AJA Io Xpand Thunderbolt 5 PCIe expansion dock

AJA Io Xpand

AJA Io Xpand is a Thunderbolt 5 expansion chassis designed for creative, broadcast, audio and post-production workflows. It lets you connect a full-height, half-length PCIe card to Mac, Windows or Linux computers with Thunderbolt or USB4 ports, bringing professional PCIe I/O to laptops, small-form-factor systems and workstations. It offers a PCIe 4.0 slot (x8 mechanical, x4 electrical) for single- or double-width cards and up to 6000 MB/s of bi-directional PCIe bandwidth.

The lightweight aluminum enclosure protects the installed card in demanding production situations and keeps it cool with a temperature-controlled fan for quiet operation under load. A second Thunderbolt port allows daisy-chaining, and a 6-pin auxiliary power cable feeds cards that need extra power.

This version is the Io Xpand dock only, with its cables: no PCIe card is included. Io Xpand is also available in bundles with KONA 5, KONA 4 or KONA 1 I/O cards.

Key features

• Up to 6000 MB/s of bi-directional Thunderbolt 5 bandwidth to the installed PCIe card
• One PCIe 4.0 slot, x8 mechanical / x4 electrical, for full-height, half-length cards
• Supports single- and double-width PCIe cards and cards with daughter cards
• 6-pin auxiliary power connector and cable for cards requiring additional power
• Compatible with PCIe 4.0, 3.0, 2.0 and 1.1 cards
• Thunderbolt 5, 4, 3 and USB4 compatible; second Thunderbolt port for daisy-chaining
• Nearly silent operation via temperature-controlled fan
• Lightweight, rugged aluminum enclosure
• Windows, macOS and Linux compatible; no drivers needed for the chassis itself

Compatibility

• AJA KONA 5, KONA 4, KONA 1, Corvid 44, Corvid 44 BNC
• Mac with Apple silicon or Intel Mac with Thunderbolt 3
• Windows and Linux computers with Thunderbolt 5 or 4 ports; Windows computers with USB4 ports

Notes

• No PCIe card is included: an AJA KONA or Corvid PCIe card, sold separately, is required for functionality.
• With a Thunderbolt 5 computer, full performance requires the included (or another certified) Thunderbolt 5 cable; Thunderbolt 4 or 3 cables limit PCIe bandwidth to about 2,880 MB/s.
• Thunderbolt 5 PCIe bandwidth is about 6,000 MB/s: most AJA cards run at full performance, but cards needing more bandwidth may not, and 12G performance may be impacted on lower-bandwidth Thunderbolt connections.
• The chassis powers on and off with the connected computer (no power switch); the second Thunderbolt port supports up to five daisy-chained Thunderbolt devices and can supply up to 15 W to bus-powered peripherals.
• AJA recommends Io Xpand for AJA KONA and Corvid cards; KONA X/XM Active and KONA IP25 are currently not supported, and Corvid cards are developer products, so some Desktop Software features may not be available.

In the box

• Io Xpand Thunderbolt 5 expansion chassis
• Universal power adapter
• Region-specific power cable
• 6-pin to 6-pin auxiliary power cable
• 0.8 m Thunderbolt 5 cable
• ThunderLok-A Thunderbolt connector lock
• Documentation

Specifications

• Thunderbolt compatibility: Thunderbolt 5, 4, 3 (and USB4)
• AJA card compatibility: KONA 5, KONA 4, KONA 1, Corvid 44, Corvid 44 BNC
• External connectors: 2x Thunderbolt ports, 12V power port
• Internal connector: 6-pin Mini-Fit for supplemental power to AJA cards
• Expansion slot: one PCIe 4.0 slot, 8-lane mechanical, 4-lane electrical; cards up to 7.75 in (197 mm) long
• Operating systems: Windows 10/11; macOS 14 and later (incl. macOS 15 Sequoia and macOS 26 Tahoe); Rocky Linux 8.10, 9.5 and later; Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, 22.04 LTS and later
• Noise: <50 dBA (A-weighted at 1 m in free air)
• Dimensions (W x D x H): 77 x 283 x 146 mm
• Weight: 1.13 kg
• Power: universal 60 W adapter, 100-240 V, 50-60 Hz, NRTL certified
• Operating temperature: 0 to 35 C
• Compliance: RoHS 3 (Directive 2015/863), IEC 62368-1 and IEC 62368-2