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

[Guenter]

Che Castro, i agree, if you have to attach an HDMI Monitor you can have Trouble.

 

[Cave Man]

Since I'm using a Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4 hub anyway, for audio I am using an Apple USB-C stereo adapter plugged into the hub.

View attachment 2526398

I had tried the built-in stereo jack in my USB-C monitor, but the DAC in the monitor is terrible.

My personal experience is the DAC in the M4 mini provides better sound to headphones (Sennheiser HD 650 open backs, in my case) than Apple's USB-C to 3.5mm adapter. But it may not be relevant for external speakers.

 

[Che Castro]

Has anybody made a dock with a 2.5 ssd enclosure instead of nvme for the m4 ?
The m2 Mac mini had one

 

[Chancha]

Has anybody made a dock with a 2.5 ssd enclosure instead of nvme for the m4 ?
The m2 Mac mini had one

Not that I know of. I think along with the M4 down-sizing its footprint, the peripheral makers also conveniently phase out SATA bays as well. Products with the 2.5" form factor is also stagnate, 8TB QLC SSDs are as expensive if not more when they were new. HDDs pretty much stopped at 5TB. The remaining momentum with SATA is on 3.5" with multi-bay NAS / DAS, and of course enterprise use.

 

[weckart]

Has anybody made a dock with a 2.5 ssd enclosure instead of nvme for the m4 ?
The m2 Mac mini had one

I can't see any future for SATA 2.5" with the reduced form factor. The size of these docks doesn't leave a lot of room for a 2.5" drive, the requisite ports, circuitry and cooling. The worst thing is that 2.5" SSD drives are now generally more expensive than the faster NVMe drives. They are very much legacy hardware and on the way out, especially as there has been no progress since SATA III in 2009.

 

[Che Castro]

I can't see any future for SATA 2.5" with the reduced form factor. The size of these docks doesn't leave a lot of room for a 2.5" drive, the requisite ports, circuitry and cooling. The worst thing is that 2.5" SSD drives are now generally more expensive than the faster NVMe drives. They are very much legacy hardware and on the way out, especially as there has been no progress since SATA III in 2009.

A couple of years ago they were dirt cheap ,now the price is up
You could get a 1tb for $30-5
I took advantage and replace everything that could use one
With it
Gaming consoles to computers

 

[dropadrop]

Has anybody made a dock with a 2.5 ssd enclosure instead of nvme for the m4 ?
The m2 Mac mini had one

So a bigger slower dock?

 

[Che Castro]

So a bigger slower dock?

Most of the docks are already slow at 10gbps

 

[dropadrop]

Most of the docks are already slow at 10gbps

Most of the docks being released now seem to be fast. Even 10gbps could be fast for a SATA drive and I can’t really think of any upsides for the drive or interface.

I mean I’ve been following 2.5” SATA drives quite a lot since I have a 4-bay NAS with that format. The selection is slim and there is really no savings. So you get something big & slow with less drive options and likely end up paying more for the drives.

I just got the new Satechi NVME ”hub” which is slow by modern standards at 3500MB both ways. That’s still many times faster then SATA. A year a go this would have cost loads, not any more.