M4 Pro Mini hotter when external drives connected

[Astrohunter]

Hi,

I've noticed that since I've connected 3 external SSDs, my Mac is warmth to the touch even when it's idle.
My drives are quite hot too.

Is this because my Mini has to power on the drives? Is that normal?

Thanks

 

[Bigwaff]

Is this because my Mini has to power on the drives? Is that normal?

Most likely. What are the power draw specs of the external SSD enclosures?

 

[Astrohunter]

Most likely. What are the power draw specs of the external SSD enclosures?

Don't know, couldn't find any info, and both are Acasis but slightly different models.


Also have some cheap one for TM only.

 

[adonis3k]

If you dont need them all connected all the time unmount them

 

[Astrohunter]

If you dont need them all connected all the time unmount them

Unmounting doesn't help they still get hot, so the only solution would be disconnecting them.

 

[Bigwaff]

Unmounting doesn't help they still get hot, so the only solution would be disconnecting them.

If the enclosures don't have a built-in fan, then the case itself is a heat sink and is meant to get hot/warm -- even if volumes aren't mounted, the device is still drawing electric current.

 

[Astrohunter]

Once I get that stand I will try to install the drives in it, and perhaps get a USB powered PC fan, it should help to reduce temps.

 

[miric]

I use a custom fan curve in iStat Menus on my Mac Mini M4 Pro and Samsung 990 Pro 4TB in the OWC Express 1M2 enclosure nearby. When I run hard tasks (like Denoise in Lightroom) my fan starts earlier. Yeah, it’s nosier but I prefer to have my Mac healthy as long as possible. I noticed the body is cooler than on system fan management. The fun fact here is the 1M2 enclosure becomes cooler too on higher fan RPM values 😄.