then fully run out, two additional times, without fulfilling my order. Amazon’s system requires a vendor to “approve” fulfillment of items that are on time bound sale prices once the promotional price period has passed. OWC never approved fulfillment / shipment of my order ( I verified on 3 different calls to Amazon customer support who indicated that it was still awaiting OWC’s approval to fulfill my order ). I’m very disappointed in OWC, even with screen shot proof, dated photos ( including a copy of my original Amazon purchase receipt ) and other poignant proof of a price that they ran on Amazon when they ran out of stock, they still would not honor their price I had paid for and left my order in an indefinite “pending” status for more than a month and a half. I called and spoke with their direct Customer Service team, explained the situation and they said that there was nothing they could do and that they would not be able to honor their own price that they offered on Amazon. This will likely be my last purchase of OWC products. While I like the products, I own several of them, their integrity and lack of customer service has soured my opinion of them. They would rather lose a customer than resolve a $30-$40 price adjustment to honor their own price.

This thing ROCKS. I’ve been using it for 4 months now with zero issues. Single cable to my M4 Pro MacBook, and it connects all of the following flawlessly: * powers the laptop * runs two 4k 240hz monitors (NOT mirroring, fully separate displays) using two Type-C to DisplayPort cables * keyboard and mouse * has extra usb ports to add a webcam/external drive/etc No issues at all and works great in my KVM setup as well. Huge win!

Quizá tuve mala suerte y me toco uno defectuoso. El Hub tenia bajas de voltaje. Desconectaba los periféricos. Probémo con SSD externos, HD externos, monitores y otro tipo de periféricos Thunderbolt como USB-C. después de una o dos horas funcionando, tenia bajadas de voltaje y me desconectaba alguno de los puertos. Lamentablemente una mala experiencia.

Excelente producto funciona al 100%, no defrauda.

Importante sapere che è compatibile con tutti gli hard disk con sistema Thunderbolt 3, ma serve utilizzare sempre e solo cavi thunderbolt 4, in caso non riconosce gli HD. In lungimiranza con la tecnologia che avanzerà verso il 4, è ottimo investimento. Lo utilizzo come Hub per collegare un Apple MacBook Pro M1 13" con scheda audio Apogee Symphony Desktop e con un Hard Disk, per esempio, ed è perfetto, non sgancia mai....meglio spendere qualcosa in più, ma state tranquilli per l'intera giornata. Ha il suo alimentatore "ingombrante", ma appunto, se funzionale....meglio così.

Works with my (finicky) Asus Thunderbolt 4x card in my PC. I tried other Thunderbolt docks and they were not recognized. I plugged in the OWC Thunderbolt hub into my Asus card and it was recognized immediately giving my three times the thunderbolt outlets - the Thunderbolt Control Centre (Apple) informed me that I had just hooked up a "Other World Computing" Thunderbolt Hub (I did not know what OWC stood for. The OWC site provided a lot of information and some software that allows me to "disconnect" drives that are hooked up to the hub. This hub was a lot less expensive than others I had tried and it WORKED RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX. It also appears to be of high quality. The Vender in this case was also great - I received it weeks before the due date (in fact a couple of days after ordering it). Great product.

The OWV Thunderbolt hub is an excellent product. It works out of the box and the throughput speed is as listed. The quality if faultless, the cables are high quality and long enough. I would buy OWC any time - EXCELLENT quality.