Mac mini M4 Pro Dock — Thoughts on Beelink’s new Mate mini?

[Cleverine]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been on the lookout for a Thunderbolt 5 dock that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg and actually fits nicely under the Mac mini. Just saw that Beelink is launching something called the Mate mini, and it looks like it was made specifically for the Mac mini M4/M4 Pro.

There are two models:

• Model A: dual PCIe SSD slots, up to 16TB
• Model B: single PCIe x4 slot, with read speeds up to 6228MB/s

Specs look solid, and the design seems pretty clean.

Anyone here ever used Beelink products before? Wondering how their build quality and performance stack up. Might grab one when it’s available, but would love to hear your thoughts first.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Price is good, that’s not a whole lot more than I spent on a TB NVMe enclosure.

I’m not sure what the point of Ethernet is; the mini already has that. I’d prefer the SD on the front myself but that’s a minor quibble. Nice that they have options for putting it either above or below; that custom TB cable is a nice touch.

If I didn’t have a solution worked out already, I’d give it strong consideration.

 

[JPack]

I’m not sure what the point of Ethernet is; the mini already has that. I’d prefer the SD on the front myself but that’s a minor quibble. Nice that they have options for putting it either above or below; that custom TB cable is a nice touch.

Most Mac mini owners probably wouldn’t pay $100 to Apple for 10GbE. A lot of fiber Internet providers offer at least 5Gb these days.

 

[smithrh]

Most Mac mini owners probably wouldn’t pay $100 to Apple for 10GbE. A lot of fiber Internet providers offer at least 5Gb these days.

Heh, I just did days ago, now I see this.

 

[Brian33]

I haven't heard of Beelink, but it looks like most of their products are mini-PCs, so perhaps they're better known in that market segment.

Overall, I'm impressed. I'm looking for a TB5 dual-slot (or more!) NVMe enclosure, mostly -- one that can get ~2800MB/s to each NVMe independently. The other features are nice to have, though. It seems well-designed, like they took time with the details. The cooling design seems plausibly effective. The way they lined up the ports in the back with the Mac's ports is a nice touch. However, personally I wouldn't order one until I saw some actual user reviews.

Here are some of my thoughts:

Fan noise is not specified. If I put it under/on my Mac Mini, the noise level is important!
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PCIe lane configuration is not specified. Performance claimed:
Version "A" (two NVMe slots), macOS read 3219 MB/s write 2800 MB/s.
Version "B", (one NVMe slot), macOS read 5809 MB/s, write 3162 MB/s (vs. Windows write 5885 MB/s -- must be macOS oddity?)
Says "Supports M.2 2280 PCle 3.0/4.0/5.0 SSDs of up to 16TB"
Says tested with Crucial T700 (PCIe 5.0 NVMe drive) (which I think is double-sided, so that implies double-sided NVMe drives fit OK?).

For the ~3000 MB/s for Version A, it's not specified if this is per slot, or configured as RAID 0. Very important to me. I've often seen RAID 0 performance advertised (IMHO misleadingly) for multi-slot enclosures.

Wikipedia says TB5 supports four lanes of PCIe 4.0 (not PCIe 5.0) (wikipedia). I'm guessing maybe this uses two lanes of PCIe 4.0 to each of the dual NVMe slots -- enough to get the ~3000 MB/s for the A version, and the B version uses four PCIe 4.0 lanes to the single slot? But what about bandwidth for the other ports? I'm fuzzy on how the lanes can be used... is it possible to use three lanes for the one NVMe slot and the last lane for the remaining ports? Does anyone have any insight regarding this?
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No power supply included, but it's nice you can apparently use a generic USB-C power adapter. I've seen reports that the 2024 Mini can't power three TB3/4 or USB4 bus-powered drives, and that a powered dock alleviates this restriction. Hopefully supplying power to this Mate dock would also. The downloadable (and brief!) manual says: "For connecting mulitple peripherals or extended use, we recommend powering the Mate mini with a PD 3.0 USB-C charger rated 30W or higher."
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This won't affect many people, but the nifty C-shaped TB connector that's included forces the Mate to connect to the Mac's DFU port (https://support.apple.com/en-us/120694). This is fine, except when you want to install macOS to the Mate mini's external NVMe drives. Then "then the procedure is almost certainly doomed to fail." (https://eclecticlight.co/2025/01/14/thunderbolt-ports-arent-all-the-same/). You can boot and run macOS from the DFU port, just not install, apparently. Of course one could use a TB cable during the installation to avoid any problem. Just something to know.
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No Thunderbolt pass-through for daisy-chaining TB devices. IMHO this is a real downside.
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Pet peeve of mine: no labeling on USB ports indicating USB version or speed supported. These are said to be USB 3.0, so I think that means 5Gbps.
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Three year warranty seems unusually good!
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Doesn't say if it contains an Intel or other brand thunderbolt (bridge? interface?) chip.
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The company lists firmware updates for its other products on their website; good! But I wonder: if this device needed a firmware update, would it be possible to apply it from macOS?
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[LetsCallHimSteve]

I’m not sure what the point of Ethernet is; the mini already has that. I’d prefer the SD on the front myself but that’s a minor quibble. Nice that they have options for putting it either above or below; that custom TB cable is a nice touch.

This would be perfect for me, because I could get rid of my USC-C 2.5Gbps Ethernet adapter, but why oh why couldn't they reach perfection and leave a little space to reach the power button? I don't want to place this on top of my Mini.

 

[dmccloud]

From what I've seen and read regarding Beelink products, there's a reason they're priced towards the lower end. Their mini PCs tend to lag behind similarly specced machines from other companies, and the build quality seems to be lacking at times.

 

[LetsCallHimSteve]

From what I've seen and read regarding Beelink products, there's a reason they're priced towards the lower end. Their mini PCs tend to lag behind similarly specced machines from other companies, and the build quality seems to be lacking at times.

Then I'll have to wait for something with similar specs from another "reputable" company. Thanks.

 

[J.Y.Park]

From what I've seen and read regarding Beelink products, there's a reason they're priced towards the lower end. Their mini PCs tend to lag behind similarly specced machines from other companies, and the build quality seems to be lacking at times.

Are you sure you know what you're talking about? Have you actually used a Beelink mini PC before making this kind of judgment? From my experience, Beelink machines with similar specs often run cooler and more stable than others in the same price range—and speaking of price, I don’t really see much of a difference across brands anyway.

Sure, their Mac-related accessories are a newer venture, so I can't comment on that. But when it comes to mini PCs, the build quality is solid, and their customer support is honestly way better than most competitors. Just saying—maybe try one before you knock it.

 

[dmccloud]

Are you sure you know what you're talking about? Have you actually used a Beelink mini PC before making this kind of judgment? From my experience, Beelink machines with similar specs often run cooler and more stable than others in the same price range—and speaking of price, I don’t really see much of a difference across brands anyway.

Sure, their Mac-related accessories are a newer venture, so I can't comment on that. But when it comes to mini PCs, the build quality is solid, and their customer support is honestly way better than most competitors. Just saying—maybe try one before you knock it.

I have read and watched multiple reviews of Beelink products both from a gaming and developer's perspective, from people who are respected and trusted in the PC industry. Unlike some people, I don't jump to conclusions based off one comment or post.