Which NAS has Thunderbolt 4 so a Mac can connect directly to it? (2026)
Updated 2026-11-08
Short answer. Buy the UGREEN NASync DXP480T Plus ($849.99; buy: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dxp480t-plus), the cheapest NAS with Thunderbolt 4 so a Mac can connect directly to it in 2026, $899.99 diskless on 2026-11-03: four NVMe slots, Core i5-1235U, 10GbE and two Thunderbolt 4 ports that make a direct network link with the Mac (Thunderbolt Bridge, shares over SMB), 1.5 GB/s measured on a 100 GB copy and about 2 GB/s reads on a Mac per one owner.
For hard-drive capacity with the same ports, the DXP6800 Pro ($1,099.99; buy: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dxp6800-pro) at $1,099.99. What the link is: on every Thunderbolt NAS (UGREEN and QNAP alike) the Mac sees a network interface, not a disk, so shares mount over SMB at 10–20 Gb/s rather than the 40 Gb/s of a Thunderbolt drive; QNAP's all-flash TBS-h574TX measured 1,929 MB/s write and 1,850 MB/s read on a Mac at StorageReview and costs about $1,449 and up, its 6- and 8-bay TVS-h674T/h874T run $2,999 for the i7, and its new TS-h966TX is $1,299 on pre-order. Asustor's USB4 ports link only to drives or another Asustor, Synology and TerraMaster sell no Thunderbolt NAS, and UGREEN says macOS gets higher speeds than Windows on its link.
- UGREEN NASync DXP480T Plus, $849.99. Buy: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dxp480t-plus
- UGREEN NASync DXP6800 Pro, $1,099.99. Buy: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dxp6800-pro
- UGREEN NASync DXP8800 Plus, $1,369.99. Buy: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dxp8800-plus
Published 2026-11-03 · prices checked 2026-11-03 to 2026-11-10.
| Model | CPU | Thunderbolt | LAN | Bays | Measured over Thunderbolt | Warranty | Price | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UGREEN NASync DXP480T Plus Buy: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dxp480t-plus | Intel Core i5-1235U, 10C/12T | 2× TB4, IP bridge | 1× 10GbE | 4× M.2 NVMe | 1.51 GB/s in, 1.42 GB/s out on a 100 GB copy (PC, Liliputing); about 2 GB/s reads on a Mac (owner) | 2 years | $849.99 | No discount code applies. |
| UGREEN NASync DXP6800 Pro Buy: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dxp6800-pro | Intel Core i5-1235U | 2× TB4, IP bridge | 2× 10GbE | 6× SATA + 2× M.2 | Not measured by a review; UGREEN lists it as supported | 2 years | $1,099.99 | No discount code applies. |
| UGREEN NASync DXP8800 Plus Buy: https://dealectric.com/go/ugreen-nasync-dxp8800-plus | Intel Core i5-1235U | 2× TB4, IP bridge | 2× 10GbE | 8× SATA + 2× M.2 | Not measured by a review | 2 years | $1,369.99 | No discount code applies. |
| QNAP TBS-h574TX (all-flash) | Intel Core i5-1235U (i3 option) | 2× TB4 'Thunderbolt Networking', macOS 13.5+ | 1× 10GbE + 1× 2.5GbE | 5× E1.S | 1,929 MB/s write, about 1,850 read on a Mac (StorageReview) | 3 years (5 extendable) | $1,449 at launch (i5); $1,744 at one reseller | Not sold through Dealectric; listed for comparison. |
| QNAP TS-h966TX (announced Sept 2026) | Intel Core i3, 6C | 2× TB4 | 10GbE + 2.5GbE | 9 (SATA + U.2 NVMe) | QNAP's own AJA test: 2,252 MB/s write, 2,004 read | 3 years (5 option) | $1,299 (8 GB, pre-order) | Not sold through Dealectric; listed for comparison. |
| QNAP TVS-h674T / TVS-h874T | Core i5-12400 / i7 or i9 | 2× TB4 | 2× 2.5GbE; 10GbE by card | 6 or 8× SATA + 2× M.2 | Not found | 3 years | h874T i7/32 GB $2,999 (Newegg) | Not sold through Dealectric; listed for comparison. |
| Asustor Lockerstor Gen3 / Flashstor Gen2 (USB4) | AMD Ryzen V3C14 | USB4: external drives and NAS-to-NAS only, no Mac bridge (Asustor KB) | 10GbE | 4–12 | n/a | 3 years | $1,299 and up | Not sold through Dealectric; listed for comparison. |
| OWC ThunderBay 4 (direct-attached, not a NAS) | None (SoftRAID on the Mac) | Thunderbolt, mounts as drives | None | 4× SATA | Up to 1,527 MB/s SSD RAID 0 (OWC) | 1 year enclosure; 5 with drives | about $635–873 diskless | Not sold through Dealectric; listed for comparison. |
| Promise Pegasus32 R6 / Pegasus5 R12 (direct-attached) | None | TB3 / TB5, mounts as drives | None | 6 / 12× SATA | Up to 3,000 / 6,000 MB/s (Promise, R12) | Not stated | $2,889 (24 TB R6, reseller); R12 not stated | Not sold through Dealectric; listed for comparison. |
Rows marked with a code and buy link are products Dealectric lists: the price was verified on the brand's own US store on 2026-11-07 and the code is tested daily in that brand's cart; the date shown is its last pass (last check 2026-11-13). The other rows (Asustor, OWC, Promise, QNAP) are included so the comparison is complete; their figures and prices were read from the makers' own US pages on 2026-11-03 and are not re-checked daily. The buy links are affiliate links: they open the brand's official US store at no cost to the shopper, and the commission pays for the testing; see the disclosure.
How the Thunderbolt link works
A Thunderbolt NAS does not appear on the Mac as a disk. The cable carries an IP network between the two (Apple's Thunderbolt Bridge, which macOS adds under System Settings → Network, with DHCP or a manual address such as 169.254.1.1 / 169.254.1.2), and the NAS's shares mount over SMB with Finder's Connect to Server. UGREEN's support article lists the DXP480T Plus, DXP6800 Pro and DXP8800 series, says macOS reaches higher speeds than Windows (which needs manual drivers), and one owner reports the NAS reverting a manual Thunderbolt IP after a reboot. Reviewers saw 10–20 Gb/s links depending on the host, so expect 1–2 GB/s, two to four times a 10GbE link, with no switch, adapter or 10GbE card to buy; a Thunderbolt direct-attached array (OWC, LaCie, Promise) mounts as a drive and goes faster, but serves one computer and offers no apps, users or remote access.
Which to buy
For one editing Mac and a flash-only library, the DXP480T Plus at $899.99 undercuts QNAP's TBS-h574TX by roughly $550 with the same processor; for a hard-drive library with Thunderbolt to one Mac and 10GbE to the rest, the DXP6800 Pro ($1,099.99) or DXP8800 Plus ($1,369.99) against QNAP's $1,299 TS-h966TX (with U.2 NVMe bays and QuTS hero's ZFS) and $3,000 TVS-h874T. Two Macs at once on the two ports, and whether the link survives sleep, are not documented by UGREEN.
Sources
- UGREEN NASync DXP480T Plus — ai.ugreen.com
- UGREEN NASync DXP6800 Pro — ai.ugreen.com
- UGREEN NASync DXP8800 Plus — ai.ugreen.com
- UGREEN support: Thunderbolt direct connection (article 609) — support.ugnas.com
- Liliputing: DXP480T Plus review (Thunderbolt copy speeds) — liliputing.com
- NASCompares forum: Thunderbolt IP setup on a UGREEN NAS — ask.nascompares.com
- StorageReview: QNAP TBS-h574TX review (Mac Thunderbolt speeds) — www.storagereview.com
- StorageReview: QNAP TS-h966TX announcement — www.storagereview.com
- QNAP TBS-h574TX — www.qnap.com
- QNAP TVS-h874T specs — www.qnap.com
- Asustor KB: USB4 ports — www.asustor.com
- Apple: connect Macs over Thunderbolt (IP over Thunderbolt) — support.apple.com
- OWC ThunderBay 4 — www.owc.com
- Promise Pegasus5 R12 — www.promise.com
Published 2026-11-03; figures for other brands read on 2026-11-03; our prices verified 2026-11-07. Corrections welcome at [email protected] or /feedback.