Whereas OWC has made enclosures that might pair with Mac mini’s for a very long time, the OWC miniStack STX is the primary that brings a Thunderbolt hub into the combo, making it a super storage and dealing drive resolution for creatives.
Though Apple simply launched the brand new Mac Studio, we at PetaPixel consider that the majority photographers are going to be finest served by the M1-powered Mac mini that was launched final yr. It’s the perfect Mac for photographers, particularly contemplating how inexpensive it’s. Nevertheless it doesn’t have every little thing a photographer would possibly want, and that’s the place the miniStack STX is available in.
Opposite to most new merchandise launched by Apple, the OWC miniStack STX is designed to be personalized and upgraded as customers’ wants change over time. The miniStack STX encompasses a common SATA HDD/SSD bay and an NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD slot that’s simple to entry for upgrades and upkeep, three Thunderbolt (USB-C) ports (4 in the event you depend the one wanted to hook up with the Mac mini) for machine connections resembling keyboards, arduous drives, card readers, shows, A/V mixers, cameras, and tablets. The machine itself is offered for $299 for the empty enclosure or it may be personalized on the time of buy with as much as 8TB of SSD storage and 18TB of HDD storage.
Design and Construct High quality
The miniStack STX options the identical rounded aluminum design dimensions of a current-generation M1 Mac mini and is supposed to be a stackable base upon which you’ll be able to set it on. The machine is available in the same minimalistic look because the Mac mini, however with a glossy black end.
The entrance of the enclosure options two small lights on the underside proper of the machine which can be indicators for the 2 inside drives (SSD and SATA) and a big OWC emblem that lights up in Blue when the miniStack STX is powered up. This massive illuminated emblem shifts to white when the Mac mini is shut down as an alternative of turning off, which I discovered unusual. Why this gentle stays on in any respect appears a bit odd to me, however that may be a minor design concern when you think about the general advantages offered by the machine as an entire.
Whereas the entrance and sides of the machine are quite minimal, the rear of the enclosure is the place you’ll will discover the 4 USB-C (Thunderbolt) ports for connectivity growth of the Mac. At a look, you might also assume the machine has some USB-A connections as nicely however alas, that slot is solely for the exhaust. In between the Thunderbolt ports and the exhaust, customers will discover the 20V DC energy connection.
The corporate claims that customers can add a mixture of as much as 5 Thunderbolt gadgets, three USB gadgets, and two displays with the miniStack STX relying on the host machine. For instance with my M1 Mac Mini, I had a XP-Pen Show pill linked to the HDMI port, a monitor linked to the USB-C on the Mac Mini, a Loupedeck CT and Reminiscence Card reader linked to the USB-A ports, after which via the miniStack STX I had my iPhone, Apple Watch, and Raid storage linked.
Successfully, the miniStack STX changed my earlier “resolution” which was a rat’s nest of a USB-hub that sat behind every little thing on my desk.
The within of the machine is nearly as minimalistic as the outside and encompasses a small motherboard with the SSD, SATA, and port connections. All of that is seated snugly towards the cooling fan and exhaust ports. As I discussed above, the miniStack STX can home a 2.5 inch or 3.5 inch arduous drive (as much as 18TB in dimension) in addition to an M.2 SSD that may deal with as much as 8TB.
Whereas it’s designed to look good with the Mac mini, I ought to point out that it doesn’t require one. The miniStack STX can work with any Thunderbolt appropriate machine like an iMac, Macbook Professional, PC, Chromebook, and even Android tablets. Really, it’s attainable to attach and energy some gadgets together with a MacBook Air over the 60W thunderbolt port (the one closest to the facility provide) including much more versatility and use instances for the machine at residence. That mentioned, it nonetheless simply appears to be like the perfect when paired with a Mac mini as a consequence of how completely it matches its dimension and form.
Utilizing a beefier MacBook Professional with this energy provide will preserve the machine working, however it can additionally very slowly lose energy even when plugged since it could actually’t output sufficient energy. Over the course of three hours of regular work on my MacBook Professional which was plugged into and powered by the miniStack STX, I noticed between 2% and 5% per hour energy drain.
Additionally it is price noting that even whereas closely stress testing the drives within the miniStack STX and the cooling fan working in excessive gear, the system remains to be almost silent.
Pace and Efficiency
The corporate claims the miniStack STX can run at 770 MB/s of “actual” efficiency via the SSD drive and my very own testing can affirm these numbers are fairly correct. This implies even when the drives linked within the miniStack STX are able to sooner efficiency, because of the limitations of the Thunderbolt PCI-E channel allocations, the max learn/write speeds shall be restricted to about 770 MB/s. It will be superb to have the ability to get peak efficiency out of the drives put in, however the 770 MB/s speeds are nonetheless greater than sufficient for the sorts of labor photographers and even many videographers are doing.
As a comparability (and for readability), the velocity efficiency when working immediately off of the SSD in an M1 Mac mini is considerably sooner:
Via some additional testing, I linked an previous WD Inexperienced drive to the HDD connection and was in a position to get about 150 MB/s efficiency out of it. Not superb, however nonetheless spectacular because it managed to breathe new life into an previous unused backup drive.
Via the course my testing, I used the miniStack STX SSD to retailer and edit about 40 GB price of pictures for a shopper and arrange the 5TB HDD as a Time Machine backup for each the 1TB inside Mac mini SSD, and the 2TB miniStack SSD drives.
Whereas the HDD was (expectedly) sluggish, the SSD was impressively quick through the Thunderbolt connection and I used to be in a position to edit my information together with some drone video clips with none concern.
Makes An Already Nice M1 Mac mini Even higher
Storage for Apple gadgets might be very costly. For instance, going from a 256GB SSD to a 1TB SSD on the M1 Mac mini provides $400 to the bottom value of the machine. For the reason that OWC miniStack STX sells for $299 by itself and most quick 1TB SSDS price simply round $100, the fee balances out with advantages. With the M1 Mac mini, no matter dimension drive you select is what you’re caught with till the pc dies. With the miniStack STX, you possibly can develop that storage out to 26TB which massively dwarfs the pc’s base storage choices all whereas additionally gaining the extra ports for expanded connectivity.
Contemplating how small the Mac mini already is, stacking mine on prime of the miniStack STX nonetheless let me simply match it beneath my laptop computer stand, set it, and neglect it.
Are There Options?
Whereas I used to be not capable of finding any gadgets precisely the identical in options because the miniStack STX, there are options options for customers in search of extra storage or extra port expansions for his or her Mac mini (and different gadgets). This consists of the usual OWC miniStack which affords as much as 18TB of storage and 208 MB/s efficiency beginning at $85 for the bottom enclosure. When you’re simply within the Thunderbolt dock side of the miniStack STX, as soon as once more OWC has you coated with the $179 Thunderbolt Hub that options 4 Thunderbolt ports and one USB-A port, or the $279 Thunderbolt Dock that features 11 ports (4 Thunderbolt, three USB-A, one USB-2, one 3.5mm audio, gigabit ethernet, and an SD card reader).
Ought to You Purchase It?
When you want expanded and upgradable space for storing that’s sooner than a normal exterior HDD that can also be daisy-chainable and neatly pairs with the Mac mini then, sure, the miniStack STX is completely price each penny.
