If you’ve bought an Apple Mac mini M4, then you are probably in the market for a docking station to use with it. Apple’s latest mini Mac has three Thunderbolt ports at its rear, plus two USB-C ports at the front and a headphone socket. However, it doesn’t have an USB-A ports, memory card slots or any other way of expanding its connectivity.
This is where a docking station comes in. There’s a growing choice of them on the market for the Mac mini, so I thought I would look at a couple of newly released models to see what they offer. The two I selected both have slightly different approaches to the problem, but each has some extra ports and more storage space in the form of a slot for M.2 NVMe SSD.
The first device I looked at is Ugreen’s 10-in-1 USB-C Docking Station for Apple Mac mini M4. This unit works with both the basic Mac Mini M4 and the Mac Mini M4 Pro, which has Thunderbolt 5 ports. It’s the same dimensions as a mac mini M4.
Ugreen 10-in-1 Mac Mini M4 Docking Station
The Ugreen docking station sits beneath the Mac mini M4 but leaves a good amount of space between the two units to allow for adequate air circulation. There is a cable that plugs into the rear of the Mac mini M4, occupying two of the Thunderbolt ports. By taking up two ports, Ugreen has managed to increase the bandwidth of the docking station so it can cope with faster speeds of data transfer.
At the rear of the docking station there is a small carved out niche which makes the Mac mini M4’s awkwardly placed power switch super-easy to access. That’s a useful feature for those of us who like to turn our computers off at night.
Also at the rear of the docking station there is a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is much more convenient if you want to plug in a pair of powered speakers into the Mac mini. You can still use the headphone jack on the front of the Mac if you want to listen with a pair of wired headphones, but the extra jack gives you options.
Multiple Ports And An SSD Slot
There is a DisplayPort at the rear which can drive an second 4K display with a refresh rate up to 240Hz. Ugreen has also included two USB-A ports with a 10Gbps transfer speed and a sapre USB-C port with 10Gbps. That extra USB-C port means that although the docking station takes up two Thunderbolt ports, you get one back one although it’s not a Thunderbolt port but you still have one of those available on the Mac Mini and Thunderbolt devices can be daisy chained.
Moving around the to the front of the docking station there are two more USB-A ports rated at 10Gbps speed plus two slots for an SD and microSD memory card. That’s a lot of extra connectivity and should be enough for most people’s needs.
Finally, the Ugreen docking station has a small hatch on its underside which opens to reveal a slot for an M.2 NVMe SSD. The slot can accommodate all sizes of M.2 SSDs and with capacities up to 8TB. There’s no fan or heatsink installed, so it’s probably wise to add a silicone cooling pad and choose an SSD that runs cool, such as one of the Samsung models. Some SSDs run very hot, so choose your storage wisely.
Orico MiniPro Chassis Stand
The second dock for the Apple Mac Mini M4 comes in the form of the Orico MiniPro Chassis Stand. Looking a lot like a miniature version of Apple’s Mac Pro, this aluminum case takes the Mac mini M4 vertically and features cutouts on the front and back for the computer’s ports. The dock connects to the Mac mini M4 with a single USB cable that plugs into one of the spare computer’s Thunderbolt ports.
Like the Ugreen docking station, the Orico has a button for firing up the Mac mini’s awkwardly placed power switch. As far as extra ports are concerned, the Orico doesn’t offer quite as many options as Ugreen, but it does include two USB-A ports with speeds of 10Gbps. On the front of the case are slots for SD and microSD memory cards. That’s about the limit of ports that this docking station has to offer except for its SSD chamber.
On the bottom of the Orico Chassis Stand is a small door secured by a single screw. The chamber opens to reveal a slot for holding an M.2 NVMe SSD so you can expand the storage of your Mac mini M4. Apple charges a massive premium for its internal SSD storage, although it does use very fast modules that are soldered to the motherboard and provide exceptional speeds which are handy for heavy duty use like video editing.
Expand Mac Mini M4 Storage
The SSD expansion can be ordered from Orico empty, leaving you free to source your own SSD or you can specify one of Orico’s own SSDs which can be factory installed for you. Fitting an SSD in the slot is easy and you can add one up to a maximum of 8TB capacity. There’s no active cooling built-in, so some sort of passive cooling method like a silicone pad is recommended.
Both these docking stations are an easy way of adding more storage to Apple’s Mac mini M4 or M4 Pro. Which docking station you choose will depend on the look you want and, more importantly, how many extra ports you need. It’s probably fair to say that the Ugreen offers more expansion for the money, while the Orico has the chunky look of Apple’s Mac Pro and may suit those who don’t need too many extra ports.
Pricing and Availability:
The Ugreen 10-in-1 USB-C Docking Station for Apple Mac mini M4 is available now from the Ugreen website and Amazon priced at $66.49 / £59.98. The Orico MiniPro Chassis Stand is available now from Orico and priced at $89.99 / £67.50.
Tech Specs:
Ugreen 10-in-1 Docking Station For Mac Mini M4
- Model no: 65488.
- Input interface: USB 3.1 Type C 10Gbps x 2.
- Output interfaces: 4 x USB 3.1 Type A / 1 x USB 3.1 Type C 10Gbps.
- Memory slots: SD and microSD.
- Audio jack: Yes.
- SSD: M.2 NVMe (Max 8TB).
- Materials: Aluminum alloy and plastic.
- Dimensions: 127 x 127 x 29mm.
- Compatibility: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPadOS.
- Warranty: One year.
Orico MiniPro
- Model no: MS10 5P.
- Input interface: USB 3.1 Type C 10Gbps.
- Output interfaces: 2 x USB 3.1 Type A.
- Memory slots: SD and microSD.
- SSD: M.2 NVMe (Max 8TB).
- Materials: Aluminum alloy and plastic.
- Dimensions: 150 x 56 x 180mm.
- Compatibility: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPadOS.
- Warranty: One year.
