Lexar's Super-Small Portable SSD for Mobile Filmmakers is Finally Shipping | PetaPixel

Lexar’s Professional Go Portable SSD and Hub, which raised over a million dollars on Kickstarter, is finally in-stock and shipping.

When the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max launched earlier this year, multiple products hit the market that were marketed to support the increased ProRes Log frame rate options that were available on the device including an SD card reader from Anker and a camera cage with an SD card port from Moment. While an SD card is technically supported through these devices as a way to gain affordable external storage, they’re not the best option.

That’s because there are only two SD cards that are actually capable of supporting the extremely high data rates produced by the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max when shooting in ProRes Log: the OWC Atlas Ultra V90 and the Sabrent Rocket V90. Neither is a good solution because to get them in a capacity that’s worth it, they start at $500 for 512GB — and that’s before picking up an iPhone-compatible USB-C reader. Secondly, the appeal of using SD cards relies on the fact photographers want to use the ones they already own. From that perspective, it’s unlikely that either of these memory cards are in existing collections and none of the cards photographers already own are going to be able to handle the data load.

So if SD cards are impractical, unreliable, too expensive, and don’t offer enough usable capacity for a video project, then doing what Apple suggests in the first place — using an external SSD — is the better option. On that front, Lexar has created one of the smallest and most versatile options yet with the Go Portable SSD and Hub. The SSD portion is about the size of a human thumb and is available in capacities of up to 2TB and connects to an iPhone using USB 3.2 Gen 2 for performance of up to 1,050 MB/s read 1,000 MB/s write speeds.

The 1TB option costs $190 while the 2TB option is $300. That means the Lexar solution is smaller, faster, offers higher capacity, is far more reliable, and is significantly cheaper than trying to use an SD card. The same can be said of basically any other SSD meant to work with iPhones such as the LaCie Portable 2TB SSD, the Samsung T9 1TB SSD, and the OWC Envoy Pro Elektron 1TB SSD which cost $150, $135, and $180, respectively, except in this case, Lexar created an SSD that is meant to specifically work with the iPhone thanks to its low profile, compact design.

Lexar says the SSD will work great with the iPhone 15 Pro/Max or later for up to 4K at 60FPS ProRes Log capture, but Apple says 4K 120FPS ProRes Log capture requires 440 MB/s, which Lexar’s speed promise easily outpaces. PetaPixel confirms that the Go Portable SSD does support capture with all frame rate options the iPhone 16 Pro offers in ProRes Log (including 120FPS, where a four-minute recording didn’t drop a single frame).

Beyond the SSD, the full Go Portable Hub acts as a way for filmmakers to build a full capture rig. It adds four USB-C ports for accessories like a microphone and a power bank and also comes with adapters and cables.

As mentioned, the SSD alone costs $190 for the 1TB version while the 2TB option is $300. The optional Hub system costs $239 which includes the 1TB SSD or $349 which includes the 2TB SSD. All options are shipping starting today.

Image credits: Lexar