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More inputs solution for Mac mini M4 basic

R

rb5505

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 16, 2010
42
1
i’d like to have more inputs for my mac mini m4. for san disk ssd’s & seagate expansion 14tb hd’s initially & nvme ssd’s later on. i have two possible solutions linked below. i could go with just 10gbps usb-c (which would suit me currently) or looking more into the future i could go with the 40gbps option instead. opinions on both options?

www.amazon.com

Amazon Basics Thunderbolt4/USB4 Docking Station, 3X Downstream TBT4 (Dual Display), 1xUSB A 3.1, Black, ‎4.76 x 2.84 x 0.86 inches

An Amazon Brand
www.amazon.com

 
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Before you decide on anything, check that Mini’s ports provide enough voltage for your choices.
 
I'd be worried about compatibility with the Thunderbolt docking station - it says "Compatible with Laptops running Windows 10 OS or later which have a Thunderbolt 4 port, and non-M1/M2 chip MacBooks running macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later. Backwards compatible for Thunderbolt 3 laptops work with limited functionality (e.g. not support dual display). Not compatible with Linux or Chrome OS laptops, and M1/M2 chip MacBooks running macOS 10.16 or earlier."

Thats not completely clear - but it doesn't specifically say it will support your computer.
 
It’s tough enough finding established brands whose hubs work. Looking at the linked products is more an experiment than a solution.
 
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Ray2 said:
It’s tough enough finding established brands whose hubs work. Looking at the linked products is more an experiment than a solution.
Click to expand...
yeah, i really value the 1/31 return option. i wouldn’t gamble w/o it.
 
rb5505 said:
yeah, i really value the 1/31 return option. i wouldn’t gamble w/o it.
Click to expand...
Then add an NVMe in an external known to work so you can test speeds for each port. Maybe using and not using HDMI as OWC had a blog (I believe it was in the blog) entry that when they used HDMI on a Mac Studio, Thunderbolt speeds went down. I’m just commenting that this stuff is not seamless. Introducing products that are clearly at the “value” end of the spectrum, for probably around a $2k setup, may be the wrong place to save some coin.
 
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Have you tried the Mini with the 14TB Seagates? I found that having mechanical drives mounted slowed the Finder down a lot…opening windows and using save/open.
 
BrianBaughn said:
Have you tried the Mini with the 14TB Seagates? I found that having mechanical drives mounted slowed the Finder down a lot…opening windows and using save/open.
Click to expand...
Formatted APFS? Make a change to a large hdd resident file can take a while if it’s saving/writing to multiple locations on the platters. Maybe Finder needs to find all the data before it will show the file. I use APFS for my 5tb 2.5” hdd's but it’s for media where files get written once then only read. If I were dealing with 14tb and “changing” large files maybe I’d have to reconsider, not my use case, don’t know.

Those 5tb media drives are my only remaining hdd's. My only regret with using 8tb ssd's in the other/data/backup enclosures is I waited too long. Apple wants us out of hdd's. They mean it.
 
rb5505 said:
i’d like to have more inputs for my mac mini m4. for san disk ssd’s & seagate expansion 14tb hd’s initially & nvme ssd’s later on. i have two possible solutions linked below. i could go with just 10gbps usb-c (which would suit me currently) or looking more into the future i could go with the 40gbps option instead. opinions on both options?

www.amazon.com

Amazon Basics Thunderbolt4/USB4 Docking Station, 3X Downstream TBT4 (Dual Display), 1xUSB A 3.1, Black, ‎4.76 x 2.84 x 0.86 inches

An Amazon Brand
www.amazon.com

Click to expand...
You are pretty vague about what you need. The computer has three 40 Gb/s ports. Each port is a separate 40 Gb/s. Plus, you have two 10 Gb/s USB ports on front.

Also: USB-C is only a connector; it doesn’t tell you what a port will do. USB-C can be power only, or video only, USB only, or a combination. If you want high speed, you need to use cables which support the speed you want.

First, what are your display requirements? How many screens and what resolution? If you have one 4K display, that’s half of a Thunderbolt port. You can either plug the monitor into the back of the Mac, or you can get a Thunderbolt hub and attach the display to the hub. Or use the HDMI 2.1 connection, and keep the three Thunderbolt ports available for other things.

For the fastest Thunderbolt storage performance, you’ll want a direct connection. So if you have one main Thunderbolt drive that will hold your apps and main documents, attach that one directly. Your other drives are probably for backup and storage of a lot of videos, and you won’t need peak speed for that. So you could use Port 1 for video, Port 2 for one directly attached Thunderbolt SSD drive, and Port 3 for a Thunderbolt hub, which will give you lots of USB connections, maybe another video connection, USB-A connections, and so forth. This is likely going to be the best approach, because all of your secondary storage can be shared amongst one 40 Gb/s connection, without using up half of it for your display.

As for which choice, my favorite brand is OWC. They deliver excellent quality. I’m never going to recommend a no-name brand from Amazon; it’s not worth the cost savings. Whether the device you buy has Thunderbolt 3 or 4 doesn’t matter much, because both support 40 Gb/s. Instead, choose the device with the connections you think you’ll need.
 
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Alameda said:
As for which choice, my favorite brand is OWC. They deliver excellent quality. I’m never going to recommend a no-name brand from Amazon; it’s not worth the cost savings. Whether the device you buy has Thunderbolt 3 or 4 doesn’t matter much, because both support 40 Gb/s. Instead, choose the device with the connections you think you’ll need.
Click to expand...
I completely agree. Never had a problem with an OWC product. I attached this hub:


Adds two more T4 inputs and a USB A input for my Mini.
 
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BrianBaughn said:
Have you tried the Mini with the 14TB Seagates? I found that having mechanical drives mounted slowed the Finder down a lot…opening windows and using save/open.
Click to expand...
yes, as mentioned in my original post, i do have 14tb seagate expansion drives. i lucked out a few months ago and got 5 of them on a costco blowout for $99. definitely not equal to ssd’s, but like the storage.
 
rb5505 said:
yes, as mentioned in my original post, i do have 14tb seagate expansion drives. i lucked out a few months ago and got 5 of them on a costco blowout for $99. definitely not equal to ssd’s, but like the storage.
Click to expand...
Nobody can help you if you don’t bother to mention that you’re trying to attach five drives to the computer… if that’s what you’re trying to do. And you don’t mention the interface and how you want to format them, like as a striped set or JBOD or mirrored… which makes a difference.
 
Alameda said:
Nobody can help you if you don’t bother to mention that you’re trying to attach five drives to the computer… if that’s what you’re trying to do. And you don’t mention the interface and how you want to format them, like as a striped set or JBOD or mirrored… which makes a difference.
Click to expand...
i use the mini for plex only. i have one 14 tb drive attached to the mac mini m4, plus a sandisk ssd, plus 2 nvme 1tb each in two separate 10gbps enclosures. i get just under 1k when i check their speed with blackmagic. the 14tb hd gets just under 200, and the sandisk get 450’ish. they all hold in total my plex movies, tv, misc. then i have 3 more of the 14tb drives as backup copies of the drives mentioned. they are all formatted apfs. i use carbon copy cloner to keep the copies updated. as far as your earlier questions…..i have one 27” msi $150 costco bought monitor using it at 2560x1440 resolution. it’s connected via hdmi to save usb-c mini inputs as you suggested. do you think i even need the 40gbps thunderbolt option for the plex stuff?
 
rb5505 said:
i use the mini for plex only. i have one 14 tb drive attached to the mac mini m4, plus a sandisk ssd, plus 2 nvme 1tb each in two separate 10gbps enclosures. i get just under 1k when i check their speed with blackmagic. the 14tb hd gets just under 200, and the sandisk get 450’ish. they all hold in total my plex movies, tv, misc. then i have 3 more of the 14tb drives as backup copies of the drives mentioned. they are all formatted apfs. i use carbon copy cloner to keep the copies updated. as far as your earlier questions…..i have one 27” msi $150 costco bought monitor using it at 2560x1440 resolution. it’s connected via hdmi to save usb-c mini inputs as you suggested. do you think i even need the 40gbps thunderbolt option for the plex stuff?
Click to expand...
So to be clear:
  • Four 14 TB USB drives
  • Two NVMe drives
  • One SanDisk SSD
Seven drives total, and your computer has five ports total, plus the HDMI. I think a standard USB hub is all you need. The 14 TB drives in particular aren’t going to be very fast, so I’d get a 10 gb/s USB hub and attach all of your 14 TB drives to it. You’ll need to use a little care with your cables to ensure they’re neatly arranged and nothing gets accidentally unplugged.

Attach the other drives directly to the Mac, because they’re all fast drives.

You can find tons of USB hubs on Amazon. I wouldn’t buy the very cheapest one.
 
Alameda said:
So to be clear:
  • Four 14 TB USB drives
  • Two NVMe drives
  • One SanDisk SSD
Seven drives total, and your computer has five ports total, plus the HDMI. I think a standard USB hub is all you need. The 14 TB drives in particular aren’t going to be very fast, so I’d get a 10 gb/s USB hub and attach all of your 14 TB drives to it. You’ll need to use a little care with your cables to ensure they’re neatly arranged and nothing gets accidentally unplugged.

Attach the other drives directly to the Mac, because they’re all fast drives.

You can find tons of USB hubs on Amazon. I wouldn’t buy the very cheapest one.
Click to expand...
yes, that's it. but, 3 of the 4 14tb drives are only turned on when i update them with ccc. otherwise they’re always off. i already had this splitter coming tomorrow, since i have only usb-a splitters only now with a to c adapters. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR6JBJDH?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
 
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rb5505 said:
yes, that's it. but, 3 of the 4 14tb drives are only turned on when i update them with ccc. otherwise they’re always off. i already had this splitter coming tomorrow, since i have only usb-a splitters only now with a to c adapters. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CR6JBJDH?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
Click to expand...
That will work fine. Just be aware that there are USB 2 and USB 3 cables, so a cheap USB-A to USB-C will support only the very slow, 480 kb/s USB 2 speed. You want cables that support USB 3.x speeds.
 
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No m4pro Mini here, as of yet (I'm waiting until they appear in the Apple refurbished store).

But... for "extra ports", I think I might buy a Caldigit "TS3 Plus" thunderbolt3 dock.
Yes... thunderbolt3 (not "4" or "5").
These can be found lightly-used and relatively cheap on ebay... $100 or less.

This way, one can get "extra ports" "for cheap", yet still have two thunderbolt 5 ports available on the back.

Hmmm...
With the advent of tbolt5, we may see tbolt4 docks starting to drop in price soon...
 
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