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!
-----------
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?

6/27/2025 EDIT: The linked page says "【Flexible Storage Options】--- Choose Model A (dual PCIe x2 slots, 16TB max) for massive storage, or Model B (single PCIe x4 slot, 6228MB/s read speed) for pro-grade performance." So yes, it does seem that, for the dual-slot model, each slot gets two lanes of PCIe (presumably PCIe 4.0). This would provide a maximum of 3938 MBs throughput -- enough for the claimed 3219/2800 for each slot, even without RAID 0. If I'm correct, the two NVMe SSDs should perform close to these values even when both slots are being accessed simultaneously. (I'd like to see proof of that, though!)

But what about bandwidth for the other ports? I'm fuzzy on how the lanes can be used... Does anyone have any insight regarding this?
-----------
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.

 

[Opsuk]

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.

Nice they put it above and below. The only issue is that if you put below and use their hard link, you can’t get to the MacMini power button! Not a great bit of design by them or Apple!

Does look good. Would definitely buy if it has one or two more T5 ports

 

[Che Castro]

 

[Brian33]

Thanks for the review link, @Che Castro. It's a very good video, IMHO. I've summarized some of it below:


He reviewed the single-slot model.

No power supply included; he (apparently) did all his tests without a power supply, with a 2TB WD SN850X in the single slot.

Putting the Mate on bottom with the included "C" connector really blocks the Mac's power button!

He didn't notice fan noise at all during his testing. "Virtually silent." [I wish there were more details about this, though.]

The reviewer claims putting the Mate Mini underneath the Mac Mini negatively affects the WiFi signal, and putting the Mate Mini on top of the Mac, not so much.

He tested (sequential) throughput with Black Magic (unknown file size), and got upper 5,000's MBps. He says pretty much equivalent to an (unspecified) Thunderbolt-5 external enclosure.

Points out that the Bee-link "is not a certified Thunderbolt 5 enclosure... it's USB 4v2." [Interesting -- I wonder what difference this might make. Reliability of connection? Power use? (I think bus-powered USB4 externals seem to use more than Thunderbolt 3-only ones do.)]

The Bee-link is better than his Mac Mini M4 Pro's 512G internal drive for sequential IO, but somewhat worse for 4K random IO (around 10% worse for writing).

Says the 2.5Gbps Ethernet adapter is Realtec and doesn't support Jumbo frames. Says performs OK but not great. Still double usual 1Gb speed.

USB-A ports are 5Gbps. Card reader (inconvenient placement?) but thoughput as expected.

At $139 seems like a good deal.

 

[Brian33]

Re-examining, I noticed the Bee-link page does specify the number of PCIe lanes for the two- and one-slot models. I edited my post above to add:

6/27/2025 EDIT: The linked page says "【Flexible Storage Options】--- Choose Model A (dual PCIe x2 slots, 16TB max) for massive storage, or Model B (single PCIe x4 slot, 6228MB/s read speed) for pro-grade performance." So yes, it does seem that, for the dual-slot model, each slot gets two lanes of PCIe (presumably PCIe 4.0). This would provide a maximum of 3938 MBs throughput -- enough for the claimed 3219/2800 for each slot, even without RAID 0. If I'm correct, the two NVMe SSDs should perform close to these values even when both slots are being accessed simultaneously. (I'd like to see proof of that, though!)

 

[turbineseaplane]

Nice to see an option from a trusted source like Beelink

I've used a few of their Mini PCs and they've all been phenomenal.

If Beelink is selling it, I'd buy with confidence.

 

[alphablondy]

As someone who recently received the Beelink Model A version (2 nvme ssd slots), I have to say that I am extremely impressed with this dock. It was definitely worth the wait. I paired 2 4TB Samsung 990 evo plus SSDs in software raid 0 with my m4 pro mac mini and I am happy to report that I am getting faster Blackmagic speed tests than the m4 pro mac mini internal ssd. This was unexpected. I am getting >6500 mb/s write and >5500 mb/s read consistently. This is an excellent buy and I strongly recommend it.

See results in image.

 

[alphablondy]

I forgot to mention that no additional power source is needed other than the uplink to your mac mini which is a huge plus. Other docks and multi-bay ssd drives that I have purchased required an additional power source.

 

[buggz]

How is the heat?
Does it trap heat on the top side of the Mac?

 

[alphablondy]

The heat generated by the mate mini, I feel, is acceptable. Warm to the touch after several speed tests. There is a built-in heat sync with two thermal pads attached to the underside. The top of the mac mini does absorb some of the heat. There is about a 5 mm gap between to allow for heat dissipation.

 

[Jefkom]

As someone who recently received the Beelink Model A version (2 nvme ssd slots), I have to say that I am extremely impressed with this dock. It was definitely worth the wait. I paired 2 4TB Samsung 990 evo plus SSDs in software raid 0 with my m4 pro mac mini and I am happy to report that I am getting faster Blackmagic speed tests than the m4 pro mac mini internal ssd. This was unexpected. I am getting >6500 mb/s write and >5500 mb/s read consistently. This is an excellent buy and I strongly recommend it.

See results in image.

Have you tested the SD slot transfer speed?
It should be up to 300 MB/s with a UHS-II card.

 

[Che Castro]

As someone who recently received the Beelink Model A version (2 nvme ssd slots), I have to say that I am extremely impressed with this dock. It was definitely worth the wait. I paired 2 4TB Samsung 990 evo plus SSDs in software raid 0 with my m4 pro mac mini and I am happy to report that I am getting faster Blackmagic speed tests than the m4 pro mac mini internal ssd. This was unexpected. I am getting >6500 mb/s write and >5500 mb/s read consistently. This is an excellent buy and I strongly recommend it.

See results in image.

Can you put this thing underneath the mini ?

 

[alphablondy]

Can you put this thing underneath the mini ?

Yes, there are two usbc adapters (shaped like a U) that support an above and below configuration. I prefer the dock to be above my mac mini. The gap, when placed above, is much slimmer and better looking to me.

 

[alphablondy]

Have you tested the SD slot transfer speed?
It should be up to 300 MB/s with a UHS-II card.

I tried with a samsung EVO micro SDXC. See results in image. It starts off really fast 300-400 MB/s then teeters out between 75 and 80 MB/s write and 95 MB/s read.

 

[Pf2025]

Be aware of hidden fees for purchasing the Beelink Mate Mini:

I purchased 1 Model A Mate Mini with 2TB (2x1TB) for $274 with free shipping. The unit was shipped within 3 days from China (not a local USA warehouse).

DHL will not deliver the package until additional $62.86 is paid to clear customs.

I was not expecting to get hit with tariffs. Maybe shipping from China because it’s still “pre-order” as of 07/18/2025?

I just paid the ransom. Awaiting delivery by DHL on Monday.

If I had known about the tariff situation, I would have bought without memory installed for $139, and upgraded it myself with cheaper ssd’s from local sources.

 

[NT1440]

Nice to see an option from a trusted source like Beelink

I've used a few of their Mini PCs and they've all been phenomenal.

If Beelink is selling it, I'd buy with confidence.

Big fan myself. Bought them when we had an office still and used them for digital signage. Great little machines.