The M4 Mac mini stands out as among the best value-for-money Macs in Apple’s lineup. However it’s not good, with the shortage of an SD card slot and USB-A ports being two main annoyances. Satechi’s Mac Mini M4 Stand & Hub with SSD Enclosure goals to deal with these flaws whereas providing a method to increase storage on a budget.
That’s a daring pitch. So, does the accent ship? Right here’s what I discovered.
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Satechi Mac Mini M4 Stand & Hub with SSD Enclosure overview
Given the M4 Mac mini’s spectacular price-to-performance ratio — it begins at $599, however usually might be discovered for much less — one can simply overlook a few of its deficiencies. Regardless of its ridiculously compact design, the machine packs plenty of energy and connectivity choices you’ll be able to consider. Even so, the M4 Mac mini isn’t good. Along with the lacking USB-A ports and SD card slot, Apple’s funds desktop pc additionally suffers from an awkwardly positioned energy button.
None of them are crucial flaws, although. You’ll be able to simply remedy no less than two of them — the lacking USB-A ports and SD card slot — through the use of a USB-C or Thunderbolt dock. Nevertheless, whereas purposeful, a dock undermines one of many Mac mini’s largest perks: its minimal dimension.
The Satechi Stand & Hub for the M4 Mac mini addresses all the pc’s flaws with out negating its space-saving advantages. Plus, it affords a singular benefit no different dock can match: a budget-friendly method to increase the Mac’s storage with an exterior SSD that doesn’t take up any additional desk house.
Desk of contents: Satechi Stand & Hub for M4 Mac mini overview
Professionals
Picture: Rajesh Pandey/Cult Of Mac
The Satechi Mac Mini M4 Stand & Hub with SSD Enclosure takes up no additional house on my desk. It sits neatly beneath my M4 Professional Mac mini, including round 0.81 inches of vertical top, and connecting seamlessly through one of many rear Thunderbolt/USB-C ports.
In return, the Satechi hub gives entry to a few USB-A ports and an SD card slot on the entrance. And beneath the hub, an SSD enclosure gives an effective way to increase your Mac’s usable storage on a funds. There’s a giant catch with the entrance USB-A ports, although, and it positively reduces their usefulness. (Extra on this within the cons part beneath.)
Satechi did a commendable job making certain the design and end of the hub match that of the M4 Mac mini. The hub blends in completely and doesn’t look odd on my desk. Plus, the underside options heat-dissipating vents for correct airflow. I didn’t discover my M4 Professional-powered Mac mini operating hotter than normal after I began utilizing the hub.
The hub additionally improves entry to the M4 Mac mini’s energy button. Since I often flip off my Mac mini on the finish of every workweek, the awkwardly positioned button grew to become a little bit of a trouble. I wanted to carry the Mac mini from its place to show it on and off. Fortunately, Satechi’s Mac mini hub solves that downside, too.
A welcome spot for an SSD
Picture: Rajesh Pandey/Cult Of Mac
Past its smooth design and entrance USB ports, Satechi’s M4 Mac mini hub stands out for its built-in SSD slot. Situated beneath the hub itself, you’ll be able to pry open the quilt utilizing your finger. This offers you entry to an NVMe SSD slot, with Satechi bundling the mandatory screwdriver and a thermal pad to chill the storage drive successfully.
Take into accout, the slot solely helps M.2 PCIe SSDs. It’s not suitable with SATA-based drives, SSDs with heatsinks, or double-sided modules.
Putting in a suitable SSD is easy. First, take away the SSD enclosure from the underside of the stand. Subsequent, apply the thermal pad, insert the drive at a 30-degree angle into the slot, and safe it with the included screw.
Which SSDs are suitable?
I used a 1TB Samsung 980 Professional, however you need to use any M.2 SSD of the next sizes:
Satechi says any M.2 SSD inside the identical dimensions because the above drives will work, with a most capability of 4TB.
Don’t get the quickest M.2 SSD on your Mac mini, although. There’s a giant limitation you want to concentrate on. For the reason that Satechi Mac mini stand connects over USB-C, the utmost theoretical switch pace maxes out at 10Gbps. Which may sound lots — and it’s, so long as you solely join common equipment and disks to your Mac. Learn in regards to the distinction between USB-C and Thunderbolt to know why the latter is best.
I take advantage of the only real entrance USB 2.0 port to attach a Logitech Bolt receiver, which wi-fi connects to my Logitech MX Grasp 3S mouse and MX Keys S keyboard. (Each these made my checklist of Mac equipment I can’t stay with out). I dedicate one of many hub’s two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports to my 4TB Western Digital exterior onerous disk.
Beware: Sluggish switch speeds forward
With an SSD put in, saturating the 10Gbps bandwidth of Satechi’s Mac mini hub takes little effort. This additionally signifies that you’ll theoretically not get a switch pace of greater than 1,000MB/s from the SSD. I put a Samsung 980 Professional drive into the hub’s enclosure and used it for Time Machine backups and storing steadily accessed media recordsdata.
In my testing for this overview, the Samsung 980 Professional delivered learn/write speeds of round 850 to 900MB/s when put in within the Satechi Mac Mini M4 Stand & Hub with SSD Enclosure. This falls wanting the drive’s a lot increased potential. Plugging in one other high-bandwidth drive to the entrance USB 3.0 port additional lowered the switch speeds.
Even so, these switch speeds ought to show greater than enough for many on a regular basis duties. You’ll be able to simply use the linked SSD to retailer your film or photograph library and work immediately off it. You should use an SSD with the Satechi M4 Mac mini hub to complement the machine’s storage, too. Simply maintain your expectations in verify.
Ideally, it will have been nice if the Satechi Stand and Hub communicated with the Mac mini over Thunderbolt 4. However this might have probably required an exterior energy provide, rising the hub’s dimension and negating one in every of its largest advantages.
The entrance SD card slot comes as a welcome addition, addressing a key limitation of the Mac mini. It brings one of the handy options of the Mac Studio to a extra reasonably priced machine. And as a bonus, it helps switch speeds of as much as 312MB/s.
Cons
Picture: Rajesh Pandey/Cult Of Mac
My predominant gripe with the Satechi Mac Mini M4 Stand & Hub with SSD Enclosure stems from the shortage of a way to maintain the Mac mini firmly in place. A slight indentation and rubber toes try to carry it. Nevertheless, they provide little grip and barely assist with alignment or stability.
In consequence, my Mac mini tends to shift barely every time I join or disconnect an adjunct from the entrance USB ports, be it on the machine itself or the hub. This doesn’t have an effect on the hub’s performance in any method. When you’ve got a choosy nature like me, although, this can trouble you.
Charging limitations
One other notable limitation: the lack to make use of the entrance ports of the Satechi Stand & Hub for charging units. The corporate even warns towards connecting multiple high-powered system to USB ports. This implies you can’t use the entrance USB ports on Satech’s M4 Mac mini hub to attach multiple exterior onerous disk.
This didn’t have an effect on me a lot, since I even have a Thunderbolt 4 dock linked to my Mac mini. Nevertheless, should you’re contemplating the Satechi Mac Mini M4 Stand & Hub with SSD Enclosure primarily for its entrance USB ports, concentrate on this limitation.
Provided that the hub passively attracts energy from the Mac mini, the limitation is smart. The identical restriction applies to different USB-C hubs that don’t actively draw energy from an influence outlet.
Lastly, I’d have cherished to see Satechi provide a 3.5mm audio jack behind its Stand and Hub for the Mac mini. That may have helped give the entrance of the machine a cleaner look, particularly for customers who join exterior audio system.
Picture: Rajesh Pandey/Cult Of Mac
Satechi Stand & Hub for M4 Mac mini overview: Pricing and conclusion
For those who personal an M4 Mac mini and need to increase its storage with out splurging on a dear Thunderbolt dock, the Satechi Mac Mini M4 Stand & Hub with SSD Enclosure affords a wise and reasonably priced various for $100.
I’d suggest shopping for it over an everyday USB-C dock or hub as a result of it seamlessly integrates with the M4 Mac mini, extending its performance by including entrance USB ports and an SD card slot. The hidden SSD slot is one other bonus, increasing the Mac mini’s storage with out including extra muddle to your desk.
★★★★☆
Purchase from: Amazon
Improve your Mac mini
Satechi Mac Mini M4 Stand & Hub
Designed for the 2024 Mac mini with M4 chip, the Satechi Stand & Hub expands the machine’s performance with entrance USB ports, an SD card slot and an SSD enclosure.
- M.2 NVMe SSD enclosure affords speeds as much as 10Gbps
- Two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports (as much as 10Gbps) and one USB-A 2.0 (as much as 480Mbps)
- Restricted to 10Gbps speeds
- Doesn’t lock Mac mini in place
Satechi supplied Cult of Mac with a overview unit for this text. See our evaluations coverage, and take a look at different in-depth evaluations of Apple-related gadgets.
