September 11, 2026

An external SSD for the Mac mini

The machine has an internal 1T SSD. We want at least one external SSD. We will want one to use for backups via "time machine". We will perhaps want another to store photos and media.

I will need to be a USB-C interface and if possible support Thunderbolt 4 or 5. Thunderbolt 5 claims 80 Gb/s and Thunderbolt 4 gives 40 Gb/s. Portability does not matter. I would be perfectly happy if it had its own power supply, but that seems unlikely.

Currently memory prices have gone crazy. Units that sold for $100 just a year ago sell for $400 today.

My 2T Crucial T500 nVME stick

I pulled this out of a static bag and put it in this UGREEN enclosure: This was a $70 purchase and seems nicely made. And it works! With the Crucial inside I connect a USB-A to C cable and plug it into my linux desktop: 
Sep 13 17:30:36 trona kernel: usb 1-1.3: new high-speed USB device number 54 using ehci-pci
Sep 13 17:30:36 trona kernel: usb 1-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=174c, idProduct=2463, bcdDevice= 1.00
Sep 13 17:30:36 trona kernel: usb 1-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=3, SerialNumber=1
Sep 13 17:30:36 trona kernel: usb 1-1.3: Product: Ugreen Storage Device
Sep 13 17:30:36 trona kernel: usb 1-1.3: Manufacturer: Ugreen
Sep 13 17:30:36 trona kernel: usb 1-1.3: SerialNumber: 25041785047B
Sep 13 17:30:37 trona kernel: scsi 10:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ASMT     2462 NVME        0    PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
Sep 13 17:30:37 trona kernel: sd 10:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
Sep 13 17:30:37 trona kernel: sd 10:0:0:0: [sdc] 3907029168 512-byte logical blocks: (2.00 TB/1.82 TiB)
Sep 13 17:30:37 trona kernel: sd 10:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
Sep 13 17:30:37 trona kernel: sd 10:0:0:0: [sdc] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
Sep 13 17:30:37 trona kernel: sd 10:0:0:0: [sdc] Preferred minimum I/O size 512 bytes
Sep 13 17:30:37 trona kernel: sd 10:0:0:0: [sdc] Optimal transfer size 2097152 bytes
Sep 13 17:30:37 trona kernel: sdc: sdc1
Sep 13 17:30:37 trona kernel: sd 10:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI disk
And I see: 
su ; fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sdc: 1.82 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors
Disk model: 2462 NVME
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 2097152 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x80759a53

Device     Boot Start        End    Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdc1        2048 3907029167 3907027120  1.8T 83 Linux

mount | grep sdc
/dev/sdc1 on /run/media/tom/f612dc20-42bb-46a2-b0ab-14db34de48be type ext4
I copy a 450M file (an mp4 video) to it. VLC is then able to play it from there (though most of the blocks are cached no doubt). I delete the file and call it good.

Other candidates

The WD My Passport is USB 3.1 and looks like a spinning disk, not an SSD. And it is a spinning disk -- you pay $300 for 5T, which is OK. Transfer speed is 625 Mb/s. The price is right.

The trick is that it must say "My Passport SSD" to be an SSD. The 2T SSD version is $300, the 4T SSD version is $700. These are USB 3.2 and not terribly fast.

The Corsair is a USB4 device that gives 40 Gb/s. You can get 2T for $500. Compare the price to the WD above. Wow, look at that price! Apparenty you really have to pay to get a Thunderbolt 5 interface that is rated at 80G/s Who has ever heard of OWC (or LaCie)? This is a 4T drive with Thunderbolt 5. You can get 8T for $2300.

Enclosures

I happen to have a Crucial T500 M.2 stick just sitting around. This is a well regarded 2T drive. I just need an enclosure to put it into: This is a 40 Gb/s rated Thunderbolt 4 (USB 4) enclosure that will hold an M.2 UGREEN offers an 80 Gb/s Thunderbolt 5, but the price is $230.

Satechi

This is a brand that makes various accessory enclosures for Mac minis. They keep the same form factor and overall look. This "cube dock" is Thunderbolt 5, which at least in part explains the high price. It also has its own AC power source and sits alongside the mac, so it would not affect air flow and cooling in any way. It holds one nVME (M.2) SSD. If it held two, I might be tempted. This was $70 all week, but the price has now jumped to $100. This was originally recommended to me by Dan. It sits under Mac mini. It does not have its own power cord, and some reviews say that they had trouble with an SSD in place. There just wasn't enough power to reliably handle the SSD along with other USB stuff plugged in. I also worry about air flow, with the Mac sitting on top, especially with the M5 Pro I intend to get. Dan uses his with an M4 mini which will only ever use 70W. The M5 Pro will use up to 155W and will need reliable air flow.
Have any comments? Questions? Drop me a line!