*** The official 2023 and 2024 Mac mini thread (it has the M2 chip, the M4 chip and everything!) ***
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Caporegime
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This little drive gets HOT when transferring more than a few minutes.
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That's the beauty of buying a populated external ssd drive from a manufacturer, it will have been tested for heat issues. I'm lucky the drive in my NVMe enclosure doesn't get hot because its an old PCIe Gen 3 drive only capable of about 3400 MB/s read and 3000 MB/s write. I don't get that in the enclosure but its still plenty fast enough.
Probably better off getting one of these…
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CM8WL1ZM?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1
1TB for £63.95. I’ve got one as a Time Machine backup drive, not quite as small as one of them Samsung USB C flash drives but much faster and still very portable, even comes with a little bag to carry it in.
Speed wise I got this when connected to a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C port…
You won't get that on a Mac mini Thunderbolt port, only on a compatible PC as it defaults to 10Gbps on a Thunderbolt port. It'll still be quicker than a Samsung USB-C flash drive though and arguably better value for money.
Its a fair bit smaller and lighter than my external NVMe enclosure.
Apologies but I never replied to you. Thanks for the info!
I actually found a Samsung T5 500GB in a cupboard which will do for now. It does about 370/370 MB/sec which is good enough for the simple stuff I do.
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The Samsung T5 500GB is actually a bit faster than the Samsung 512GB Type-C USB Flash Drive you were thinking of buying. Up to 540 MB/sec with the T5 vs Up to 400 MB/s with the Samsung 512GB Type-C USB Flash Drive.
T5 information here…
https://www.samsung.com/uk/memory-storage/portable-ssd/portable-ssd-t5-500gb-blue-mu-pa500b-eu/
Samsung 512GB Type-C USB Flash Drive information here…
https://www.samsung.com/uk/memory-s...e/usb-flash-drive-type-c-512gb-muf-512da-apc/
That’s good to know, thanks
The T5 is hardly a large device there’s no need to get the Type-C one for travelling.Yeah the T5 is a proper external SSD whereas the other one is a flash drive. It’s a bit smaller but you sacrifice performance, and as you say the T5 isn’t that big anyway.That’s good to know, thanks
Caporegime
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Whilst that little thumb drive is hot, it's fine for little bursts or using on the go. Purposely got it without a need of a cable, one less thing to carry on the go.
Just out of curiosity, how did you assemble the drive yourself. What parts did you use? You said you made a 512GB one for £35.
Caporegime
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Since OCUK sells nvme I can't tell you but you should be able to guess from my order from China.
I keep forget about the VAT lol, but that prices go up and down, seen it for £35 total after VAT.
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I bet it's pretty quick too, being an NVMe drive in a 10 Gbps enclosure. Faster than most flash drives and on par with any other 10 Gbps external SSD.
Caporegime
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It's pretty quick until it thermal throttles lol
That's fine though as it is not left plugged in and constantly being accessed. The enclosure is certainly a lot cheaper than the Sharge 10gbps one I also got which was over £30. That one has a fan which is always audible.
Yeah would have been perfect if it didn’t. You can’t buy anything as small and as fast as that. Next best thing is probably one of those 500GB fanxiang USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 drives for £39.99.
It’ll run at 10 Gbps in a Thunderbolt 4 port and 20 Gbps in a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port. Isn’t as small though but shouldn’t thermal throttle.
Soldato
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Hi all.
I got a used Mac Mini M4 off the Members Market and it's great so far, I'm still learning how to use OSX but the Apple silicon is amazing.
I got a used Mac Mini M4 off the Members Market and it's great so far, I'm still learning how to use OSX but the Apple silicon is amazing.
Ah, so this thread is dangerous. My old MacBook Pro (intel, touchbar) is really showing its age and I only use it on a desk so looking like a Mac mini on the cards again (still have my late 2014 one packed away).
So is the thinking go M4 base, then get an enclosure with external NVME? These things are tiny, the size of my Apple TV it looks like?!
So is the thinking go M4 base, then get an enclosure with external NVME? These things are tiny, the size of my Apple TV it looks like?!
Yes and then you can either install macOS on the external enclosure to boot and run everything off of, or put your home folder on it leaving the macOS install on the internal drive. There are some drawbacks when booting off an external enclosure but for my usage it's fine.
Here’s a comparison between the Intel MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2020) in Geekbench v6 vs my Mac Mini M4…
https://browser.geekbench.com/v6/cpu/compare/11396535?baseline=9835586
I was running Geekbench 6.3 whereas the MacBook in the results was running Geekbench 6.4 but the scores are comparable.