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Trebleet Mac Mini TB3 Dock

NightOne

NightOne

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 23, 2006
122
217
TN
Trebleet Mac Mini TB3 Dock

Anyone using this with an M1 Mac Mini and have anything to share.

I was thinking of using a 2TB 2.5” SATA spinning drive (or SSD) as a Time Machine Drive for the 1TB SSD in the Mini and a 1TB NVMe SSD as a straight backup drive (bootable mirror).

Thoughts?
 
I have the Dock and added it to my Studio, its working great CFExpress has no issues reading photo files.
Added 2 4TB SSD inside. looks like they are as fast as my internal SSD.
 
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teohyc said:
So how's that dock?
Click to expand...

Sorry. Yes, the dock is working fine thus far. I installed a Samsung 980 Pro 2TB NVMe drive in one slot and the Black Magic speed test showed around 2800-2900 MB/s which was basically the same speed as the internal SSD on my new M1 Mac Mini. I installed a Samsung 870 Evo SATA 3 SSD in the SATA slot and it speed was around 480 MB/s which was what was expected.

The Hub sees the 980 by name but the 870 shows up as JMicron Generic Media in Disk Utility but otherwise doesn't seem to matter. I haven't tested the card reader ports but the USB and TB3 ports all worked great. I actually transferred my data from a Samsung T7 SSD when I got the Hub and was happy with it.

The only issue I have so far is that there was one firmware update for the hub and it requires a WINDOWS PC with TB3 to apply it. This is pretty ridiculous and the manufacturer is saying it is because of Intel etc. but this is literally sold as a Mac Mini dock. I don't even have access to a Windows PC with TB3 so I'm screwed in that regard.

I am glad I got this over the OWC because it has exactly what I want in a hub/dock for the mini.

With my new M1 Mini I also bought the new 27" Apple Pro Studio Display and it has additional Thunderbolt ports so I am covered there.

The $299 is a little tough to swallow at first. I think this is a great deal at $199 but I am still happy with it.

When/If they resolve the firmware updating issue I will be even happier.
 
Can you post a picture of this dock with your mini? How is it aligning with the mini?

And is it a good idea to put the dock on top of the mini, instead of under it?
 
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I have 970 evo plus, is there anyone else who use this?
nobullone1964 said there is no issues, but I still want hear other comments.



www.trebleet.com

Latest SSD Compatible List | TREBLEET

Due to the recent nature of M1 computer that's causing slow WRITE speed, we recommend using the highlighted in yellow SSD model. Which had been tested and proven to be not affected by M1 computer. Updated as of 25OCT2022:- SSD Compatible List below tells you if an SSD is compatible with Mac OS or
www.trebleet.com www.trebleet.com

"There's a message sent to us by a customer of ours updating us that the Samsung 970 EVO Plus would work just find on an M1 computer. However, we've received so many feedbacks from different customers that Samsung 970 EVO Plus has been not compatible with Mac OS. So, for the time being we're still listing Samsung 970 EVO PLUS as incompatible, until we've received more of the same feedbacks before listing it as a compatible one."

Only reason why I still think what to do is that 970 EVO plus compatibility.

Trebleet support say:
This is quite subjective, but we know loads of our customers were having issues with it. It might give you slow write sleep issues, mind you. =)
 
Machist said:
Hello!
Trebleet received yesterday 🥳

Here is my review


Click to expand...
Hi Machist,

I am very interested in this Trebleet dock. It's been four months since you received and used it. Could you share your use experience and operational trouble/fault (e.g., SSD disconnected, port malfunction, etc.) from this device? Appreciate your response.
 
Hi fiat!

I have been very satisfied. So far, no problems and the nvme station has not disconnected once. I have all the data on the nvme drive and I transfer e.g. photos and videos every day.

Although this is more expensive than other similar ones, I can recommend the product because the operational reliability seems very good.
 
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Just FYI, I ordered the dock from Trebleet last night and this morning I received an email from them stating they are having a small delay hiccup there (in China)... but a new version is coming out that the new dock to have 2 PCLe slots for two M.2 SSD instead of one PCLe and one 2.5 SATA. the good news is they say: one slot will run full X4 speed (~2800mbps) and another at USB speed (up to 900mbps). The old SATA slot only runs to 480mbps. They invited me to receive the new version. I accept that on the condition that else keeps the same or better quality/performance/reliability as the old version and no price change. Excited though probably have to wait 3, or 4 weeks.
 
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After 17 days of placing my order, I finally received the Trebleet dock today. It's a new version with two PCLe slots! I installed one WD SN770 and one WD SN570 both with MC-1 heatsink. Not bad for the speed test: SSD1 gets ~2900mbps (about the same speed as the internal drive) and SSD2 ~900mbps (about the same speed as the Qwiizlab PCLe slot). It also comes with 3 card readers: TF, SD, and CFexpress type-B (this one for me!) Since it has its own power supply, I don't expect un rare disconnection issue. So far impressive! (The only con I am aware of on this dock is the tiny screwdriver that came with it. It's not magnetic. So it's extremely hard to screw down the SSD and even worth, every trial I dropped/lost the screw into the dock chamber! Happened five times. To resolve this, I used the good screwdriver from the Be Quiet MC-1.)
 
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Everything looks good… however, after it worked for a while, I touched the top of the dock and it felt warm or medium hot (it’s on top of my Mac Mini) and the mini under it also felt warmer than without it connected. When I tried Qwiizlab hub before, it and my Mac both felt cool like nothing connected. So this became my concern and made me refresh about the other parts and tool that came with the dock and I didn’t use or install: two pieces of some kind of rubber pad and a plastic scraper. Do these stuff have anything to do with heat-breaking purposes? Do I need to install them into the dock or the SSDs? Please let me know how anyone experienced and addressed this issue (high heat operation). (I already have MC-1 on both SSDs) Appreciate.
 
My WD-SN770 2TB gets 104F (~idle) and Mini's fan runs ~1700 rpm. Guess it's normal, but the dock/mini body getting warmer still shows a sign of alarm. Also, MFC does not show 2nd SSD temp. (why?) I have already emailed Choong (Trebleet, the one who offered the new version) about the issue. Waiting for his response...
 
fiat said:
other parts and tool that came with the dock and I didn’t use or install: two pieces of some kind of rubber pad and a plastic scraper. Do these stuff have anything to do with heat-breaking purposes?
Click to expand...
The two pads are probably thermal pads intended to conduct heat.

I'm not familiar with this particular device, but for NVME enclosures a thermal pad is usually used to fill the gap between the top of the SSD and the metal enclosure -- thus conducting the heat away from the SSD and to the metal enclosure, where it can be dissipated better. For them to work effectively the pad needs to touch both surfaces without air gaps.

I have no idea what the plastic scraper is for.

Installing the thermal pads properly will keep the SSDs cooler (and reduce potential thermal throttling, maybe boosting performance) but I'd expect the outside of the enclosure to feel just as hot, so they won't solve that concern. It makes sense that the Mini felt warmer than you're used to -- heat is being conducted from the enclosure to the Mini's case. Since the Mini's fan is only going at 1700 rpm, I think that is probably ok for the Mini, unless the fan noise is a problem.

From what I've read, these NVME SSDs can get quite hot -- and you've got two of them installed. Some are hotter than others, but I don't know where yours fall in the range.
 
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Brian33 said:
The two pads are probably thermal pads intended to conduct heat.

I'm not familiar with this particular device, but for NVME enclosures a thermal pad is usually used to fill the gap between the top of the SSD and the metal enclosure -- thus conducting the heat away from the SSD and to the metal enclosure, where it can be dissipated better. For them to work effectively the pad needs to touch both surfaces without air gaps.

I have no idea what the plastic scraper is for.

Installing the thermal pads properly will keep the SSDs cooler (and reduce potential thermal throttling, maybe boosting performance) but I'd expect the outside of the enclosure to feel just as hot, so they won't solve that concern. It makes sense that the Mini felt warmer than you're used to -- heat is being conducted from the enclosure to the Mini's case. Since the Mini's fan is only going at 1700 rpm, I think that is probably ok for the Mini, unless the fan noise is a problem.

From what I've read, these NVME SSDs can get quite hot -- and you've got two of them installed. Some are hotter than others, but I don't know where yours fall in the range.
Click to expand...
So the thermal pads serve as heatsinks. I already installed MC-1 on both SSDs though.

I suspect this dock sets and splits the c bandwidth into 3:1 of SSD1:SSD2. So SSD1 runs ~3000 Mbps and SSD2 ~1000 Mbps. Believe SSD1 would draw more power and dissipate more heat. Have no idea why my MTC won't show the temp of SSD2. Since my SSD2 works as TM backup, I now eject it until I want to do TM backup again. But SSD1 (as an extended drive) still holds to 100F even idle (I think) and the fan speed is still 1700rpm.

Any suggestion on the position of the dock: 1. dock on mini or 2. mini on dock for the matter of heat dissipation issue? Right now, it's dock on mini.
 
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