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Thunderbolt 3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosures
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While that is literally true, many USB devices use trivial amounts of data such as keyboards, mice, and printers. So you can get a hub if you want and not really worry about attaching such devices. If it has sufficient amounts of power, you can also use it to power devices like iPhones or iPads and that won't use any data.
For most people, the two big data hogs are SSDs and displays.
So given that you have the M2 Pro, you may as well use only one high data device (SSD or display) per port on your M2 Mini Pro. That will get you both the fastest performance AND the least amount of issues.
Personally, I use the TBU42 for my SSD enclosure. I purchased it on sale for $129. I use the extra USB ports to charge Apple Watch, iPhone, Kindle, etc. - I can switch around the plugs to this without having to touch my Mac Mini, which I have hidden away along with the associated mess of cables. I don't use the DisplayPort port and likely never will.
I thought the mini did not have dP. I actually bought a TB to dP for my dell display.
I think I need a hub for my old USB devices such as webcam, printer, external HDD, id reader, maybe keyboard.
I was referring to the DP of the TBU42. I actually do have a USB-C to DP cable coming directly out of my M2 Mini Pro (USB-C) to my display (DP).
I bought this one bc the dell u2713h/m was mentioned.
Is a usb-c to be plugged into a thunderbolt port?
Usb-c seems to be 3.2 = 10 Gb/s so slower than TB = 40 Gb/s?
USB C DisplayPort Kabel 8K@60Hz Maxonar 4K@60Hz/144Hz/120Hz 5K@60Hz 2K@240Hz Thunderbolt 3/4 zu DisplayPort HBR3 Typ C DP 1.4 für Mac Studio M1 MacBook Pro Mac Mini Galaxy S22-2M [VESA-Zertifiziert]
USB C DisplayPort Kabel 8K@60Hz Maxonar 4K@60Hz/144Hz/120Hz 5K@60Hz 2K@240Hz Thunderbolt 3/4 zu DisplayPort HBR3 Typ C DP 1.4 für Mac Studio M1 MacBook Pro Mac Mini Galaxy S22-2M [VESA-Zertifiziert]
www.amazon.de
Usb-c seems to be 3.2 = 10 Gb/s so slower than TB = 40 Gb/s?
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Yes. USB-C is a physical form. There are numerous protocols that can work through that physical port, of which Thunderbolt 4 is just one. So you just need a USB-C to DisplayPort cable with the USB-C end plugging into the Thunderbolt 4 port, which has the physical form of USB-C.I bought this one bc the dell u2713h/m was mentioned.
Is a usb-c to be plugged into a thunderbolt port?USB C DisplayPort Kabel 8K@60Hz Maxonar 4K@60Hz/144Hz/120Hz 5K@60Hz 2K@240Hz Thunderbolt 3/4 zu DisplayPort HBR3 Typ C DP 1.4 für Mac Studio M1 MacBook Pro Mac Mini Galaxy S22-2M [VESA-Zertifiziert]
USB C DisplayPort Kabel 8K@60Hz Maxonar 4K@60Hz/144Hz/120Hz 5K@60Hz 2K@240Hz Thunderbolt 3/4 zu DisplayPort HBR3 Typ C DP 1.4 für Mac Studio M1 MacBook Pro Mac Mini Galaxy S22-2M [VESA-Zertifiziert]www.amazon.de
Usb-c seems to be 3.2 = 10 Gb/s so slower than TB = 40 Gb/s?
Note though that if you're trying to run a very fast external SSD through Thunderbolt, you'll want the USB-C cable to be a high quality Thunderbolt-3 capable cable, in order to actually get the speeds. If you buy an NVMe SSD enclosure from one of the reputable companies, they will usually include the appropriate cable.
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Hi here in Australia the price of the PNY CS2241 4TB has reduced dramatically. Does anyone know does that model play nice with Mac M2pro? Also does the Acasis tbu405 work with 4tb or only 2tb?
Thank you for any insights
Thank you for any insights
Is this plugged into the TB port or the USB port?
ICY BOX IB-hub 1402 4-voudige USB 3.0 hub, geïntegreerde USB-kabel, aluminium behuizing, zilver/wit
De IB-Hub1402 is een 4-voudige USB 3.0 hub die eenvoudig kan worden aangesloten op een USB 3.0-poort op je laptop of pc. De hub is compact en met de geïntegreerde USB 3.0 kabel kan hij worden aangesloten zonder dat je voortdurend een kabel mee hoeft te nemen.
www.amazon.de
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If the link is correct - that’s an ordinary USB 3 hub which connects to the USB port. Nothing else.
INDMEM USB 4.0 NVME M.2 SSD Enclosure USB C 40Gbps Tool-Free Aluminum External Hard Drive Enclosure Interface Compatible with Thunderbolt 4/3 USB4.0/3.1/3.0
INDMEM USB 4.0 NVME M.2 SSD Enclosure USB C 40Gbps Tool-Free Aluminum External Hard Drive Enclosure Interface Compatible with Thunderbolt 4/3 USB4.0/3.1/3.0
www.amazon.ca
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I meant on the SSD.INDMEM USB 4.0 NVME M.2 SSD Enclosure USB C 40Gbps Tool-Free Aluminum External Hard Drive Enclosure Interface Compatible with Thunderbolt 4/3 USB4.0/3.1/3.0
INDMEM USB 4.0 NVME M.2 SSD Enclosure USB C 40Gbps Tool-Free Aluminum External Hard Drive Enclosure Interface Compatible with Thunderbolt 4/3 USB4.0/3.1/3.0www.amazon.ca
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
@FilterJoe with your device how well does the network port work on your TBU42? Could I retire my synolgy nas and use the tbu42 with ssd attached, as the back up drive on a home network? Also I could not find dimensions - what size is it com pared to a 405? Thank you
Dimensions: 110*67*20mm per Acasis.
I'm not sure what you mean by network port as there is no Ethernet port on TBU42. The Thunderbolt port works fine, if that's what you mean, at the speeds advertised.
I am using the version with the graphene heat spreader. I originally purchased the Kingston Fury Renegade to use with the TB SSD enclosure. The enclosure will not work with SSD's that have integrated heat sinks.
I ended up using the Kingston SSD as the internal drive for my MP 6,1, replacing a Samsung 980PRO that was giving me problems. So, I attached a discrete heatsink. In hindsight, I would have preferred the version with the heatsink to use in my MP 6,1.
I am using the Samsung 980PRO that I was using in my MP with the enclosure now. I have not done extensive testing with the 980PRO and the enclosure and at the moment only use it to store a few macOS installers (Big Sur, Monterey and Ventura). I am concerned about the compatibility issues with macOS I was experiencing when I was using the 980PRO as my internal drive in the MP 6,1. At some point, I will install macOS on a bootable volume on the 980PRO inside the enclosure and test the combination but I haven't had an opportunity to do that yet.
Correct. If you are running an external NVMe SSD in a Thunderbolt 3.0 or 4.0 enclosure, it's actually maxed out at around 3.0 or 3.1. Nearly every 4th gen NVMe SSD and many 3rd gen NVMe SSD drives will come close to maxing out.
Western Digital has some inexpensive drives that work just fine, such as the SN770 (NVMe 4th gen) or SN550 (NVMe 3rd gen). I have SN770 1GB and it's working fine and price just dropped slightly on Amazon to $55. The 2 GB is $110. The SN550 is slightly less expensive but for a few bucks extra you get 4th gen.
I 'm seriously considering the INDMEM enclosure. It claims (see pictures on link) to be much cooler than other drives (54 vs 74 degrees, unsure if that's Celsius or Fahrenheit). As these drives are not actively cooled the fire hazard troubles me. It seems to have much lower write speeds though. Could you be so kind to test the temp and speeds?
I preferred the oricco design but it seems to get hot and some bad reviews. Must be m2Pro compatible.
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I will see if I can get some temperature measurements using Smartmontools. I recall I tried to do so a while ago but I could not get it to work.
If temperature is a big concern, have a look at the Sonnet Echo Dual NVMe Thunderbolt Dock, it uses a fan for cooling.
Echo Dual NVMe Thunderbolt Dock - SONNETTECH
Thunderbolt docking station with two M.2 NVMe SSD slots, four USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) ports, and up to 5K display support. For Mac, Windows, and iPad Pro.
www.sonnettech.com
Using:
Acasis TBU42 hub (spent $20 extra for Acasis 65W power supply)
WD_Black SN770 1TB
I get BlackMagic speeds between 2700-2800 MB/s for both read and write with this setup and my Mac Mini m2 Pro.
I haven't set up a way to formally track temperature. I can tell you that it has never become very hot to the touch. I little warm sometimes, and the warmest it got was once I did a 170GB copy of most of my files. But even then it was not hot to touch, so the TBU42 cooling (using the supplied thermal pad) is working reasonably well.
Note that I am NOT booting off this drive. I probably would not get the SN770 for use as a boot drive because it does not include NAND, and I am unclear on whether Mac OS supports HMB (host memory buffer) in any way, let alone over Thunderbolt. My understanding is that without the NAND, random reads and writes are going to be slower, which I suspect could be noticeable if running the O/S. But if you're not using SN770 for boot drive, it is terrific. And note that it should run cooler than SSDs that include NAND, which is most of them.
The best thing about WD_BLACK SSD series from Western Digital is that they play nice with Mac OS. Have not read of a single complaint about incompatibility issues.
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I have two types of external ssds one that was expensive but needs to be fast as I run a lot of large data on it and one cheap enclosure and ssd because I wanted to see how good a cheap one could be.
- Acasis (TBU405) 40Gbps M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure (fits up to 8TB) USB-C ($140) with a Samsung 980 Pro 2TB PCIe NVMe Gen 4 M.2 SSD ($140) (Tests in Blackmagic on a mini M2: steady at W:2800+ MB/s, R:2700+/- MB/s)
- Qwiizlab M.2 NVMe and SATA External Enclosure, USB-C 10Gbps, SSD Rugged IP66 Dust and Water Resistant ($35) with a Leven JPS600 2TB PCIe 3D NAND NVMe Gen3x4 PCIe M.2 2280 SSD with Heat Sink ($70)
(Tests in Blackmagic on a mini M2: steady at W:905+ MB/s, R:895+/- MB/s)
I have two of these and use one as a time machine backup for a MBA M1 and one as a startup disk for my failed iMac 2015.
prices are current on this day.
- Acasis (TBU405) 40Gbps M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure (fits up to 8TB) USB-C ($140) with a Samsung 980 Pro 2TB PCIe NVMe Gen 4 M.2 SSD ($140) (Tests in Blackmagic on a mini M2: steady at W:2800+ MB/s, R:2700+/- MB/s)
- Qwiizlab M.2 NVMe and SATA External Enclosure, USB-C 10Gbps, SSD Rugged IP66 Dust and Water Resistant ($35) with a Leven JPS600 2TB PCIe 3D NAND NVMe Gen3x4 PCIe M.2 2280 SSD with Heat Sink ($70)
(Tests in Blackmagic on a mini M2: steady at W:905+ MB/s, R:895+/- MB/s)
I have two of these and use one as a time machine backup for a MBA M1 and one as a startup disk for my failed iMac 2015.
prices are current on this day.
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When I use the drive with my MP 6,1 connected as a USB 3.0 device, Smartmontools cannot read the temperature.
When I use the drive with my M2 Max MBP as a TB3 device, Smartmontools can read the temperature.
Note, I had the Samsung 980PRO previously installed as the boot drive in my Mac Pro 6,1. I replaced the Samsung 980PRO 1TB with the Kingston Fury Renegade 1TB. So the INDMEM enclosure is using the Samsung SSD for the moment. As I recall, the temperature of the Samsung (typically 55 C) when the Mac Pro was idle was about 15 C warmer than the temperature of the Kingston (typically 40 C) when installed in the Mac Pro and the computer is idle running macOS Big Sur.
The current configuration includes the INDMEM enclosure and a Samsung 980PRO 1TB SSD. The enclosure is positioned flat on the surface of a wooden table with the INDMEM logo facing up. The enclosure is attached to a MBP M2 Max running Ventura 13.3.1(a).
I attached the device to the computer and let it idle for about 10 minutes. The temperature measured about 40 C. After a 37GB file copy, the temperature rises to 43 C.
The enclosure was positioned flat on the surface of a wooden table with the INDMEM logo facing to the side ("vertical" orientation).
Idle temp after about 10 minutes is 41 C. Temperature after 37GB file copy is 44 C.