I STRONGLY Recommend this M1/M2 Mac Mini Dock
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- Опубликовано: 22 авг 2024
- I STRONGLY Recommend this Mac Mini Dock
I’ve talked at length on this channel how much I love my M1 Mac Mini. It’s a tiny power house that excels at pretty much any task i’ve thrown at.
I DO wish however that it:
1. Had more ports
2. had some form of upgradable storage as the 512gb of storage I specced it with when I bought it just isn’t really enough for me any more.
There are a huge number of Mac Mini hubs available that can add extra connectivity to the Mac Mini and some that allow you to add more storage too.
This brand newMac Mini dock from Minisopuru definitely stands out from the Mac Mini hub crowd.
Check out the Minisopuru Mac Mini Dock (with NVMe compatibility) here: minisopuru.com...!
Review unit supplied by Minisopuru.
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I have a very inexpensive solution for the sliding-around-on-desk-issue:
I am a blind musician and producer and have a few sheets of rubber markers, i.e. little stick-on rubber dots to mark positions on our microwave oven or the washing machine. I also use these to keep my external drives from sliding around on my desk. I just stick them on underneath on all 4 corners - bang, problem solved. :)
And these are really, really cheap, about 5 Euros or so here in Germany for a sheet of 30 or 40.
this hub sounds like a great thing to me as I would love to add an M2 Mini to my recording environment.
I’m still waiting for a Mac Mini dock with Thunderbolt 3 or 4
Me too! This stand format with at least 3 thunderbolt 4/usb C ports would be ideal.
have you found one?
@@AzeUnkn0wn I didn’t 🥲
I think the reason why the cable is so long is because some people want the Apple logo orientation upright, so it allows the cable ports and power button to be at the top.
Wait for the thunderbolt 4 version. Then you get fast nvme and more usb c as well as display options.
This gadget is really fantastic, especially on the side with you about the NVME capability! Thx!
I'm attracted to this dock another reason. I like that combines a dock with room for another SSD, but particularly appealing is the fact that, along with those, it also offers a vertically oriented stand.
Why vertical? Because Apple, for reasons that defy explanation, decided to have the WiFi and Bluetooth antennas radiate out the bottom. That makes as much sense as a TV station putting its antenna in a coal mine rather than on a mountain top. Flat stands installed underneath further block that signal. A vertical stand allows for much clearer radiation.
It's good you linked directly to the company. Amazon U.S. no longer sells them and the webpage that used to sell them now links to a more traditional hub.
Because the design idea is to put the monitor on the mac mini
The monitor….. *on* the Mac Mini?
@@TheGaragebandGuide 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@llothar68 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@llothar68 yes, that’s why the Apple logo is there. It’s a target to help you position the monitor.
The link you provide goes to a website that shows the dock connected to the left side of the Mac Mini instead of the right side as you have it set up. Using the left side connection the extra cable length is needed to reach the Thunderbolt port. You could also mount the Mac Mini vertically with the built-in ports at the top (although you'd lose the status LED visibility) - such a configuration would also need the extra cable length.
Do you reccomend this over the satechi dock you reviewed 8 months ago? You had me sold on the satechi because of the aesthetics and the fact you raved about it, but now I'm on the fence and left confused. Is this new hub the new favorite?
I wish it had more USba ports.
I have this hub with my M2 Mini…my second SSD always mounts, unlike as with my “loose” external drive, which didn’t always.
That’s usb 3.2 speed. Might as well grab a few cheapie ucb c enclosures for Pcie 3.0 nvme drives you collect off Craigslist cheap and call it a day. Have one spends thunderbolt enclosure that still doesn’t saturate a Pcie 4.0 drive for your go to storage. The rest treat as detachable 1 or 2Tb drives as needed
So much helpful information. Thanks so much! 👍👌
Great video and great product presentation.
Ah I see why the cable is longer - they've designed it so it can go upright with apple logo at the correct orientation.
I thought this too, though it would mean the cable will stick out of the top of the Mac mini.
It’s a pretty cool product, but the NVME compatibility is kind of wasted, because the speed is capped at 10 mbps.
It’s still fine for storage, but for a high performance work drive you’d be better off with something Thunderbolt/USB4
Yup, I've recently been down this rabbit hole and found that surprisingly few NVME enclosures, much less enclosure/hub hybrids, are capable of allowing r/w speeds beyond 1500 mb/s (and many are around 900-1000 mb/s). Eventually I decided to have a separate enclosure(Acasis) and hub(Cal Digit),,, that way I could get the high performance that I need for sample libraries and also get the number of extra ports that I want.
@@davidsmith1784 Did you find something that gets the full 40gbit?
At least i found a 20gbit one with dual NVMEs.
You still benefit from faster random access times on modern nvme disks. It's still unbelievabel how much the performance breaks down on 4k blocks which are important at load times/swapping. The 3 GB/sec is only for linear read/writes.
@@llothar68 That's true I guess. Still. Too bad that no one seems to be making a product like this based on USB4/TB4
@@llothar68 With the Acasis enclosure and Samsung Evo 970 2TB the r/w disk speed tests came in around 2000 to 2500 mb/s. Connecting it through the Cal Digit hub didn't affect the times. These are all attached to my older 2018 Mac Mini via TB3 ports.
unless it is a TB4/3 dock/hub it cripples the mac
I think the cable length is for you to put it with the ports facing up instead of sideways.
How timely! I'm just about to purchase the M2 Mac Mini. This looks interesting but as the USB slots do NOT support audio interfaces requiring power this is a no go for me. But thanks for bring this to my attention.
Tell me if you find USB hubs that support good power to USB-3 and USB-c devices.
The 380W power supply in the Mac Studio is not for the CPU/GPU but also a lot to deliver at least a few Watt to all of the thunderbold outputs.
Looking for ages for someone solving the power delivery without extra cables.
You don't do benchmarks? I'm wondering what are the actual speeds.
Sorry, but I miss an information which speed you get by using the SSD. Do you have any data?
Just a thought: is the cable length so that the Mac mini can be placed in the dock with the apple logo actually the right way up rather than on its side? I know that would mean having all the business end of the Mac facing up but that’s the only reason I could think they would make the cable that long
Yeah I think you might be right. It looks hideous that way though 🤷♂️
@@TheGaragebandGuide agreed. lol. Aside from that little detail though, seems like a really solid dock. Thanks for reviewing 🙏
But it gives you access to the ports
Love the od3.
If only it had thunderbolt 4 ports. really innovative idea but they missed the boat by not incorporating Thunderbolt 4.
Unfortunately none of these external drives are supported by trim on mac resulting in a massive slowdown in a few months of the drive. It's not much of a problem if it's just use a storage but if the external drives are used extensively every day transferring lots of files the drive will be badly affected..
I don't understand much, would you explain with simple words? I make music and have many orchestral samples that I use daily. Thanks.
Mac mini M2!!! Awesome....
I guess my previous question was answered.
Did you test the nVme port with favorable results?
Sold out 😮
The length of the cable allows users to turn the Mac mini so that the Apple logo sits right side up.
Thanks for the video/ review. I noticed when I go to your Link, they have the cable wrapped around the mini! Also there is no price yet and it’s not on Amazon.
Yeah, sneaky sneaky! Is it not available direct from their website?
@@TheGaragebandGuide its sold out
no speed test? because even though you can use Nvme drive, the connection is limited to 40Gb/s, shared with 2 USBC 10Gb/s ports and 2 SD card slots, so how much is left for nvme drive to use and what's real world speed test result?
Would have been nice to have had a speed test for the M.2
Caldigit ts3 or ts4 are far better docks, let alone for the reason that they are thunderbolt, not usb-3… external nvme can only operate at full speed (and even these days over thunderbolt or usb 4, that’s limited to 3 gb/second), and the external nvme and enclosure are really not too expensive!
The TS4 looks pretty sweet, and the USB C ports are Gen. 2, meaning 10/Gps. Alas, the purchase price on Amazon Mexico is almost 9000 pesos, roughly about $450.
The attraction of the Satechi or this hub is “free storage” that won’t take another port and possibly the convenience of not having to dick around or keep track of one more thing.
I already purchased the M2 Mini, but I’m starting to wonder if I shouldn’t have sprung for the M2 Pro mini after all, with its two extra Tb ports. (Not to mention the additional cores, which are all the rage with the young people nowadays.)
I’m not complaining about the price of the TS4, mind you. Like I said, it scratches a lot of itches.
Why are manufacturers still not making TB4 ports in these?!
So I exchange 50% of my available TB4 (maybe 100 if monitor) for usb3.2…?! 3:19
Note this is limited to 10gbps - this is around 700-800MB/s, vs a true NVME drive that will often do 10x these speeds. Samsung 980Pro for example does 7000MB/sec but requires a thunderbolt enclosure, unfortunately every one I tried caused OS lag/jitter so I ended up with 10gbit like this hub.
Orico’s newer thunderbolt/usb4 enclosures are pretty good value for money, and don’t have many reports of failure…
Yeah, but don't think the Thunderbolt ports on the Mini max at around 2500-3000MB/s anyways so no real reason to buy a 7000MB/s SSD.
The ports are limited to 10gbps, but for a hub this is still the fastest I've found. The Satechi is throttled at 5mbps even on the NVME connection. So, the Minisopuru will give you 7-800mbps transfer speeds while the Satechi gives you 4-500. I'm not really happy that it has a 2Tb limit, but it still a useful way to add ports and give you an enclosed backup.
How is the sanddisk ssd that you have plugged in . do you recommend it
It’s not your fault - the Apple pricing for ssd storage is ridiculous!
I think the long USB - C cable is design to have the apple logo in the good direction ;)
In terms of the cable length, perhaps they thought i/o would be on top so logo was oriented vertically, in which case you need the length of cable ?
Hey sorry I don’t mean to be a smart ass but, the Apple built in ssd is much faster and it’s better for tasks like video editing. I don’t think you need to buy the fastest speed ssd for the dock because you’re limited by the usb. Those super speeds are when the nvme is plugged direct into the motherboard. On top of that you’re sharing that single usb cable with all the other ports..
Sounds like you’re talking sense to me! Completely agree, you COULD edit from the external drive in a pinch, but it’s probably better as just extra storage.
Apple SSD prices are high, but the 6,000 - 7,000 MB/s read write speeds of the larger drives is impressive. We don't have to deal with extra "moving" parts and limitations on bus speeds, heat, etc.
It is normal PCIe Gen 4 , nothing special. In fact Apple is pretty late on this.
Hate Fanboys
@@llothar68 I apologize for stating the actual speeds and noting that an external drive would never match them. Carry on, hateful fanboy who cannot handle some simple facts. You guys are nuts. Ever bother to read the actual words of a comment? Try it sometime.
Did you seriously think that an external drive could hit 7K? Why?
is It true that upgrading internal storage actually increases the speed and capability of the whole system quite a bit. Its not just about storage. Adding external storage just adds storage. Adding it internally at purchase beefs up the whole system speed doesn't it ???
If that's a USB-C dock it will NOT run NVMe drives at full speed (the speed of the internal SSD). That would need a Thunderbolt connection. I don't see the use of the card slots (what's wrong with a dongle?) and someone would be better served by a 10 port USB powered hub and an actual NVMe/TB external drive.
the dock should be a dock in the true sense and have those ports connectors in the inside of the stand, and you just place the computer on top.
What do you mean? The connection between the dock and the Mac Mini? But then you’d lose all of the Mini’s other ports?
Go go gadget Mac computer !
Great device. Unfortunately this is not available for India in amazon india website.
Super awesome 💯
I'll stick to the dock that holds the 2.5 drive. it's flat and has the same ports. plus, 2.5 storages are cheaper than NVME. since this only caps at 10 mbps, i rather spend less on a 2.5 ssd.
I had an iBook in 2004 (overheating plastic crap), a MBP 2007 13" Retina thingy, and currently (YES currently) a 2013 13" Retina MBP with an attached 2TB Lacie thunderbolt drive. Obviously I'm currently considering an upgrade a decade later given my laptop has always been on my desk and the power cord has always been attached. From my POV, these computers are value for money and I'm considering spending AUD $2k for both the Mac Mini, keyboard, trackpad, and a monitor, and some way to extend storage ... this dock might do it. Cheers and $0.02
how about we talk to the EU or any other higher entities to STRONGLY Recommend to Apple they stop soldering those damn SSDs huh? what do you think? and besides soldering them they sell their storage options for 3x-4x more than what the rest of the market offers ( Samsung , Sabrent , Sandisk , Kingston)...
Is that a Rivolta behind you over your right shoulder ?
You said that you would leave a link for the ssd drives that go with this unit. Can you give me a link to some of the drives I can use in this unit? Thanks
Any overheat issues for the external SSD?
The link to the product doesn't work
Ummm…maybe the cord is long enough for you to put the Mini in the doc with the logo positioned correctly. Just maybe.
what are suggestions for drives to go inside it? thanks
Will this work with the intel 2020 Mac as well? Not sure if the same size?
Totally love the way you did not show the product name on the box or any information or you did it run your freaking face
Did it run my freaking face? What does that mean? Is everything ok at home John?
how about we talk to the EU or any other higher entities to STRONGLY Recommend to Apple they stop soldering those damn SSDs huh? what do you think? and besides soldering them they sell their storage options for 3x-4x more than what the rest of the market offers ( Samsung , Sabrent , Sandisk , Kingston)...
can you run apps on a external ssd ?
Cable isn’t too long, put the mini back in with the Apple logo orientated correctly and advise please
You’re suggesting that the cable should stick straight out of the top when attached?
They should have made a custom cable to allow us to just plug the Mini into the dock with the apple logo in the proper orientation
That would have been ideal
Note the comment about how long the cord is. I would be willing to bet it’s designed to do just that. 😂
10 GBPS connection for NVME SSDs is too slow.
The usb io speed is not great either. I have a samsung that is 400 MB a second on my windows pc and 110 on my m2 mini
Is this a Powered Hub device?
No it isn't
Speeds for nvme drive through that cable?
Up to 10gbps but it’ll depend on the drive
@@TheGaragebandGuide Thank you. Is that observed speeds or a specification? I’m planning to run a bootable external drive to get around the apple upgrade cost.
Decent selection of ports????? You only gain 1 USB-C port. And neither USB-C port provides power. Yea I get it you get SD and micro SD and NVME- but they really came up short on the amount and type of USB-C ports
Does this work with the M2?
Absolutely
Since you can't stack it it won't work for my setup
Hi, do you have 8 or 16 GB RAM on RUclips M1? Trank you.
16GB
You have to get 16gb, 8gb is unusable for far too many use cases and arguable not even enough for basic web browsing. Sure, it will work, but you will get jitter/lag every time the SSD does a TRIM operation and you are significantly reducing the lifespan of the SSD, potentially under 3 years.
Just get a mac mini m2 pro or studio and problem solved
It makes the Mac Mini look ugly in vertical position.
Pretty much useless as an expansion doc if you can’t connect to a monitor
What do you mean?
Does the NVMe drive make a difference? Wouldn't it be limited by the USB C connection to the Mac Mini?
Baaaaaa mbaaaaaa
iSheep
iShithole iBastard
iWorshipers
iwish you didn’t feel the need to comment nonsense on my video.
Sold out 😮