New OWC miniStack adds storage options, Thunderbolt hub to Mac mini

OWC's miniStack STX is a plug-and-play hub and storage unit that adds additional storage and a Thunderbolt 4 hub to the Mac and iPad Pro.

The OWC miniStack STX is designed to seamlessly stack with an Mac mini, though it can be used with any Mac. It sports three Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a universal 2.5-inch drive bay plus a NVMe M.2 SSD slot to provide a range of storage capacity expansion options.

Users can leverage the three Thunderbolt 4 to create three independent chains with up to five Thunderbolt, USB, or display devices. OWC says users can also remove devices from one of the chains without affecting the others.

An aluminum chassis, internal heat sink, and a high-efficiency fan allow the OWC to run cool while also being nearly silent.

With up to 770MB/s of storage performance, OWC says that the miniStack STX is well-suited for heavy workflows like video editing, virtual machines, and photography. Users can edit, save, and access their multimedia content with near-zero latency, OWC says.

Although it works with any Mac, PC, iPad, or Chromebook device, the OWC miniStack is designed to be a companion to the Mac mini — particularly since newer Mac mini models no longer feature upgradeable internal drives.

The OWC miniStack STX is available for pre-order now, and it starts at $299.00 without additional storage.

16 Comments

tht 5594 comments · 23 Years

About 3 years ago

Was waiting for this!

Now, wonder if Apple will use the same Mac mini form factor for the M1 Pro or M1 Max, and this will perfectly stack with it.

sflocal 6133 comments · 16 Years

Finally someone is listening. I understand this is basically a Hub, not a dock but if there was a dock version of this with Ethernet, SD reader, etc.. then I would buy one.

johntdavis 5 comments · 7 Years

One thing that isn't clear to me from reading the press release info:

Does this device somehow overcome the one-USB-C-monitor-only limitation on the current M1 Mac mini? The material says "displays," but my understanding is that the M1 Mac mini will not accept more than one display over Thunderbolt/USB-C.

sflocal said:

Finally someone is listening. I understand this is basically a Hub, not a dock but if there was a dock version of this with Ethernet, SD reader, etc.. then I would buy one.

There are tens of these available. Here's a Satechi model:

Other models have 2.5" HDD options in something this size. It's only the OWC that has a 3.5"HDD. 6, 8, 10, 16 TB drive capacity. That's great. And you can stack two or three! I've had so many HDD failures lately.

tht said:

sflocal said:

Finally someone is listening. I understand this is basically a Hub, not a dock but if there was a dock version of this with Ethernet, SD reader, etc.. then I would buy one.

There are tens of these available. Here's a Satechi model:

Other models have 2.5" HDD options in something this size. It's only the OWC that has a 3.5"HDD. 6, 8, 10, 16 TB drive capacity. That's great. And you can stack two or three! I've had so many HDD failures lately.

The Satechi model is a bandaid approach common to many dock manufacturers. It's a USB dock, not a thunderbolt dock, limited to USB speeds, whereas a Thunderbolt dock would providing SSD speeds of 2.5GB/s.