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NEW YORK – Western Digital (WD) used Pepcom’s product showcase for media Sept. 20 to unveil a new version of its My Passport Ultra portable drive that’s equipped with USB-C technology.

It’s “our first USB-C native portable drive,” Jose Vasquez, WD product marketing manager, pointed out.

The new drive is shipping in separate SKUs for Macs and Windows PCs as an increasing number of computers are shipping with the newer, faster USB-C ports, Luke Ottrey, senior product marketing manager, told the Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA).

At this point, the vast majority of Apple Macs have a USB-C port and Windows PCs are “heading in that direction as well,” Ottrey said, noting many computer users don’t want cables and dongles getting in the way if they can help it.

But each version of the new drive includes a USB-C to USB-C cable, as well as a USB-C to USB-A adapter to add increased flexibility to consumers, he said. By including the adapter, consumers with older computers lacking a USB-C drive can still use it.

The new drive is shipping now in SKUs starting at $69.99 for 1 TB of storage and stepping up to $89.99 for 2 TB and $139.99 for 4 TB, according to WD, which said Amazon, B&H, Best Buy and Newegg are among the retailers that will carry it. WD will also sell it direct to consumers from its website.

My Passport Ultra for Mac is formatted for macOS out of the box, compatible with Apple Time Machine, WD said. But the Mac version only comes in the 2 and 4 TB capacities and only in silver, while the Windows PC models come in a choice of silver or indigo/blue.

Each version of the drive features easy-to-use automatic backup with WD Backup software and also uses WD Discovery software that connects to social media platforms including Facebook and cloud storage services including Dropbox and Google Drive, WD said. The drives are also password protected with 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) hardware encryption, according to the company.

WD also touted an update to its free SanDisk Memory Zone application at the Pepcom event. The Memory Zone 4.0 Android app is a file manager that consumers can use to access and organize their content – whether that content is on an Android smartphone, a microSD memory card, a SanDisk Ultra Dual USB USB drive or in the cloud, according to WD. The app will improve the user’s productivity and provide greater control over his or her digital content, WD said.

One key new feature is that users can now easily free up phone space by cleaning up media downloads from chat apps such as WhatsApp or by offloading files, WD said.

Consumers can use the app to back up contacts, photos, social media accounts and videos. It also provides an optimized layout for quick access to frequently used user actions and frequently accessed data, according to WD. More information on the update, available via Google Play, will be provided in early October, WD said.