$5 docking / external storage solution for external Type C (USB C) SSD for Mac mini 2018

[waheed]

I was looking for a decent and affordable USB C based desktop enclosure which look decent when placed on desktop along with Mac mini 2018 and has a very low footprint but I could not find one even after searching for couple of days.

After a failed search attempt, I decided to do a DIY dock, details below. The dock is nothing but a Magnetic Bracket Car Phone Holder placed on /attached to mac mini 2018 and Sandisk Extreme E60 SSD attached to it's magnet through the metal piece comes with the holder.

Items needed:

• External SSD with Type-C e.g. Sandisk Extreme E60 (I am using 500GB, a slightly used costed me 135 USD)
  
  Note: Any SSD with USB USB 1.0, 2.0 or 3.0 will work as well with this setup but data transfer speed will be low.
  
  
  
• Magnetic Bracket Car Phone Holder
  
  
• Usb-C or USB cable (depending on the SSD you are using)

The outcome is really impressive and clean. The dock has a very low footprint. It looks decent and if needed, I can take my SSD with me as a portable drive on the GO.

For final results, please refer to the images attached.

 

[Lankyman]

Is not a bit risky having a strong magnet near all those finely tuned electronics?

 

[waheed]

Is not a bit risky having a strong magnet near all those finely tuned electronics?

I think it should be safe since the magnet is not really very strong and it's strong field is not more than 10mm to 12mm. Whereas it is placed roughly 2-inch (51mm) above the mac surface.

Furthermore the Magnetic Bracket Holder is designed to hold phones. When it is attached to a phone, distance between phone's electronics and magnet is 5mm to 8mm which is very much within the strong hold of the magnetic field but still it is safe for phone electronics, that's why I think, it should safe for mac mini.

Otherwise, it can be attached to table if someone wants to be more cautious.

One more option could be to use a Magnetic Phone holder with a suction cup and attach it to the table. Something like the attached photo.