Following the arrival of the first Thunderbolt 5 cables last July and the first Thunderbolt 5 dock last September, it might finally be time to start upgrading your external storage to take advantage of the increased performance. Its been a slow rollout for Thunderbolt 5 hardware following its official reveal in September 2023, but companies like Seagate, OWC, and Sabrent finally have SSDs en route supporting the new standard.Seagate announced its new Thunderbolt 5 LaCie Rugged SSD Pro5 external drive at CES this week. The company says it will be available sometime this month in a 2TB version for $399.99 and a 4TB version for $599.99. Theyll offer read and write speeds of 6,700MB/s and 5,300MB/s, respectively. Image: SeagateLike previous LaCie rugged drives, the new SSD comes in a rubber enclosure in blue, black, and orange color options, helping it survive drops from heights of up to three meters. Its also waterproof with an IP68 rating, so it can survive a complete dunking to depths of one meter. Image: SabrentThere are a few other choices that have been announced, too, though with varying levels of availability. Sabrent, for example, was actually one of the first companies to announce a Thunderbolt 5 SSD last August, but the SSD isnt out yet. The Rocket XTRM 5 comes in a silicone sleeve for extra protection from falls, and the company says it can reach read and write speeds of 6,000MB/s and 5,000MB/s, respectively. Its expected to be available in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities but is still listed as only being available for preorder through Sabrents website. Image: OWCOWC announced its Envoy Ultra Thunderbolt 5 SSD last September. The company says the external drive is water-resistant, dust-resistant, and crushproof, and offers read speeds of over 6,000MB/s. When it was announced, OWC said the Envoy Ultra would be available in a 2TB version for $399.99 and a 4TB version for $599.99, with shipping starting in late October. The first shipments of the drives sold out, but its still available for preorder through OWCs website with an expected ship date of mid-January 2025.If youd rather take a DIY approach, several Thunderbolt 5-compatible SSD enclosures have also been announced over the past few months.However, despite the promised performance improvements, and the yearlong wait for hardware to finally materialize, upgrading your setup to Thunderbolt 5 might still have a few speed bumps. Thats what Mark Hachman, the senior editor of PCWorld, discovered when trying to get a Maingear ML-17 laptop, Kensingtons Thunderbolt 5 dock, OWCs Envoy Ultra SSD, and Acers Nitro XV5 displays to play nice. The setup was plagued by laggy performance and slow transfer speeds.It all still felt not quite ready for primetime, Hachman found. When you buy (or test) bleeding-edge hardware, sometimes youre the one that ends up with the cuts, Hachman said.