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"Got a Macbook Air from 2010 or 2011 and want to upgrade the storage without dropping its pre-existing SSD module all together? Well, you're in luck, thanks to OWC's new Mecury Aura Bundles. After upgrading your Air with one of the company's Mercury Aura Pro Express SSDs, the included Mercury Aura Envoy lets you re-purpose the factory SSD as a bus-powered, USB 3.0-compatible external drive. Better yet, the Envoy is made of aluminum, matches the Air's tapered design and weighs just 1.5 ounces. Owners of the 2010 Air can opt for a 180, 240 or 480GB 3Gb/s drive, while those with the 2011 model can bump up to 6Gb/s bus speeds with the same storage allotments and a 120GB option. Pricing for the bundle starts at $200 for the 120GB variant, maxing out at a hefty $780 and $800 if you want to move up to the spacious 480GB offerings. Thankfully, like the SSDs, the Mercury Aura Envoy is available as a stand-alone enclosure, and it'll cost you just under $50 bucks. Hit up the press release after the break for the full details if this dual-drive setup piques your interestShow full PR text      OWC Announces Mercury Aura Pro Express/Aura Envoy as Industry's First   High-Performance SSD and Enclosure Bundle For MacBook Air Computers     'Dream Team' Upgrade Features Bus-Powered Enclosure to Re-Task Factory SSD as External Driveyyy   After Upgrading to Higher Capacity, Higher-Performance Mercury Aura Pro Express SSD     June 28, 2012, Woodstock, IL - Other World Computing (OWC&amp;reg;) http://www.macsales.com, a leading zero emissions Mac&amp;reg; and PC technology company, announced today the OWC Mercury Aura&amp;reg; Pro Express/Mercury Aura Envoy&amp;trade; as the industry's first high-performance Solid State Drive upgrade and bus-powered enclosure bundle for 2010-2011 MacBook&amp;reg; Air computers. Representing a 'Dream Team' of performance and convenience, the Mercury Aura Bundle includes a Mercury Aura Pro Express SSD that offers nearly 8x the factory maximum storage capacity along with extreme data rate speeds up to or exceeding 500MB/s - representing up to 68 percent faster real-world speed than the factory Flash SSD. After installing the Aura Pro Express in the MacBook Air, the factory SSD is easily converted into an external storage solution inside the Mercury Aura Envoy to complete the two-in-one storage upgrade.     Faster and Bigger Than Factory SSD   By combining award-winning SandForce&amp;reg; technologies and Tier 1/Grade A NAND, OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express SSDs are built to exceed the factory SSD in both speed and capacity. Available in 3Gb/s speeds for the 2010 MacBook Air models and 6Gb/s speeds for the 2011 models, the Aura Pro Express gives MacBook Air owners bigger drive options...up to 480GB for up to 8x greater storage capacity versus original factory SSDs.     Re-tasks the Factory SSD as New External Drive   After watching OWC's free how-to-install Aura Pro Express video showing this upgrade performed in 15 minutes, MacBook Air owners then re-task the factory SSD as a high-performance external drive with the Mercury Aura Envoy. As the industry's only bus-powered (no AC adapter needed) external drive designed specifically for the MacBook Air, the Envoy's tapered, 1.5 ounce aluminum housing complements the MacBook Air's unique shape. No lightweight in the performance department, the Envoy's USB 3.0 interface provides real-world data rates of over 200MB/s with original Apple MBA SSDs for high speed, portable backup and file storage as well as grab-and-go enjoyment of music, movies or videos.     Seven Bundles Available from $199.99 MSRP   The Mercury Aura Bundle comes complete with three installation tools and is available for immediate ordering in both 3G and 6G speeds with up to 480GB storage capacity:     120GB Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G SSD and Mercury Aura Envoy for MacBook Air 2011 $199.99   180GB Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G SSD and Mercury Aura Envoy for MacBook Air 2011 $279.99   240GB Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G SSD and Mercury Aura Envoy for MacBook Air 2011 $349.99   480GB Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G SSD and Mercury Aura Envoy for MacBook Air 2011 $799.99   180GB Mercury Aura Pro Express 3G SSD and Mercury Aura Envoy for MacBook Air 2010 $269.99   240GB Mercury Aura Pro Express 3G SSD and Mercury Aura Envoy for MacBook Air 2010 $349.99   480GB Mercury Aura Pro Express 3G SSD and Mercury Aura Envoy for MacBook Air 2010 $779.99     The Mercury Aura Envoy is also available as a $47.99 MSRP 0GB enclosure only for other external application requirements that benefit from external accessibility to Apple's 2010 and 2011 MBA SSD modules.     \"The Mercury Aura Bundle continues our streak of first-to-market with performance upgrades for the MacBook Air,\" said Larry O'Connor, Founder and CEO, Other World Computing. \"This potent, two-upgrades-in-one 'dream team' solution truly takes 2010 and 2011 MacBook Air machines to new levels of performance, convenience, and flexibility.\"     Bundle Complements Industry's Most Comprehensive SSD Line   The new Mercury Aura Bundle for the 2010 and 2011 MacBook Air models enhances OWC's existing line of performance-leading, world record-breaking 3G (3Gb/s) and 6G (6Gb/s) Mercury SSDs. OWC offers SSDs for nearly every Mac and PC produced over the past decade in capacities from 30GB to 1TB with prices starting from $49.99. For more information on the complete OWC Mercury SSD line, including expert benchmark reviews, visit: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/. For more information on the OWC catalog of over 2,900 performance upgrades and accessories, or for reseller inquires, visit: http://eshop.macsales.com/"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/01/owc-mercury-aura-bundle-macbook-air-ssd/>