Review: OWC’s Rover Pro Wheels Kit – Safety Wheels for Your Mac Pro

Imagine this: you have a Mac Pro (2019), an amazingly powerful workstation that can run your processor-demanding software like 3Ds Max or Adobe Substance 3D Stager. But one day you want to move it from one place to another. You might even find yourself turning it around to put your respective ports in. You also start to notice that this is becoming a bit more frequent over time to a point that it even damages your unit the more you shift and carry it around. So, you finally decide to give your Mac Pro the accessory it deserves: a set of high-quality padded wheels.

Now, this product may not seem that necessary at first, but then you’ll have to consider how damaging those scratches are to your workstation and floor. Worst case scenario is that it might even fall over, stumble, and dent. And that’s something you don’t want for your Mac Pro.

Think you might still not be needing the OWC’s Rover Pro Wheel Kit? Then let’s take some time to do a deep dive and detail the attachment’s usefulness for everyday use.

Design

When it comes to its design, it’s as simple and glossy as it gets. This USA designed accessory looks fancy, from its factory finish, the stainless-steel housing, to the little matching soft rubber tread wheels, it’s safe to say that it will fit nicely under the Mac Pro’s bottom without looking like an eyesore since it matches up well with the Mac Pro’s color. If the silvery-steel finish isn’t your type, then you can opt for the newer colors, like rose gold, in the future.

Features

In terms of performance, it can swivel effectively around the room with its highly positional 360-degree articulating wheels. It runs smoothly while making no noise since the wheels have a soft rubber tread and nylon with low friction PA66 bearings, so you don’t have to worry about your floor’s finish. Aside from protecting the floor, the Rover Pro has a vibration-absorbing silicone rubber pad that preserves the factory feet finish of your Mac Pro.

Since it rotates quite smoothly, you can easily navigate it around your studio or under your desk, which can grant you easy access to your ports conveniently without any difficulty whatsoever. Another thing to take note of is that it might get a bit too easy to spin the Mac Pro around, which could cause some small accidents. Fortunately, there’s nothing to be worried about, especially when you can securely lock the wheels in place with the wheel stops, which conveniently clips to the casters immediately and effectively. Much like a wheel clamp for cars, but this one’s for your mini wheels.

As for the application of the accessory, the installation process is very simple. You can install it by hand, completely toolless, in under a minute, efficiently saving time. You can take the wheels off just as quickly as putting the wheels back on.

The OWC’s Rover Pro Wheel Kit’s dimensions are just around 8.8 cm (3.5 in) in height, 7.4 cm (2.9 in) in length, and 6.0 cm (2.4 in) in width. This is relatively small, and again, will complement the Mac Pro’s appearance. It’s also quite light, weighing just about 375 g, or 0.83 lbs. With dimensions and qualities like these, you will easily get to put it in storage when you’re not using it for the time being.

Another important thing to take note of is how the quality of the Rover Pro Wheel Kit is built to be the absolute best. It protects your floors, your Mac Pro, and it also is backed with a Lifetime Warranty. Overall, it’s a great accessory to have to increase your productivity and efficiency in your little workspace.

Price

We could say that it seems like there are no issues with it. It’s honestly a great accessory that you could ever have for your high-quality hardware. So, after buying the Mac Pro, which is worth 5,999 USD, you finally decide to even buy the attachment for it. Then again, you will also be spending money amounting to 249 USD to get wheels from OWC’s Rover Pro Wheel Kit. For a set of 4 wheels and wheel stoppers, plus a small quick manual on how to install the wheels in the first place, this almost doesn’t seem like a great deal.

However, one thing to consider is how we should compare this to Apple’s official product, which is the Apple Mac Pro Wheels Kit. Apple’s product is a whopping 700 USD, definitely more than half a thousand. With that in mind, the 249 USD price for OWC’s Rover Pro Wheel Kit will now seem more like a steal. Surely, the Apple Mac Pro Wheels Kit is obviously of excellent quality, but at the same time, you’re almost definitely just paying for the Apple brand. Whether or not you choose to buy Apple’s product, just never forget that you’ll mostly be spending 451 USD more than the alternative. So, maybe give it a second thought.

With OWC offering the same high quality and standards for their Rover Pro Wheels Kit, and that’s 64% lower than the price of the Mac Pro Wheels Kit, you’re saving money and resources just by buying the OWC’s Rover Pro Wheel Kit for your Mac Pro.

To Buy or Not to Buy?

If you’re stumped on whether or not you want to buy this, you could ask yourself these questions: would you rather have a wheelless Mac Pro that could get damaged or a wheelful Mac Pro that can swivel around safely and quickly with extra mobility?

In the end, whether or not you’ll get the OWC Rover Pro Wheel Kit is up to you. It’s best to remind yourself that is definitely, in comparison again to the $700 Apple Mac Pro Wheels Kit, the much better alternative to the expensive yet same quality accessory.

That, or if you’re the craftier type, you can buy a small set of four wheels from the local hardware store. It would be less expensive, for sure, though it will most probably take a while to customize it to your liking and have it fit your Mac Pro’s factory feet. It might be a bit risky, however, especially since it might stumble and fall on its side if you’re not careful about its placement. There’s also the possibility of scratching the Mac Pro’s factory feet. However, if you’re not the type of person who cares about the tinier scratches, then going for a more DIY approach might be the best option for you.

Click here to buy the OWC’s Rover Pro Wheel Kit for $249!