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Mac mini M4 (2024): docks, stands and other accessories

PaulD-UK said:
Audio Out, two USB-A 2.0 ports, USB4 input from Mini.
That’s it.
Scroll through the pictures to find the 40 Gbps and Thunderbolt 5/USB4 Gen2 model, which has no ports.

www.raycue.com

RayCue New M4/2024 Mac Mini Hub & Stand with NVMe/ M.2 SATA SSD Enclosure Compatible with Thunderbolt 4/5

New M4/2024 Mac Mini Hub & Stand with SSD Enclosure, Compatible with Thunderbolt 4/5,NEW 2024 MAC MINI NVMe SSD,2024 Mac mini,M4 Mac mini
www.raycue.com www.raycue.com
Click to expand...
RayCue had advertised an “upgrade” to the not yet released 40Gbps adding four additional ports for those that had been waiting so long. The page is still available but I’d didn’t list the four new ports.

* the "40Gpbsupgrade (four EXTRA ports) offer" page is now "not found".
 
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CaesarXCII said:
Alright... first up the Orico Mini Link. Unfortunately this did not take long, the product is simply too noisy.
Let me clarify that this is not extremely noisy per say, if you are in an office environment, you might not be too disturbed by it, but if you have a completely silent home setup, this will be a constant and disturbing noise. Certainly not one I want to keep up with. That's a shame because, otherwise, what a great potential.
I'll see how I can return it through Aliexpress then... wish me luck :)
Click to expand...
I issued the refund request at AliExpress on Jan 21 and had my money back on Jan 25 :)👍
 
Just got a Mini M4 with 24GB and 1TB drive to start editing a lot of old home movies shot on Video Cams (mostly 8MM) which I had converted to .MPG some 20 years ago. Figured I would need an external drive to handle some of the two hour movies that have never actually been edited and cleaned up so...

I bought a Qwiizlab fanless 40Gbps USB4 Thunderbolt External SSD Enclosure and installed a WD_Black SN850X in it. Did some small and very large files (750GB) copy's from the Mini Mac M4 with 1TB internal. Speeds were 3091write and 2891 read.

Seems like a reasonable speed to me???

This is my first Mac since i sold my Lisa, Apple II and 5MB Apple ProFile HD almost 40 years ago. lol
 
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WCA said:
I bought a Qwiizlab fanless 40Gbps USB4 Thunderbolt External SSD Enclosure and installed a WD_Black SN850X in it. Did some small and very large files (750GB) copy's from the Mini Mac M4 with 1TB internal. Speeds were 3091write and 2891 read.

Seems like a reasonable speed to me???
Click to expand...
Black Magic Disk Test gets similar numbers. I think these ASM2464PD USB 4 drives max out around 3150ish in Black Magic, with a bit higher numbers in AmorphousDiskMark.

I run my Qwiizlab and Hagibis through Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4 hubs though, and set up that way, macOS doesn't see them as USB 4 drives, but detects them as Thunderbolt 3 drives instead for some reason. I've kept them in this config for now because in Thunderbolt 3 mode they use less power. At idle my two drives (with Kioxia XG8 4 TB and Samsung 990 Pro 4 TB) consume about 3.6-4.1 W. When they were connected to my M4 Mac mini directly and seen as USB 4 drives, the drives consumed over 5 W at idle, with the idle temperatures higher by a few degrees.

In Thunderbolt 3 mode they run a couple hundred MB/s slower (presumably because they are running at 32 Gbps not 40 Gbps), but that's fine because at these speeds I don't really care. If anything, after a certain threshold, I think these peak sequential speeds are less important overall than random read/write speeds, at least in my case since I don't do much video.


WCA said:
This is my first Mac since i sold my Lisa, Apple II and 5MB Apple ProFile HD almost 40 years ago. lol
Click to expand...
Wow! 😳 Welcome back to the fold. :cool: Just a nitpick though, Apple Lisa isn't a Mac. ;)
 
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EugW said:
Black Magic Disk Test gets similar numbers. I think these ASM2464PD USB 4 drives max out around 3150ish in Black Magic, with a bit higher numbers in AmorphousDiskMark.

I run my Qwiizlab and Hagibis through Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4 hubs though, and set up that way, macOS doesn't see them as USB 4 drives, but detects them as Thunderbolt 3 drives instead for some reason. I've kept them in this config for now because in Thunderbolt 3 mode they use less power. At idle my two drives (with Kioxia XG8 4 TB and Samsung 990 Pro 4 TB) consume about 3.6-4.1 W. When they were connected to my M4 Mac mini directly and seen as USB 4 drives, the drives consumed over 5 W at idle, with the idle temperatures higher by a few degrees.

In Thunderbolt 3 mode they run a couple hundred MB/s slower (presumably because they are running at 32 Gbps not 40 Gbps), but that's fine because at these speeds I don't really care. If anything, after a certain threshold, I think these peak sequential speeds are less important overall than random read/write speeds, at least in my case since I don't do much video.



Wow! 😳 Welcome back to the fold. :cool: Just a nitpick though, Apple Lisa isn't a Mac. ;)
Click to expand...

I will be adding a ThunderBolt hub (I have an older TB3 of my PC) but haven't decided which is the "one" for me, but I have Both TB4 ports and both USB-C ports in use already. So it will probably sooner than later.

I wish I had the Lisa and Profile today...worth a few $$$
 
WCA said:
I will be adding a ThunderBolt hub (I have an older TB3 of my PC) but haven't decided which is the "one" for me, but I have Both TB4 ports and both USB-C ports in use already. So it will probably sooner than later.

I wish I had the Lisa and Profile today...worth a few $$$
Click to expand...
I see you're in Winterpeg. The best value Thunderbolt 4 hub right now on Amazon.ca is the Kensington.

www.amazon.ca

Kensington SD2600T Thunderbolt 4 Hub, Dual 4K, 65W PD - Mac and Windows (K34036NA)

Aluminum
www.amazon.ca

I don't have this one, but it appears to be using the Intel reference design, given that it's the exact same configuration as the OWC, Satechi, Amazon Basics, and Plugable Thunderbolt 4 hubs. I have the Plugable.
 
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EugW said:
I see you're in Winterpeg. The best value Thunderbolt 4 hub right now on Amazon.ca is the Kensington.

www.amazon.ca

Kensington SD2600T Thunderbolt 4 Hub, Dual 4K, 65W PD - Mac and Windows (K34036NA)

Aluminum
www.amazon.ca

I don't have this one, but it appears to be using the Intel reference design, given that it's the exact same configuration as the OWC, Satechi, Amazon Basics, and Plugable Thunderbolt 4 hubs. I have the Plugable.
Click to expand...
Yup, WinterPeg it is...and weird weather this winter. Thanks for the suggestion.

I will take a look at the Kingston and the specs. I will have two external TB4 enclosures and a few other items in play so I will have to decide soon. lol
 
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As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
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One month since my last post in this thread and I still don’t have my pre-thanksgiving RayCue order. RayCue has since deleted their page where they promised that 10 GBPS versions would ship by January 10th.

Filing a dispute with PayPal because based on everyone else’s difficulties with the support it’s not even worth it.
 
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Orico VS10 seems to be working fine, with a WD SN850X ssd installed, write 960 read 850, wifi works and with it, i have better access to the ports at the back of my mac mini.
 
Got my RayCue 40gig finally yesterday...slick unit....
Screenshot 2025-02-05 at 6.25.42 AM.png
 
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I’m not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet but Raycue is now selling a third hub with Thunderbolt 5 (80Gbps). It’s strictly only as an external drive (no additional ports) and the enclosure only version is pricey at $299 but the 20% discount code that was shared earlier by @s4mb4r4m4 knocks it down $60 at least.
 
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For my usage, following a close to as frugal as possible M4 Mini path still gets me way more than I currently need.

Consistent with my Amazon base M4 Mini purchase ($554 after taxes), I've now Amazon ordered an Orico 10gbps vertical dock and a 1TB Samsung 990 EVO Plus SSD ($164 total after taxes).

$718 grand total gets me plenty bang for my buck. I paid Apple more for a refurbished 16 GB RAM M1 Mini.
 
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I have the Satechi stand and I can report.. it's ok. About what I expected. Wish there were more ports, wish it was Thunderbolt 5, but it'll do. The only headache is that some of my peripherals (USB DAC, microphone) only work when plugged directly into the Mini ports. I don't know why that happens, but my understanding is that it's common and an issue with those devices, not with the stand itself..
 
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acrakes said:
I have the Satechi stand and I can report.. it's ok. About what I expected. Wish there were more ports, wish it was Thunderbolt 5, but it'll do. The only headache is that some of my peripherals (USB DAC, microphone) only work when plugged directly into the Mini ports. I don't know why that happens, but my understanding is that it's common and an issue with those devices, not with the stand itself..
Click to expand...
Does it degrade your WiFi performance?
 
landshark2 said:
For my usage, following a close to as frugal as possible M4 Mini path still gets me way more than I currently need.

Consistent with my Amazon base M4 Mini purchase ($554 after taxes), I've now Amazon ordered an Orico 10gbps vertical dock and a 1TB Samsung 990 EVO Plus SSD ($164 total after taxes).

$718 grand total gets me plenty bang for my buck. I paid Apple more for a refurbished 16 GB RAM M1 Mini.
Click to expand...

A great plan!

I was doing something similar, but for $180 was I was able to switch to an internal 2TB drive and skip the dock/external NVMe part altogether

Worth considering

(Prices have gone up slightly and I used a coupon to get to $180 -- still only $215 right now though -- great value)

Screenshot 2025-02-15 at 10.36.10.png
 
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EugW said:
Please give us a review (in a new thread). And which 2 TB did you get and why?
Click to expand...

I would but it's honestly not enough content for a new thread
Works "natively" -- very fast and not a hiccup to be found

Went with SanDisk after reading this
Screenshot 2025-02-15 at 11.01.39.png
 
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