Does the M4 Mini support a 20Gbps external drive??

[VideoBeagle]

As title... I'm thinking of a 20Gbps enclosure for a planned M4 Mini or M4Pro Mini...
I've read that on Apple, it would ONLY run at 10Gbps, not the 20Gbps because Apple doesn't support USB 3.2 Gen2x2.
IS THIS TRUE?
Was it true with Thunderbolt 3, but not with 4 and 5?
Does someone KNOW? (as opposed to speculate)

 

[gilby101]

IS THIS TRUE?

No Apple device supports USB 3.2 Gen2x2.

 

[Fomalhaut]

As title... I'm thinking of a 20Gbps enclosure for a planned M4 Mini or M4Pro Mini...
I've read that on Apple, it would ONLY run at 10Gbps, not the 20Gbps because Apple doesn't support USB 3.2 Gen2x2.
IS THIS TRUE?
Was it true with Thunderbolt 3, but not with 4 and 5?
Does someone KNOW? (as opposed to speculate)

Yes, it is true. If you want a faster drive speed than than 10Gbps (~1050 MBps maximum with an appropriate NVMe SSD) you will need a Thunderbolt or USB4 drive enclosure.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Mac mini M4 will easily support 40gbps via Thunderbolt 3 or 4. Its maximum USB throughput is 10gbps.

I have a NVMe 4TB stick in a Thunderbolt 3 enclosure (moved from my M1 mini to my M4 Pro mini) and the enclosure was under US$100 when I bought it over a year ago.

 

[EugW]

Mac mini M4 will easily support 40gbps via Thunderbolt 3 or 4. Its maximum USB throughput is 10gbps.

I have a NVMe 4TB stick in a Thunderbolt 3 enclosure (moved from my M1 mini to my M4 Pro mini) and the enclosure was under US$100 when I bought it over a year ago.

Technically not quite true. The current fastest 40 Gbps drives are usually USB 4. I am assuming you are equating USB 4 to Thunderbolt, but some of the USB 4 drives don’t even support Thunderbolt 3.

Sorry for the nitpick.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

' Technically not quite true. The current fastest 40 Gbps drives are usually USB 4. I am assuming you are equating USB 4 to Thunderbolt, but some of the USB 4 drives don’t even support Thunderbolt 3.

Sorry for the nitpick.

It is a nitpick… the interface supports 40gbps, regardless of drive speed.

 

[joevt]

Macs don't support USB 3.2 gen 2x2 directly. They might allow it using a USB 3.2 gen 2x2 XHCI PCIe card in a Thunderbolt 3 PCIe enclosure. A Thunderbolt 5 device might support USB 3.2 gen 2x2 but maybe only if it's connected to a Thunderbolt 3 port (untested).
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...gen-2x2-drive-at-full-speed-on-a-mac.2443940/
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...2-come-to-the-m4-series-macbook-pros.2413354/

 

[Fomalhaut]

It is a nitpick… the interface supports 40gbps, regardless of drive speed.

The Thunderbolt 4 standard support a minimum of 32Gbps and a maximum of 40Gbps, and it may still be limited to 32.4Gbps for data as per TB3 (not 100% sure of this) whereas USB4 (AFAIK) can deliver a full 40Gbps that is dynamically allocated between all devices, i.e. data and video.

In the case of TB3 this would definitely mean that USB 4 could have greater data bandwidth (full 40Gbps vs 32.4Gbps for TB3). TB4 may improve on this, but I can't find the answer in this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)

@EugW 's nitpick is worth noting because USB 4 devices do not have to support TB3/4, which may mean they would default to 10Gbps speeds on a Mac (which supports TB4).

I don't have full details on the above, but if I were buying an external drive, it's the kind of thing I would check before buying!

 

[EugW]

The Thunderbolt 4 standard support a minimum of 32Gbps and a maximum of 40Gbps, and it may still be limited to 32.4Gbps for data as per TB3 (not 100% sure of this) whereas USB4 (AFAIK) can deliver a full 40Gbps that is dynamically allocated between all devices, i.e. data and video.

In the case of TB3 this would definitely mean that USB 4 could have greater data bandwidth (full 40Gbps vs 32.4Gbps for TB3). TB4 may improve on this, but I can't find the answer in this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)

@EugW 's nitpick is worth noting because USB 4 devices do not have to support TB3/4, which may mean they would default to 10Gbps speeds on a Mac (which supports TB4).

I don't have full details on the above, but if I were buying an external drive, it's the kind of thing I would check before buying!

All of the Thunderbolt 4 Macs support USB 4, since Thunderbolt 4 is essentially a superset of USB 4. My point was specifically about Thunderbolt 3 Macs that do not support USB 4. On those Macs (ie. Intel Macs), as you say, certain USB 4 enclosures that do not support Thunderbolt would drop down to 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2.