CalDigit and LaCie are leading the Mac USB 3.0 market for owners of Macintosh Pro towers with it's PCI slots - and for recent MacBook Pro models with ExpressCard/34 slots built in. On LaCie's support page you'll find optimized USB 3 Drivers for Mac OSX Leopard 10.5 and up.

NOTE! LaCie's SuperSpeed cards and its driver currently ONLY support LaCie brand USB 3.0 drives! So it is essential to pair these cards with LaCie SuperSpeed drives from their current product line.

For Mac Pro Towers with PCI-e Slots:

LaCie USB 3.0 PCI Express Card - Model 130977



For MacBook Pro's with ExpressCard Slots (15" & 17" models):

LaCie USB 3.0 ExpressCard-34 - Model 130998

Again - at this time - you MUST pair either of these cards with any number of LaCie's own USB3 external hard drive lineup. LaCie's drivers are keyed-in to only working with LaCie brand SuperSpeed USB3 drives (at this time.)

Alternately: you can order a CalDigit USB3 PCI or ExpressCard Caldigit.com - who's driver works explicitly paired with their AV DRIVE. (Although some Forum posts around the net suggest CalDigit's card and driver combo works with a wider range of 3rd-party drives or DIY enclosures - at your own risk...)

CalDigit SuperSpeed PCI Express Card - USB 3.0 for Mac



Why this 'Lock-In'? USB drivers are often explicitly written to look for and detect specific product and vendor ID codes when polling for a device on the USB bus. (This is common with, say, USB TV tuners or Graphics Tablets.) This has benefits for the manufacturer and the consumer: Quality control for full compatibility and testing for the best end user experience. If you want a working Mac USB3 solution today - LaCie and CalDigit have the goods that other's don't.

More versatile USB 3.0 drivers for Mac OSX Leopard will eventually become available that will work with a wider number of 3rd-party USB3 external hard drives or USB3 SSD Drives.

Tags: Mac USB3 Drivers, OSX SuperSpeed Drivers