LaCie Releases USB 3 Driver for Mac

LaCie announced Thursday the release of a USB 3 driver for the Mac. When used with a LaCie USB 3 expansion card (PCI Express or ExpressCard), Mac users can add USB 3 to their Mac.

Mac Pros are the only shipping Macs with PCI Express slots, and some MacBook Pro models have EpressCard/34 slots.

USB 3 supplies theoretical speeds of up to 5 Gigabits per second, though real-world speeds don’t come close. USB 3 is, however, faster than even FireWire 800, let alone USB 2. Apple doesn’t offer built-in support for USB 3, and CEO Steve Jobs recently told a customer that there wasn’t enough industry support for the technology for Apple to embrace it.

LaCie is offering a variety of USB 3 external hard drives, including the D2 with up to 3TB capacity, the 2big with up to 6TB, the Minimus with up to 2TB, the Rugged with up to 1TB, and the Rikiki, also with up to 1TB capacity.

The drivers are a free download, while the PCI Express USB 3 card is priced at US$49.99, and the ExpressCard/34 USB 3 card is $59.99.

LaCie ExpressCard/34 USB 3 Card