OWC miniStack STX

Add up to 28TB of storage to your Mac Mini

The Mac Mini is pretty powerful considering it's Apple's most affordable Mac, but it is limited in terms of its ports and storage upgrade options, topping out at 2TB, an upgrade options, topping out to the cost. OWC’s miniStack STX is an external drive and Thunderbolt expansion hub that's the same size as the Mini and designed to sit underneath it. It has one 2.5 / 3.5 inch SATA and one NVMe M.2 SSD slot inside and you can supply your own drives or choose from one of the many available pre-filled configurations. These go as high as a massive 28TB for $1,849.99.

Powering from the mains and connecting to your Mac Mini or indeed other USB-C-capable device like an iPad Pro via a dedicated Thunderbolt port, the three additional Thunderbolt ports let you connect up to five devices each in independent chains, supply up to 60W of power to a laptop and connect one 8K display at 30Hz or two 4K displays at up to 60Hz via Thunderbolt display or a USB-C display adapter. Thunderbolt 4 speeds and features are supported where your Mac allows, or lower but still impressive speeds where your hardware has Thunderbolt 3 or USB-C.

OWC’s claim of up to 770MB/sec of data transfer using the SSD drive proved to be accurate in tests, and it makes sense to store high-data-rate files like 8K video on the SSD drive while offloading less demanding data onto the more capacious HDD, which is still plenty fast enough for everyday operations. This is a solid and well-designed way to upgrade your Mac Mini, especially for content creators, with a good range of storage options as well as the ability to use your own drives.

OWC miniStack STX Features

• Total Capacity: up to 28TB
• Total Solution Cache Size: 256 MB
• Display Support:
  • Up to one 8K display @ 60Hz,
  • or one 5K display @ 60Hz,
  • or one 4K display @ 120Hz,
  • or two 4K displays @ 60Hz,
  • or one 4K display @ 60Hz,
  • or one 4K display @ 30Hz
• Display Support by Port: Thunderbolt 4: Up to 8K @ 60Hz or 4K @ 120Hz via a native Thunderbolt 4 display or other display that supports USB-C connections and DisplayPort 1.4
• Boot Support: Yes
• Hot Plug Support: Yes
• OS Compatibility:
  • macOS 10.14 Mojave
  • macOS 10.15 Catalina
  • macOS 11.x Big Sur
  • macOS 12.x Monterey
  • macOS 13.x Ventura
  • Windows 10 32-bit Edition
  • Windows 10 64-bit Edition
  • Windows 11
  • Chrome OS
  • Linux
  • iPadOS 13
  • iPadOS 14
  • iPadOS 15
  • iPadOS 16
  • Android 11.x
  • Android 12.x
  • Android 13.x
• Driver Required: No
• Host Port Requirements: Thunderbolt (USB-C) or USB (USB-C or USB-A1) port
• Power Supply: External UL-listed universal auto-switching power supply (Secondary/replacement power supplies are also available)
• DC Output: +20, 7.5
• External Power Adapter: Yes
• Power Delivery:
  • Thunderbolt 4 host port provides up to 60W of power to the host computer
  • Thunderbolt 4 device ports (for external drives and other devices) provide 15W of power
• Drive Bays:
  • 1 bay supporting: 3.5-inch SATA drives, 2.5-inch SATA drives
  • 1 bay supporting: M.2 drives
  • Supports NVMe M.2 SSDs with 2280 form factor and "M Key" connector type. Single- and double-sided SSDs are supported
• Device Ports:
  • (1) Host Port - Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) up to 40 Gb/s (5000 MB/s)
  • (4) Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) Ports
• Cooling: (1) Cooling fan
• Security Slot: Yes
• Power/Activity LED:
  • Yes
  • LED disk status light may not function with some drives, including 8.0TB OWC Aura Ultra IV MVMe M.2 SSD (OWCP4U8T1PT08)
• Dimensions: Height: 3.7 cm (1.5 in); Length: 19.7 cm (7.8 in); Width: 19.7 cm (7.8 in)
• Weight: 920.0 g (2.03 lbs)
• Ambient Temperature:
  • Operating: 50°F to 95°F (10°C to 35°C)
  • Non-Operating: -40°F to 149°F (-40°C to 65°C)
• Humidity:
  • Operating: 8% to 90% non-condensing
  • Non-Operating: 5% to 95% non-condensing

OWC miniStack STX Price

• 0TB DIY Enclosure - $279.99
• 1TB HDD - $324.99
• 2TB HDD - $344.99
• 4TB HDD - $399.99
• 6TB HDD - $449.99
• 8TB HDD - $479.99
• 14TB HDD - $599.99
• 16TB HDD - $619.99
• 18TB HDD - $669.99
• 20TB HDD - $729.99
• 1TB SSD - $349.99
• 2TB SSD - $419.99
• 4TB SSD - $679.99
• 8TB SSD - $1,429.99
• 2TB SSD + 8TB HDD - $629.99
• 4TB SSD + 16TB HDD - $1,019.99
• 8TB SSD + 20TB HDD - $1,849.99