Drobo Announces New 4-Bay Gen3 with USB 3.0, Enhanced Time Machine Support - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Drobo Announces New 4-Bay Gen3 with USB 3.0, Enhanced Time Machine Support

by

Connected Data today announced the Drobo Gen3, the next generation of its popular 4-bay storage array. The Gen3 is faster and cheaper than previous Drobo models. It also features enhanced support for Apple's Time Machine backups.

drobo-gen3

This third generation Drobo is more affordable, three times faster than the previous release and includes new features such as USB 3.0, significantly faster rebuild times and enhanced support for Apple’s Time Machine®.

Mac owners will be interested in the improved Time Machine support now available in the Drobo Gen3. Instead of using an entire drive for Time Machine, users can maximize their data storage space by allocating a fixed amount of capacity for their Time Machine-derived backups.

Drobo is accepting pre-orders for the Drobo Gen3, which is priced at $349 for the base model without pre-installed hard drives. Through June 9th, select existing Drobo customers are eligible for a $50 discount on the Gen3 when they purchase the new Drobo through the company's online store. Shipments of the Gen3 are expected to begin in late April.

Top Rated Comments

HackerJL Avatar
162 months ago
Omg

OMG someone didnt like theirs, so lets poo on the company.

I own 2, ordered a 5D on Monday. Never had an issue. I have 3 friends that have them, and never an issue either.

Lets all hang them...
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ugahairydawgs Avatar
162 months ago
Drobo's are a joke. Don't buy from this ridiculous, proprietary company.
Complaining about a company being proprietary on an Apple forum.

Classic.

FWIW....I've been using a Drobo as my media storage solution for a few years now. Works just fine for me running over FW800. Mixing and matching drives is a nice feature.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
162 months ago
Whoah, the hard drive file format is proprietary? No thanks!

http://scottkelby.com/2012/im-done-with-drobo/
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
avanpelt Avatar
162 months ago
Don't know much about Drobo, but I've been very happy with my Synology NAS.

Agreed. My DS213 has given me zero issues for the year and a half I've owned it. I'm glad Drobo must be feeling the pricing pressure from Synology and others. The Drobo hardware seemed to me to be ridiculously overpriced for what it offered a year and a half ago. That's why I went with Synology. Today, Drobo has an App Store similar to Synology which I don't believe existed a year and a half ago.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
162 months ago
Don't know much about Drobo, but I've been very happy with my Synology NAS.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RoastingPig Avatar
162 months ago
Drobos are slow. Pegasus 2 line is what you want
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra 2 Black Titanium

New Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 Features Revealed

Sunday August 30, 2026 7:54 am PDT by
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today further outlined what to expect from the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 set to be unveiled on September 9. While it was initially rumored that Touch ID may be coming to the Apple Watch this year, Gurman reiterated that he does not expect the Series 12 or Ultra 4 to have any major design changes compared to the current Series 11 and Ultra 3 models. ...
Mac mini vs Studio Feature Sans Text 1

Apple Caught Off Guard by AI Demand for Mac Mini and Mac Studio

Sunday August 30, 2026 8:52 am PDT by
Apple's unusually timed announcement of new Mac mini and Mac Studio models this week was driven by unexpectedly strong enterprise appetite for AI hardware, according to The Information. Apple normally releases new Mac models in the autumn, closer to October or November, making this week's announcement unusually early, falling just before the anticipated arrival of new iPhone models. The...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Seemingly Made a Mistake When Announcing the New Mac Studio

Monday August 31, 2026 11:19 am PDT by
Apple's press release for the new Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips last week initially stated that the computer had "next-generation SSD architecture built on PCIe Gen 6." However, as spotted by the French blog MacGeneration, Apple removed the PCIe 6.0 mention from the announcement shortly after it was published. The press release still mentions that the new Mac Studio has a...