Anyone have both the Studio and the Mini?

[BotchQue]

Right now I'm looking for a USB-A hub for my on-order Mac Studio. I really liked Satechi's design for the Mini, especially now that you can add an SSD to it.

Since the length/width of the Studio is identical to the Mini, I'm wondering if its bottom/"footprint" would also fit into this hub, taking up no more desk space. (I know the fixed USB-C cord on the Satechi might be a stretch to reach the Studio's ports, too).

Can anyone tell me if the round bases on the Studio, and the Mini, are the same diameter? Thanks in advance.

 

[roland.g]

While it’s the same footprint, the Studio cooling intake on the bottom would give me pause in stacking it on that hub.

 

[dizmonk]

What about this one? I'm considering putting the Studio on top instead of the monitor. I wonder if that will create a problem with the cooling?

Qwiizlab USB C Hub Stand with Dual Drive Enclosure, Docking Station for Mac Studio Mac mini M2/M1/Intel, Type-C 10Gbps, Card Readers 100MB/s, Fits M.2 NVMe NGFF SSD & 2.5'' SATA SSD (Silver)

Qwiizlab UH35 is an innovation to combine USB 3.1 Type-C hub and SSD/HDD enclosure in an elegant and sleek aluminum monitor riser. It is a surprising compact accessory for you to resolve expansion issues of Mac mini and Mac Studio. Featuring USB-C data port up to 10Gbps, USB-A data port up to 10G...

www.amazon.com

 

[DaveP]

What about this one? I'm considering putting the Studio on top instead of the monitor. I wonder if that will create a problem with the cooling?

Qwiizlab USB C Hub Stand with Dual Drive Enclosure, Docking Station for Mac Studio Mac mini M2/M1/Intel, Type-C 10Gbps, Card Readers 100MB/s, Fits M.2 NVMe NGFF SSD & 2.5'' SATA SSD (Silver)

Qwiizlab UH35 is an innovation to combine USB 3.1 Type-C hub and SSD/HDD enclosure in an elegant and sleek aluminum monitor riser. It is a surprising compact accessory for you to resolve expansion issues of Mac mini and Mac Studio. Featuring USB-C data port up to 10Gbps, USB-A data port up to 10G...

www.amazon.com

I don't have any experience with it, but that looks like it would be a good solution. The drives can put off heat if you use those features, but as it is aluminum and with good airflow I can't imagine it being any worse than putting the Mac Studio on a wooden table.

 

[now i see it]

The aluminum stand is the heat sink for that hub/drive. Likely the top surface might get warmish. The Mac Studio thus might be ingesting warmer air.
In a cool room it wouldn’t matter, but in an un-air conditioned room in the summer it might be significant.

 

[OldMike]

This is a more expensive Thunderbolt version that looks impressive, but I don't know anything about the company:

Trebleet Super Thunderbolt 3 Dock for Mac Studio and Mac Mini

Super Thunderbolt 3 Dock for Mac Studio&Mac mini, Dock Station with Dual NVMe Slot (Up to 2800Mbps),4X USB 3.1 Port(10Gbps), CFexpress/TF/SD Card Readers,Support Daisy Chain (up to 5 Unit) (Silver)

www.amazon.com

It has the following ports:

3x USB-A (10 Gbps)
1x USB-C(10 Gbps)
1x NVMe Slot (PCIe 3.0)
1x SATA Slot
1x CFexpress Type-B Card Slot
1x UHS-II SD4.0&TF Slot
2x Thunderbolt 3 Ports (1 for daisy chaining)

The really nice thing about this Thunderbolt hub is that the NVMe slot is supposed to provide up to 2800 MB/s which is what really makes me want to try it out.

I've never heard of Trebleet before, so I am reluctant to drop $300 on it to find out if they make good hardware or not.

 

[Jamooche]

It's Amazon Prime with Free Returns, so you have nothing to lose if it isn't great.

 

[OldMike]

It's Amazon Prime with Free Returns, so you have nothing to lose if it isn't great.

I ended up going with the OWC miniStack STX instead, but may still try out the Trebleet if it is around for a while and gets some good reviews. I am mostly concerned with how solid it might be for the long term.

I have had a lot of good luck with multiple Thunderbolt enclosures from Akitio / OWC and feel confident in getting a quality product from them.

 

[roland.g]

I'm not sure I see the point of any of these stacks as they add more card readers when you just got one. I've got my CalDigit TS3+ dock from my MBP, if I get a Studio I could pair that with it for the extra ports. Only thing some of these stackers have that could potentially be nice is the SSD drive slot, but truthfully I don't want to make the Studio taller.

 

[OldMike]

I'm not sure I see the point of any of these stacks as they add more card readers when you just got one. I've got my CalDigit TS3+ dock from my MBP, if I get a Studio I could pair that with it for the extra ports. Only thing some of these stackers have that could potentially be nice is the SSD drive slot, but truthfully I don't want to make the Studio taller.

The original poster seemed to be after additional USB-A ports and the design of these seem to be made for the Mini which lacked the card readers. I have seen some card reader tests (I think Constant Geekery on YT) that show an external card reader being able to read or write to cards quicker than the one on the Mac Studio, but not sure if that warrants the duplicate reader.

The OWC miniStack STX that I ordered actually only provides three additional powered Thunderbolt ports (which does not help the OP), along with an internal (to the hub) M.2 slot and 3.5" drive bay. I have several single bus powered Thunderbolt drive enclosures along with three Thunderbolt quad drive enclosures. The extra powered Thunderbolt ports in addition to the four on the Mac Studio will come in handy for me.

I haven't set my Mac Studio up yet (tomorrow I will finally be able to do it), but I have read other posts that indicate a powered Thunderbolt hub might be needed to supply power to multiple bus powered thunderbolt drives on the Mac Studio (a different thread here suggests this), but I am not sure if that is true.

As for going vertical or horizontal with the expansion hubs, I prefer taller due to decreasing desk space with all of the enclosures ?

Can anyone tell me if the round bases on the Studio, and the Mini, are the same diameter? Thanks in advance.

I should have answered your actual question directly instead of going off on a tangent. Yes the Mini and the Mac Studio are almost the exact same footprint. The round bases might not be exactly the same size, but any of the hubs you are looking at that has the Mini sitting on top of, should also easily work with the Mac Studio. You can actually see how close the Mini, Mac Studio and G4 Cube are in this video (@4 minutes in is where the comparison starts):