It certainly has been a minute since we took a long hard look at a new LaCie storage device, but that is not all that surprising. Beyond being known for their class leading aesthetics, incredible robustness, and bashful underselling of how durable they are, the other ‘thing’ LaCie is known for is their longevity. Put simply LaCie does not feel the need to replace a product line-up every year. Instead, they are meant to be offered for sale in multi-year time spans. With that said… they do upgrade/refresh/tweak their line-up. Just not as often as most. The latest to get the refresh treatment is their LaCie Mobile Drive series. To be specific, and unlike the last time we looked at this model, we will be looking at the ‘tinny’ 2 Terabyte variant.
On paper it appears that LaCie mainly focused in on the external chassis for this generation’s refresh. After all, the last generation LaCie Mobile Drive series came in capacities that maxed out at a (now) moderate 5TB, the sequential speed was rated at 130MB/s via its USB Type-C port, (now) costs about $120 (for the 2TB variant, which launched at about $140 USD) and all that was wrapped in an aluminum chassis that was as robust as it was beautiful. Compare and contrast that with the 2022 refresh that… tops out at 5TB and 130MB/s, uses a USB Type-C port, has an ~150 USD price tag (2TB), and while radically different looking comes clad in all aluminum chassis that is as stunning as it is robust. Sure, the ‘Apple Exclusive’ is not the 5TB variant but is a 1TB variant. Sure, the dimensions are slightly more svelte, but on paper it does look like LaCie simply took the guts of their last generation and crammed them into a new ‘suit’.
That is not what has happened. This is not just a new coat of paint over an existing foundation. Instead, LaCie has indeed done a lot of low-level refreshing to the internals. So, with expectations levels (hopefully) properly set lets dig in and see what has been refreshed, what remains the same and if this refresh is an improvement worthy of your hard earned dollars.
