I bought the ugreen enclosure off Amazon.Ca. The seller was ugreen store. I suspect the cable isn’t very good. I’m going to order a different cable and see if makes a difference. I’ll put my findings in the video description as an update.
@@Mr.BrownsBasement if you connect a USB-C device to a Mac, it will only ever run at 1GBps. I have a thunderbolt external with an NVMe in it - it runs at 3100 MBbps read and 2800 Write - If I put that same drive in a USB-C external enclosure, it runs at 1014 Mbps read and 998 Write - Mac is not compatible with modern USB-C standard - it's MAC OS
@@Mr.BrownsBasement The piece details the actual speeds achieved, suggesting the following conclusions. Key among them is that the fastest storage devices perform at about half their expected speeds; the limitation appears to be present in all M1 Macs; using a Thunderbolt 4 cable to connect a USB-C device to the front USB-C ports on a Mac Studio Max results in speeds below 10% of that expected; even the latest Mac Studio models don’t support USB 3.1 Gen 2. Currently, and as far as I’m aware since their release in November 2020, no Thunderbolt port in any M1 model appears to fully support 10 Gb/s SuperSpeed+ in USB 3.1 Gen 2, at least for SSDs. * The only ports in M1 Macs that currently appear to support USB 3.1 Gen 2 fully are those on the front of the Mac Studio Max. 10 Gb/s SuperSpeed+ in USB 3.2 devices does appear to be supported by the Thunderbolt ports of M1 Macs. For SATA/USB-C storage, the impact on performance is limited, reducing transfer speeds from an expected 500 MB/s to 400 MB/s. For external storage used to store Time Machine backups, this isn’t likely to have any significant effect, as backup I/O is throttled anyway. Greatest impact is likely with external storage capable of transfer speeds approaching 10 Gb/s, such as RAID arrays and NVMe SSDs with USB 3.1 Gen 2 rather than Thunderbolt 3. In those, expected transfer rates of 900 MB/s are likely to be reduced to less that 500 MB/s, doubling the time required to read or write files. Users with USB 3.1 Gen 2 devices should connect them to a Thunderbolt 3 Dock, or the USB ports on a Studio Display, where they should perform better. This shortcoming appears to have been present in all M1 Macs for nearly 18 months. If it’s a bug in the firmware of the Fabric core(s) responsible, it should have been fixed over a year ago. If it’s a fault in M1 series chips, then Apple should have informed users and qualified its claim for the compatibility of these ports. Apple needs to investigate why using a Thunderbolt 4 cable to connect a USB-C device to the front USB-C ports on a Mac Studio Max results in unusably poor performance, below 10% of the transfer rates expected. Lack of support for 10 Gb/s SuperSpeed+ in USB 3.1 Gen 2 is arguably the most serious failing in what has otherwise been a very successful transition.
@@stuarthepburn6508 I'm getting those 2800-3100 Mbps speeds with my TB3 enclosure - that's what I'm using for my data drive. The Raycue enclosure is for my time machine backups. If 1Gb.s (i.e., 1000 Mb/s) is the best that can be expected from USB3 on a Mac, then the Raycue is operating at near full speed. It hasn't been a hardship because I rarely need to restore files from backup.
I ordered the 40gbit version, hoping it can properly dissipate the heat of the ssd and won‘t make problems with disconnecting when the mac mini goes to sleep / can also properly send the ssd to sleep. Thanks for your video for a first closer glance!
I saw the 40gb/s version but I don't think it has any ports at all. I haven't had any problems with sleep/disconnection issues with mine, at least none so far. Let me know how you like yours.
Thank you for your comprehensive but concise review ~ It has helped me decide I don't want one of these docks. For my use the connection to an onboard SSD will not be fast nor robust enough if not Thunderbolt. Also, its choice of ports doesn't meet my needs. It's simply a matter of choosing Horses-for-Courses.
@@dhellis19498 The TB4 version of the dock has the SSD compartment, an audio I/O jack, and two USB 2.0 (yes, 2.0) type-A ports. I don't know if that's any better than the 10Gbps version. Nothing type C, nothing USB 3, and no card slot.
@@dhellis19498 The more expensive version has an SSD compartment that supports SSD speeds up to 40GBS but there is no mention of a Thunderbot 4 USB C port.
Mine was ordered December 7th from Amazon.ca I received tracking info on the 10th with "package has left shipper facility". It wasn't until the 21st that the "carrier received the package". I received the package 10 days later. If you haven't got anything by now, I'd reach out to whoever you ordered it from! You should have had yours before I got mine.
I bought mine off Amazon.ca. Others bought directly from Raycue’s website. Many people are dissatisfied with their experience buying directly from Raycue.
@@ILPN-k8k I would be annoyed & concerned. My experience: I ordered on December 7 from Amazon.ca; received product on December 31. But I did spend more than $71 USD for it though.
According to www.raycue.com/products/raycue-type-c-stand-hub-with-ssd-enclosure-for-all-new-mac-mini-m4-m4pro it's 8TB. I have a 4TB in mine for Time Machine and it works fine.
I ordered too small of an internal storage to my Mac mini. Old computer is 1 TB. Mac mini is 512. My only solution will be adding a 1 TB Ssd to this hub. Correct?
Yes, the internal storage on a Mac Mini is just too darned expensive! Let me explain what I did to manage this problem. I bought a 4TB SSD and put it in a 40GB/s thunderbolt enclosure. That 4TB drive is where my HOME folder is. There is a process for putting your HOME folder on an external drive and it's too long to describe here. But what it means is that my Mac Mini's internal SSD is only used for MacOS and for Applications. That's it. All files, including those you don't see (e.g.,. Photos data, Music, Movie and/Final Cut Pro data) reside on the external drive. With Thunderbolt, access is super (I do mean super!) fast. No delay, no hesitancy. It's great. Now to the dock: Access on it is not so fast. That's perfect for my 4TB Time Machine backup SSD. I don't care how fast it is because backup occurs in the background. And I rarely have to restore from backup. Speed doesn't matter that much. What would be perfect for me would be a dock that holds 2 SSD's and is Thunderbolt… but such a beast doesn't exist, at least not yet. But if something like that appeared on the market and didn't break the bank, I'd go for it! I hope this helps.
@@Mr.BrownsBasement Yes it does. I have read about putting your home folder on an external drive and that is a bit above my pay grade.LOL. Do you think the SSD Raycue offers is a good quality or would you suggest a better one?
@@georgemattei9665 There are only 3 products on the market right now: This Raycue, a version of the Raycue that has a 40 GB/S connection but has only 2 USB2 ports and an audio port, and the Colorii product that goes under a number of different brand names, which has issues with Wi-Fi. There is no product (of the 3) that I think is better _for_now_. There is no product I think I'd rather use _for_now_. I hope you're getting my subtle hint. I expect that other players are going to enter the market (e.g.,. Satechi, OWC, Orico, etc.) that will be better. But since I don't know when (or if) they will be released, I'm going to continue to use this RayCue _for_now_. Just one word of caution: A number of people have expressed concern in the comments because they've ordered directly from Raycue, and haven't even received a tracking number. Some have said that Raycue won't even answer their e-mails. Unacceptable. I ordered from Amazon.ca. I don't know if that would have been any better had there been a problem, but at least I know there's someone I could talk to. Again, I hope this helps.
Great review, Mr Brown. However, I've gone with Colorii Stand - not hub - and added my CalDigit hub and external SSD drives. Don't need more bulk or ports through a device that slows M4 down and isn't all that attractive IMO. I enjoy the minimalistic look with functionality and no desk clutter. Thank you and Happy New Year.
Thank you for the compliment. The Colorii stand (not hub) is a simple, sensible design. It's attractive and aids with airflow. I like your choice. Happy New Year, Mr. Brown's Basement.
I’m interested in how you got hold of the RAYCUE so quickly. I ordered mine on 1 December with the shipping date being 15th December. Then the shipping date was moved to 27th December. Then moved again to today (2nd January) but I have not received any notification that it has actually been shipped.
I haven’t received my hub yet but I have a solution for the power button. I'll post my solution once I've had a chance to try it out. I really don’t think the power button is an issue. Looking forward to getting to use it.
Thanks for the video! You're the first one I've seen review this Raycue hub, after it popped up all over social media recently for preorder. I was thinking they would do something to make the power button easier to access that just wasn't in their ad, but apparently not. Does the ventilation work as intended?
Thanks for the kind words. I’ve only been using it for a short time. So far, I haven’t been able to get the Mac mini to work hard enough to spin up the fan. I rendered this video in HD and it was done in under a minute. The Mac Mini got warm but not warm enough for the fan to exceed 1000 RPM. If I experience anything unexpected I’ll add an addendum in the video description, or if do a follow up video if it’s really serious. Or reach out to me in a week or two and I’ll let you know if anything’s changed. Cheers…
Still waiting for mine, ordered early December. Originally the website said they would start posting on 15th, then it changed to the 26th I think now I’ve had an email saying they have only sent out 500 so far and will be restarting to send out more on 2nd Jan. They do say they have upgraded them though. The cheaper one has been upgraded to “PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 with speeds of up to 7450MB/s” whatever that means as I thought the cheaper one was supposed to be 10 gigabits per second which is 1250 Megabytes so 7450 sounds a massive increase. They also said the more expensive 40Gb model will get a “free upgrade that adds 3 additional peripheral ports” although what type of ports wasn’t specified. Just have to wait and see I guess.
Made my comment before watching the whole video. If speed is important to you and you don’t want ports on the front why didn’t you get the 40Gb version? It’s only about 10% more and supposedly four times faster. Also it only has ports on the back, admittedly not many of them and not particularly fast ones but I guess that is the compromise needed if you want the bandwidth dedicated to the SSD.
To be honest, I haven’t been to their website in 2 weeks. This is a rapidly changing situation with new and revised products trying to fill a huge demand. I think 2025 will be an exciting year for the Mac mini m4 ecosystem. Fingers crossed!
@@Mr.BrownsBasement I ordered the 40gbit version, it has another 3.5mm audio output and two usb 2.0 ports with 48MB/s, so really slow, but I guess the majority of the bandwith goes to the nvme which can now use all of the thunderbolt 4 speed. I‘m wondering what this audio output will be, I don‘t really need one and because it doesn‘t say anything on the site I don‘t actually think it will output anything super high quality like 32bit 96khz or higher (which are the mac mini specs). Those ports are prolly just for usb peripherals like keyboard and mouse.
For the Power button situation I Turned my M4 Mac Mini Up Sid Down w/ No down side and upside is that Heat Rises so It acctuly cools better, Power switch is accessible and the Desk becomes a Giant Heat Sink if & when the M4 actually does Heat up.
That's an interesting solution and it certainly aids with heat dissipation. But you shouldn't have to. The button should be accessible. The heat should be pushed out quietly and efficiently. My Mac Mini runs slightly warm to the touch even when it's rendering video… not like my old Intel Mac which would often get 90°+ (C) even with the fan on full.
@@Mr.BrownsBasement I've always shut my ASUS & other PC's off when not in use. Why would you let a Mac run in sleep mode doing nothing? We had CAD stations back in the late 80 & 90's at work. They designed Compound Stamping Dies. Anyway they were left ruining 24/7/65. After about 10 years after a power outage one refused to restart Turns out the Bearings in thr HDD went bad but kept goig till it was tured of. WithSD's No Berains
Thanks for introducing the dock. I was pleased with the flawless functioning of the wifi. Hopefully I will receive my package soon. Can you please send me a link to the SSD you bought? Thank you.
When MrHTech did his Wi-Fi test, the dock he was using basically killed his Wi-Fi. He got no Wi-Fi signal at all while using the dock. I didn’t do a measured Wi-Fi test, though if I were to do it again, I probably would. I just checked if I could use Safari to load UA-cam video. I could. I had fast Wi-Fi before I connected the dock, and I have fast Wi-Fi now. Could there be a difference that I don’t notice? Of course! But if there is a difference it isn’t enough to concern me.
According to @MrHTech, the Colorii (also Hagibis and other brands) docks do interfere with WiFi. But the Raycue doesn't. I'm using it right now and having no problems with WiFi or Bluetooth to my keyboard.
I ordered this exact Mac minihub/enclosure with a 4 TB SSD on December 9 and I still haven’t received anything. I’ve contacted them several times they haven’t replied to any of my emails and they haven’t sent me any shipping notification with a tracking number. I spent $413 on this combo and I think I just got scammed. You’re lucky that you received your Mac mini hub.
I ordered mine on December 7th and got it on the 31st. Maybe I was unlucky; maybe you are unlucky. Impossible to say. But the vendor is refusing to communicate with you that's a red flag. I suggest you notify them in writing that if you don't receive a tracking number (by some reasonable date, like tomorrow), that you will be canceling the order. See what they say. If they say nothing, contact the payment processor (e.g., VISA or whatever you used) and start the process for canceling the purchase. Who did you order through? Amazon? Raycue?
Let me know what happens. Either you should get your dock (and an explanation or a valid tracking number showing it’s on the way) or your money back. Fair is fair.
I wish that was an option to have a TB3 or TB4 connection to the host and still have a wide variety of ports available. This currently isn’t an option but I hope that changes soon in 2025.
Charging? That's a really good question, so as I read your comment I grabbed a charging cable and plugged it into the 5GB/s port on the front. Yes, it's trickle charging my iPhone… slowly. In all fairness, my iPhone was charged overnight and is nearly fully full so I wouldn't expect a high-current charge. To gain full advantage, I would have to try plugging in a 5v/3a power supply into the rear port, but I don't have one.
Mine was ordered on December 7th and arrived on the 31st. If yours has been in transit longer than that you should reach out to the vendor to find out if there is a problem.
Thank you for your review, I was looking at this dock and the other one you mentioned . This one looked really good, it is compact enough to fit under my monitor riser. I agree, the ability to access the power button would be a nice feature to have .
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, some workaround for Apple's odd power button would have been nice, but better if it weren't necessary. Perhaps in 2025 Apple will introduce the "we listened to our customers" Mac Mini with "a revolutionary new design" putting the button where everyone can reach it? :)
If we are already making IT-related videos, it would be good to be aware of the concepts. There is a BIG difference between 1 megabit (1 Mb or Mbit) and 1 megabyte (1 MB). Eightfold ! 5:05 No! 6000-7000 megabytes, NOT megabits. 5:17 No! 970 megabytes/sec and 870 megabytes/sec ! And again....5:28 & 5:32
They keep lying about when they are going to ship the units. Ordered my Nov 22 and have not received any correspondence or tracking number, It would be nice if you actually receive the dock, but I have lost hope. Emails are never answered.
@@optiontrader1111 Depending on how you paid (e.g., by credit card or PayPAL) you may be able to secure a chargeback. This is a non-trivial amount of money!
@@Mr.BrownsBasement Amazon ships it from them. They don't stock them which is why yours took so long to get once allegedy shipped. What pisses me off is they are shipping to Amazon customers before those who ordered direct and their customer response is pretty close to ZERO.
I can never understand why they even produce such hubs or stands? For those "speeds" it is too expensive. It needs Thunderbolt. Everything else is nonsense. Thanks for trying it out.
You’re welcome. But I’m going to use this dock. The SSD inside the dock is a backup (Time Machine) drive. Backup occurs in the background so I don’t notice the speed. My data disk (with home folder) is in a separate TB3 enclosure. No hesitancy loading FCP files or scrolling across the timeline. I can use the added ports on the dock. Yes, I wish it was TB3 or better, that it had more ports, and that all but 2 of the ports were on the back. But it was $150, improves my cable management, and looks good. And I can use it.
Please do that! That is why you bought it in the first place. I Just wished someone would make (me) such a dock or stand with more throughput. Obviously there is a lot of people that don't want to spend the extra cash to warrant Thunderbolt-speeds....
I don’t have any inside information, but given the size of the market and the demand, I would expect competing products to enter the marketplace by later this year.
Hey thanks for the video. I had been looking at this but there are major flaws. 1. UHS-1. It’s 2024 and not to include that? Silly. 2. USB-C from computer to dock is 10Gbps. Connecting a nvme, external SSD, monitor plus utilize the UHS-1 slot kills its usability imho. Both of those kill the deal. They have a 40Gbps one but then it’s only like 3 or 4 ports additional with no sd card reader. Just a heads up the nvme is rated in megaBYTES not bits. Also not to be “that guy” but those nails need a clippin. They just released this too fast without truly thinking about the electrical engineering in it. 10gbps connection to the Mac mini is just backwards with all of those ports. It’s half engineered.
Thanks! I can understand how some of the omissions could be a deal breaker. Hopefully, more products will enter the marketplace early in 2025 and create some real competition and choice. Right now for Mac Mini M4 docks, there isn't much.
@@Cary_mac Being first means being almost the only choice. There is also the product made by Colorii. It's nicer design as long as you don't want to use WiFi…(deal breaker for me)
You were lucky to get your unit in only 2 weeks. I ordered mine Nov 20 and have not received it yet as of 1/1/2025. My last communication with RayCue promised they would ship my unit by 12/27/2024. I still have not gotten a confirmation that it has shipped. I too would prefer Thunderbolt for the M.2 slot. They have brought out a Thunderbolt version, but my plan now is to use the RayCue hub M.2 slot for a 1TB drive I am using for Time Machine and use a Zike external Thunderbolt enclosure for a 2TB M.2 drive for external storage. Like most people I cheaped out on the internal storage, but I did not want to continue to feed the Apple beast by paying them $200 for each 256gb increment of storage. I was happy to see your video. I was beginning to worry that I was scammed. Until I see the unit though, I will not be convinced that I didn’t pay $100 for vaporware. Good video, although I think you could have re-recorded the voice-over when you discovered the errors that you corrected with on-screen text. I give you a thumbs up and subscribe. Good luck in your UA-cam journey.
Thank you for taking the time to comment. I hope your unit arrives soon. And it's definitely not vapourware! I found there was a was a long lag (several days) between a shipping milestone and it showing up in the tracking. I must admit I also cheated out (at least partially) on the memory, choosing to spend more money on the Unified memory than on the Apple tax. I'm using a "Acasis" TB3 enclosure for my data (and home folder) and the SSD in the Raycue enclosure for my Time Machine backup. I'm happy with the arrangement except for one detail: Putting the home folder on an external drive can mess up Spotlight. It has for me. Thank you also for the subscription.
Design flaw? Who in their right mind would want to use the magic mouse plugged in?! LOL! (And yes I have one, I used it 8 hours every single day, and it only needs to be charged 4x a year. Why ruin a perfect design?) As for the power button, I have a 2015 27" iMac. The power button is on the back. I've only used it 4 times in 10 years (due to power outages). No need to ever use the power button.
I won't ask you why you don't use your power button on your M4 Mac Mini; it's none of my business. But imagine (…for a moment…) that you did, then you'd probably think it was a pain in the butt. In terms of the Magic Mouse (or Magic Mouse 2), I don't think I'd call it a "perfect design". I used one with my iMac. I think the design of the Mighty Mouse is better (but still not "perfect"). I still use a Mighty Mouse.
The power button on the bottom wasn't a design flaw, it was deliberately put there to prevent this kind of product to work flawlessly. Otherwise why spending a fortune for built in storage?
I am sure everyone is aware of the mad rush for someone to produce a REAL Docking station that works ! Many other videos on other products fail to state wether its plastic or aluminum ... you did! I assume the SSD card , did not come with the dock? Thanks to this review... i'll pass on the Raycue .. the search continues.....
When you buy at Raycue you can choose to have SSD's with different sizes included for a higher price of course. It doesn't mention which brand and type they'll deliver, so I prefer to buy my own.
I’m sure better products will come to market. The demand is there. The SSD was bought separately. I had no way of knowing whose SSD they would supply (…probably the cheapest …) and I my data is too valuable to me to take unnecessary risks with it.
You’re right, the speed isn’t great. I’m going to order a better cable and see if that makes a difference. If it does, I’ll add an update to the video description.
@@Mr.BrownsBasement There is a poorly advertised 40Gbps version too instead of this 10Gbps one..... on finding this out I emailed and asked for that instead and paid the difference. They started shipping today.
I agree! As I am in my "late 70's" I have been dealing with mainframe computers back in the late 60's and since ~late 1977 with the Radio Shack TRS-80 model 1 and beyond and have NEVER turned off a computer other than to service it and even sometimes then I left it on. :-) Mostly homebrew Windows machines. This Mac Mini 4 Pro is my first real entry into the Mac world other than a Hackintosh about 8 years ago. As for the Mini what's the big deal with the switch? Just use the menu shutdown or yank the plug!
In my opinionit is a design flaw to put the hook-up for a just USB-C Device in the back so you have to sacrifice a valuable TB-Port. For a dock with designed especially for the M4 Mac Mini to be attached at the TB-ports in the back it has to be a TB 3 or 4 device. To be honest the people don't needing the speed usually don't need a dock anyway. a TB 3 or 4 enclosure is around 20 bucks more expensive (taken the same build quality into account) as an USB-enclosure. So in my eyes having a pricepoint slightly higher but providing TB would be the dealbreaker for me.
I see now they have a TB 4 version with limited ports vs this version. $100. Single drive TB 3/4 cases in the USA are $60, so $40 for the hub. ZFP is nice tho.
@@JamesBond-fo6ow But what 6 ports are missing? then its limited barely to an external SSD enclosure in Mac mini style. So what is remaining Card readers Audio Jack, video connector external USB,.., ? Wait i'm allready above the 4 remaining functions. Ah if you put it into the cart you can get a presentation, all the frontside connections are gone no Card readers, back one Audio, 2 USB-A 2.0 and the USB-C Uplink. Sorry thats not what i'm looking for. The base design 10 functions with TB4 thats what woulbe the searched solution.
It absolutely needs a faster connection. I have a TB3 enclosure for an SSD - no hub included. Alone, it was more money than the Raycue. It’s also much faster. I wouldn’t be surprised if a TB3 (or better) version comes out. I would also expect it to be 2 to 3 times more expensive … but we’ll see.
@@tomsun3159 I'm hoping to keep my Mac Mini M4 for a while. But if I see a better docking solution, especially with TB4 that doesn't break the bank, I wouldn't hesitate to replace the Raycue dock.
Hey Mr Brown, my name is Johnny and I'm a freelance logo designer, would you love to have a logo redesign to have a basement look in your logo to make it more match and fun to be used as merch print to sell to your fans too? Let me know if you interested and I would love to design it for you! :-)
I have been trying to develop a design language for my videos. I often use American Typewriter (bold) in Brown, with warm whites, pale oranges for card backgrounds. Depending on what's on the screen I will change the colour if there's not enough contrast, often to black or white. Early in the editing of this video I used orange (for contrast) but I thought I took it all out.
My guess is that it was rushed.The Mac Mini was released on October 29. I saw the Raycue dock about a month later online but not available for purchase yet. That's not a lot of time to develop a product and start manufacturing at scale. I would expect better products to come out in 2025.
A month? If I were you I'd reach out to the place you ordered it from. I ordered mine on Dec.7th. It left the shipper facility on the 10th. Carrier received package on 21st. I received the package 10 days later.
@ I ordered directly from them on Nov. 24. . Got an email from them last week saying the first 500 orders had shipped and the reaining orders would be shipped today Jan 2.
Good design but horrible performance…. 4k only 60hz? Also we have way better SSD performance available externally. For $65 I got a thunderbolt 4 aluminum enclosure and get 3500mbs read write easy. Also yes like you mentioned power button should be addressed. I guess it’s a good basic dock for the price but people want no botttlenecks
The Mac mini supports up to three monitors, each 4K at 60 Hz. It’s my understanding that if you have only two monitors, the scan rate can be higher. I don’t know whether the HDMI port on the Raycue dock supports higher than 60 Hz at 4K. The issue is moot for me. I don’t have a 4K monitor and unless it was absolutely huge, I wouldn’t be able to read it.
It's a 'mao'del, in honor of chaiman mao of course. Or it could be a reference to a cat, which is 'mao' with a first tone. Or maybe it's mao with a falling tone, which would be hat. Hard to know, chinese is likea a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma..
Ideally, faster is better. But since I'm using the Raycue enclosure for my Time Machine backup it hasn't been a hardship. That said, I rarely need to restore files from my backup drive. Perhaps a Thunderbolt 3 (or better) enclosure will come out this year. Speed was one of my beefs with this drive (#2 of 3).
@@Mr.BrownsBasement Ya I purchaced a Thunderbolt 4 Enclosure w/ a Samsung 990 EVO SSD. Debating moving my home Folder to it or not. I see many Pros and Cons. For backups on my Windows PC I just Clone the SSD.
@@HoundDogMech I have moved my Home folder to my external drive (in a TB3 enclosure). The only problem I have -- and I wish Apple would fix it -- is that it has killed my Spotlight. My drives index but Spotlight still doesn't work. Doesn't help even if I force a re-index. 🤷
The poor design of the Mac mini has forced everyone to use these ridiculous storage expanders for years. Apple could easily add an ssd expansion slot on the bottom of the Mac mini. The Mac mini is on par with the stupid Apple mouse charging cord.
Orange text on gray and yellow backgrounds is poor for readability. If you use fonts with such color then the characters should be outlined in white or black.
I't is fine for M1 mini's, but in the age of M4 mini's it is too slow. Most professional cards are "CFexpress 2.0 type B and SD UHD and above", so the card readers are limited.
The whole dock is limited. Hopefully, products with better features and that are competitively priced will come out early in 2025. Right now, there are really only two products.
My data drive which has my home folder is on a different SSD in a TB3 enclosure. The SSD inside the Raycue dock is my time machine backup. I don’t see the slow performance because I rarely need to restore anything from my back up drive.
Here's my take on the power button and magic mouse design flaws. Authentic and expensive Persian rugs always have a small flaw somewhere on the rug. It's put there by the maker because, according to rug making lore, only Allah is perfect. In the case of Apple, only Jobs is perfect.😂
I wish it were TB4. But it wouldn't have been $150 CAD. I'm hoping that more products will be released this year to compete in this space, with competitive prices and better features.
@@dalivanwyngarden3204 I got the base m4 on day1 and then I got the owc tb4 enclosure with 2TB, my user home folder is on this now and doing TM to have a local backup of the 1.5tb iCloud data. If I didn’t buy the owc I would love to get this th4 but I just hate to wait.
Ummm, capital B I’m the testing app means megabytes, not megabits? 998 MB per second represents full 10 megabit USB 3.2 Gen 2 performance. This is pretty basic stuff.
The on/off switch is a complete non-issue. So sick of hearing this crap. Its not a windows machine you have to turn on and off every few days because it froze up. I can count on one hand with fingers left the number of times I've had to use the power button on my Mac minis since 2013
One of the hallmarks of good design is making something that is easy to use (user friendliness) with accessibility and intuitive interactions. I'm not going to ask you why you don't use your power button; it's none of my business. But I do use it. And I don't like it.
I didn't disable the dislike button. Really. I typically set my videos "not made for kids", "allow remixing", "comments ON" with "strict moderation". If you don't like my videos, you should be able to dislike them.
Junk product. People need to realize most of these docs that are coming out are not great in terms of the specs. Most of these are Chinese companies rushing to be the first to have a doc that matches the same size as the new Mac mini. You’re overpaying at this point buying this garbage. Wait a month or two and you’ll get better products. The write speeds of all these ports are horrible. At this point, none of them include thunderbolt ports. Just because the port is listed at 10 GB doesn’t mean it transfers at that speed, this model has cheap controllers. The reason these docs don’t have thunderbolt is the chip Is expensive to include… any doc that has this in the future will be at least two to $300 dollars
You're right, this dock isn't great. But I paid about $150 CAD for it. I don't think that's outrageous and I don't think it's garbage. It works, it reduces the clutter on my desk and looks okay. I'm happy with it. When a new dock comes out in TB3 or TB4, if the price isn't excessive, I'll buy it. This Raycue dock will be sold. Nothing wasted. This dock is better than what I had before: Nothing.
This is whack usb-c is slow you need a Thunderbolt 4 for the top speeds mac mini m4 uses a thunderbolt 4 connection to be fast!! smh waste of money SMH
I have a TB3 enclosure for my data drive. I’m using the Raycue enclosure for my Time Machine backup drive. Yes, it’s slow. But as far as I can tell, it’s the best dock for the Mac mini so far. I’m expecting better (and much more expensive) products this year. We’ll have to wait & see. But the Raycue will have to do until then. I’m going to replace the cable to see if that makes a difference.
In terms of enclosures for the Mac mini M4, there are only two on the market that I’m aware of. One of the two is available under about half a dozen different names, but it’s the same enclosure. Hopefully the situation will change soon
What kind of UGreen enclosure are you using? For that nq790 and the BM you ran, why is it only a gig read/write?
I bought the ugreen enclosure off Amazon.Ca. The seller was ugreen store. I suspect the cable isn’t very good. I’m going to order a different cable and see if makes a difference. I’ll put my findings in the video description as an update.
@@Mr.BrownsBasement if you connect a USB-C device to a Mac, it will only ever run at 1GBps. I have a thunderbolt external with an NVMe in it - it runs at 3100 MBbps read and 2800 Write - If I put that same drive in a USB-C external enclosure, it runs at 1014 Mbps read and 998 Write - Mac is not compatible with modern USB-C standard - it's MAC OS
@@Mr.BrownsBasement The piece details the actual speeds achieved, suggesting the following conclusions. Key among them is that the fastest storage devices perform at about half their expected speeds; the limitation appears to be present in all M1 Macs; using a Thunderbolt 4 cable to connect a USB-C device to the front USB-C ports on a Mac Studio Max results in speeds below 10% of that expected; even the latest Mac Studio models don’t support USB 3.1 Gen 2.
Currently, and as far as I’m aware since their release in November 2020, no Thunderbolt port in any M1 model appears to fully support 10 Gb/s SuperSpeed+ in USB 3.1 Gen 2, at least for SSDs. * The only ports in M1 Macs that currently appear to support USB 3.1 Gen 2 fully are those on the front of the Mac Studio Max.
10 Gb/s SuperSpeed+ in USB 3.2 devices does appear to be supported by the Thunderbolt ports of M1 Macs.
For SATA/USB-C storage, the impact on performance is limited, reducing transfer speeds from an expected 500 MB/s to 400 MB/s. For external storage used to store Time Machine backups, this isn’t likely to have any significant effect, as backup I/O is throttled anyway.
Greatest impact is likely with external storage capable of transfer speeds approaching 10 Gb/s, such as RAID arrays and NVMe SSDs with USB 3.1 Gen 2 rather than Thunderbolt 3. In those, expected transfer rates of 900 MB/s are likely to be reduced to less that 500 MB/s, doubling the time required to read or write files.
Users with USB 3.1 Gen 2 devices should connect them to a Thunderbolt 3 Dock, or the USB ports on a Studio Display, where they should perform better.
This shortcoming appears to have been present in all M1 Macs for nearly 18 months. If it’s a bug in the firmware of the Fabric core(s) responsible, it should have been fixed over a year ago. If it’s a fault in M1 series chips, then Apple should have informed users and qualified its claim for the compatibility of these ports.
Apple needs to investigate why using a Thunderbolt 4 cable to connect a USB-C device to the front USB-C ports on a Mac Studio Max results in unusably poor performance, below 10% of the transfer rates expected.
Lack of support for 10 Gb/s SuperSpeed+ in USB 3.1 Gen 2 is arguably the most serious failing in what has otherwise been a very successful transition.
@@stuarthepburn6508 I'm getting those 2800-3100 Mbps speeds with my TB3 enclosure - that's what I'm using for my data drive. The Raycue enclosure is for my time machine backups. If 1Gb.s (i.e., 1000 Mb/s) is the best that can be expected from USB3 on a Mac, then the Raycue is operating at near full speed. It hasn't been a hardship because I rarely need to restore files from backup.
@@stuarthepburn6508 You're right. Apple should. But will Apple? I'm not holding my breath. Apple does what Apple wants.
Glad to see your video, as I am waiting for the one I ordered. I was getting worried. lol
I hope you receive it soon. While it's not perfect, it's looks great and it works.
I ordered the 40gbit version, hoping it can properly dissipate the heat of the ssd and won‘t make problems with disconnecting when the mac mini goes to sleep / can also properly send the ssd to sleep. Thanks for your video for a first closer glance!
I saw the 40gb/s version but I don't think it has any ports at all. I haven't had any problems with sleep/disconnection issues with mine, at least none so far. Let me know how you like yours.
Thank you for the review. IT looks more than good enough for me. Anxiously awaiting mine which I ordered mid-december.
You’re welcome. The product is not perfect, but it will do for me until a better product is brought to market. I hope yours arrives soon!
Thank you for your comprehensive but concise review ~ It has helped me decide I don't want one of these docks. For my use the connection to an onboard SSD will not be fast nor robust enough if not Thunderbolt. Also, its choice of ports doesn't meet my needs. It's simply a matter of choosing Horses-for-Courses.
Glad I could help. Mr. Brown’s Basement
Thank you for a clear and concise review in plain english. Still undecided on the Mac M4 Mini.
Thank you for your comment. It is appreciated.
waiting for a dock like this with Thunderbolt
That would be far superior, but I fear far more expensive as well. We’ll have to wait & see…
Apparently Raycue has 2 docks, on is only 10 Mbos, the other is Thunderbolt 4 (40Mbps) and the cost on their website is
$110.00
@@dhellis19498 The TB4 version of the dock has the SSD compartment, an audio I/O jack, and two USB 2.0 (yes, 2.0) type-A ports. I don't know if that's any better than the 10Gbps version. Nothing type C, nothing USB 3, and no card slot.
@@dhellis19498 The more expensive version has an SSD compartment that supports SSD speeds up to 40GBS but there is no mention of a Thunderbot 4 USB C port.
I bought mine on December 1 and I still haven't gotten my item tracking email notification 😓
Mine was ordered December 7th from Amazon.ca I received tracking info on the 10th with "package has left shipper facility". It wasn't until the 21st that the "carrier received the package". I received the package 10 days later. If you haven't got anything by now, I'd reach out to whoever you ordered it from! You should have had yours before I got mine.
@Mr.BrownsBasement thx i ordered directly @raycue
No correspondence or tracking, ordered my Nov 22, to date nothing.
@@optiontrader1111 wow even worse than me
Nice Video :D Cant wait to see more hubs come out for the Mac Mini
Thank you. I would love to see something TB3 or better, dual SSD, more ports. We’ll have to wait and see…
Hol lehet megvásárolni? Wo kaufen? Where to bulit?
I bought mine off Amazon.ca. Others bought directly from Raycue’s website. Many people are dissatisfied with their experience buying directly from Raycue.
@@Mr.BrownsBasement Waiting 7 weeks now from RayCue direct but got it for $71 (US). Getting a bit annoyed.
@@ILPN-k8k I would be annoyed & concerned. My experience: I ordered on December 7 from Amazon.ca; received product on December 31. But I did spend more than $71 USD for it though.
What is the max size SSD that works with this Dock and the M4 Mac Mini?????
8Tb
According to www.raycue.com/products/raycue-type-c-stand-hub-with-ssd-enclosure-for-all-new-mac-mini-m4-m4pro it's 8TB. I have a 4TB in mine for Time Machine and it works fine.
I ordered too small of an internal storage to my Mac mini. Old computer is 1 TB. Mac mini is 512. My only solution will be adding a 1 TB Ssd to this hub. Correct?
Yes, the internal storage on a Mac Mini is just too darned expensive! Let me explain what I did to manage this problem. I bought a 4TB SSD and put it in a 40GB/s thunderbolt enclosure. That 4TB drive is where my HOME folder is. There is a process for putting your HOME folder on an external drive and it's too long to describe here. But what it means is that my Mac Mini's internal SSD is only used for MacOS and for Applications. That's it. All files, including those you don't see (e.g.,. Photos data, Music, Movie and/Final Cut Pro data) reside on the external drive. With Thunderbolt, access is super (I do mean super!) fast. No delay, no hesitancy. It's great. Now to the dock: Access on it is not so fast. That's perfect for my 4TB Time Machine backup SSD. I don't care how fast it is because backup occurs in the background. And I rarely have to restore from backup. Speed doesn't matter that much. What would be perfect for me would be a dock that holds 2 SSD's and is Thunderbolt… but such a beast doesn't exist, at least not yet. But if something like that appeared on the market and didn't break the bank, I'd go for it! I hope this helps.
@@Mr.BrownsBasement Yes it does. I have read about putting your home folder on an external drive and that is a bit above my pay grade.LOL. Do you think the SSD Raycue offers is a good quality or would you suggest a better one?
@@georgemattei9665 There are only 3 products on the market right now: This Raycue, a version of the Raycue that has a 40 GB/S connection but has only 2 USB2 ports and an audio port, and the Colorii product that goes under a number of different brand names, which has issues with Wi-Fi. There is no product (of the 3) that I think is better _for_now_. There is no product I think I'd rather use _for_now_. I hope you're getting my subtle hint. I expect that other players are going to enter the market (e.g.,. Satechi, OWC, Orico, etc.) that will be better. But since I don't know when (or if) they will be released, I'm going to continue to use this RayCue _for_now_. Just one word of caution: A number of people have expressed concern in the comments because they've ordered directly from Raycue, and haven't even received a tracking number. Some have said that Raycue won't even answer their e-mails. Unacceptable. I ordered from Amazon.ca. I don't know if that would have been any better had there been a problem, but at least I know there's someone I could talk to. Again, I hope this helps.
Great review, Mr Brown. However, I've gone with Colorii Stand - not hub - and added my CalDigit hub and external SSD drives. Don't need more bulk or ports through a device that slows M4 down and isn't all that attractive IMO. I enjoy the minimalistic look with functionality and no desk clutter. Thank you and Happy New Year.
Thank you for the compliment. The Colorii stand (not hub) is a simple, sensible design. It's attractive and aids with airflow. I like your choice. Happy New Year, Mr. Brown's Basement.
Have you experienced any issues with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signal interference while using this docking station?
No. My WiFi connection is fine. No disconnections with my Bluetooth (Apple wireless) keyboard.
@@Mr.BrownsBasement Maybe they already did some changes. The first reviews always showed WiFi problems.
I’m pleased to report that there are no problems.
Did it block the wifi signal ?
the answer is in the video
There were no problems with the Wfi signal.
I’m interested in how you got hold of the RAYCUE so quickly. I ordered mine on 1 December with the shipping date being 15th December. Then the shipping date was moved to 27th December. Then moved again to today (2nd January) but I have not received any notification that it has actually been shipped.
I would attribute it to luck!! or maybe my infectious personality?
I haven’t received my hub yet but I have a solution for the power button. I'll post my solution once I've had a chance to try it out. I really don’t think the power button is an issue. Looking forward to getting to use it.
Curious to see your solution. Please do post here.
Thanks for your review! I preordered mine in November but it still hasn't shipped, lol.
If I were you, I would reach out to them. I would ask them when it was going to ship, and if it was not satisfactory, I would ask to cancel the order.
Thanks for the video! You're the first one I've seen review this Raycue hub, after it popped up all over social media recently for preorder. I was thinking they would do something to make the power button easier to access that just wasn't in their ad, but apparently not. Does the ventilation work as intended?
Thanks for the kind words. I’ve only been using it for a short time. So far, I haven’t been able to get the Mac mini to work hard enough to spin up the fan. I rendered this video in HD and it was done in under a minute. The Mac Mini got warm but not warm enough for the fan to exceed 1000 RPM. If I experience anything unexpected I’ll add an addendum in the video description, or if do a follow up video if it’s really serious. Or reach out to me in a week or two and I’ll let you know if anything’s changed. Cheers…
@@Mr.BrownsBasement Appreciate the reply! Thank you!
@@johnnylektric 😊
Still waiting for mine, ordered early December. Originally the website said they would start posting on 15th, then it changed to the 26th I think now I’ve had an email saying they have only sent out 500 so far and will be restarting to send out more on 2nd Jan. They do say they have upgraded them though. The cheaper one has been upgraded to “PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 with speeds of up to 7450MB/s” whatever that means as I thought the cheaper one was supposed to be 10 gigabits per second which is 1250 Megabytes so 7450 sounds a massive increase. They also said the more expensive 40Gb model will get a “free upgrade that adds 3 additional peripheral ports” although what type of ports wasn’t specified. Just have to wait and see I guess.
Made my comment before watching the whole video. If speed is important to you and you don’t want ports on the front why didn’t you get the 40Gb version? It’s only about 10% more and supposedly four times faster. Also it only has ports on the back, admittedly not many of them and not particularly fast ones but I guess that is the compromise needed if you want the bandwidth dedicated to the SSD.
Unless I’m mistaken the other version supports 40gb/s but has zero ports.
@@Mr.BrownsBasement Their website said they will add ports onto the 40gb. I imagine you've been there and know already.
To be honest, I haven’t been to their website in 2 weeks. This is a rapidly changing situation with new and revised products trying to fill a huge demand. I think 2025 will be an exciting year for the Mac mini m4 ecosystem. Fingers crossed!
@@Mr.BrownsBasement I ordered the 40gbit version, it has another 3.5mm audio output and two usb 2.0 ports with 48MB/s, so really slow, but I guess the majority of the bandwith goes to the nvme which can now use all of the thunderbolt 4 speed. I‘m wondering what this audio output will be, I don‘t really need one and because it doesn‘t say anything on the site I don‘t actually think it will output anything super high quality like 32bit 96khz or higher (which are the mac mini specs). Those ports are prolly just for usb peripherals like keyboard and mouse.
For the Power button situation I Turned my M4 Mac Mini Up Sid Down w/ No down side and upside is that Heat Rises so It acctuly cools better, Power switch is accessible and the Desk becomes a Giant Heat Sink if & when the M4 actually does Heat up.
That's an interesting solution and it certainly aids with heat dissipation. But you shouldn't have to. The button should be accessible. The heat should be pushed out quietly and efficiently. My Mac Mini runs slightly warm to the touch even when it's rendering video… not like my old Intel Mac which would often get 90°+ (C) even with the fan on full.
@@Mr.BrownsBasement I've always shut my ASUS & other PC's off when not in use. Why would you let a Mac run in sleep mode doing nothing? We had CAD stations back in the late 80 & 90's at work. They designed Compound Stamping Dies. Anyway they were left ruining 24/7/65. After about 10 years after a power outage one refused to restart Turns out the Bearings in thr HDD went bad but kept goig till it was tured of. WithSD's No Berains
@@HoundDogMech You don't use your off button, so you're saying I shouldn't. I want to. Each to their own.
Thanks for introducing the dock. I was pleased with the flawless functioning of the wifi. Hopefully I will receive my package soon. Can you please send me a link to the SSD you bought? Thank you.
The SSD came from amazon.ca
www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B0C91RNCDV?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
hiw is your wifi doing? is wifi antenna on the bottom of the Mac and you just covered it with am additional layer of aluminium?
It's in the video if you bother to watch it.
My WiFi was fine. Had it not been, I would have sent the Raycue back. It’s in the video.
@@Mr.BrownsBasementdid you do a wifi speed test ? Mr h tech just did one and even having an ssd beside the Mac was causing wifi speed to drop by half.
When MrHTech did his Wi-Fi test, the dock he was using basically killed his Wi-Fi. He got no Wi-Fi signal at all while using the dock. I didn’t do a measured Wi-Fi test, though if I were to do it again, I probably would. I just checked if I could use Safari to load UA-cam video. I could. I had fast Wi-Fi before I connected the dock, and I have fast Wi-Fi now. Could there be a difference that I don’t notice? Of course! But if there is a difference it isn’t enough to concern me.
Aren't these types of docks blocking the antennas?
According to @MrHTech, the Colorii (also Hagibis and other brands) docks do interfere with WiFi. But the Raycue doesn't. I'm using it right now and having no problems with WiFi or Bluetooth to my keyboard.
I just use a usb c hub. Why would I want to increase the size of the max mini when it’s a selling point?
Convenience!
@@Mr.BrownsBasement unfortunately it’s not convenient to me, but could be to other people.
True.
Agreed, all ports in the back..!!!
100% !
totally agree! Ports in the back!
Thank you. You're the first person to explicitly agree.
I ordered this exact Mac minihub/enclosure with a 4 TB SSD on December 9 and I still haven’t received anything. I’ve contacted them several times they haven’t replied to any of my emails and they haven’t sent me any shipping notification with a tracking number. I spent $413 on this combo and I think I just got scammed. You’re lucky that you received your Mac mini hub.
I ordered mine on December 7th and got it on the 31st. Maybe I was unlucky; maybe you are unlucky. Impossible to say. But the vendor is refusing to communicate with you that's a red flag. I suggest you notify them in writing that if you don't receive a tracking number (by some reasonable date, like tomorrow), that you will be canceling the order. See what they say. If they say nothing, contact the payment processor (e.g., VISA or whatever you used) and start the process for canceling the purchase. Who did you order through? Amazon? Raycue?
@@Mr.BrownsBasement Thank you for your reply and your advice. I ordered through Raycue directly.
Let me know what happens. Either you should get your dock (and an explanation or a valid tracking number showing it’s on the way) or your money back. Fair is fair.
@@Mr.BrownsBasement will do.
Best of luck.
They need to make the connection between the dock and Mac Mini thunderbolt. That way you utilize the full potential of the SSD Drive.
I wish that was an option to have a TB3 or TB4 connection to the host and still have a wide variety of ports available. This currently isn’t an option but I hope that changes soon in 2025.
tip, put you dock on the side, then you can reach the card reader from the front , while not seeing it.
Why do I want to do that? It looks (and works) great just the way it is.
Looks good. Looking forward to a updated review after you've used it a while.
Thank you for the suggestion. But so far it's being boringly reliable. (I'm not complaining!)
All good news. Especially about WiFi. How about charging devices with the hub ports? Other hubs can’t. Can this one?
Charging? That's a really good question, so as I read your comment I grabbed a charging cable and plugged it into the 5GB/s port on the front. Yes, it's trickle charging my iPhone… slowly. In all fairness, my iPhone was charged overnight and is nearly fully full so I wouldn't expect a high-current charge. To gain full advantage, I would have to try plugging in a 5v/3a power supply into the rear port, but I don't have one.
From your thumbnail pic, I thought it was a space grey enclosure for the normal silver imac! Dang wish that was true! LOL.
Sorry to disappoint. Cheers, Mr. Brown's Basement.
Still waiting for mine
Mine was ordered on December 7th and arrived on the 31st. If yours has been in transit longer than that you should reach out to the vendor to find out if there is a problem.
I read Raycue is coming out with the Thunderbolt version of the dock end 2024. (It's been moved back to Jan 15th 2025. )
I really hope you’re right. If they brought out a TB4 version of this and kept the price in the same ballpark they would sell like hotcakes!
Thank you for your review, I was looking at this dock and the other one you mentioned . This one looked really good, it is compact enough to fit under my monitor riser. I agree, the ability to access the power button would be a nice feature to have .
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, some workaround for Apple's odd power button would have been nice, but better if it weren't necessary. Perhaps in 2025 Apple will introduce the "we listened to our customers" Mac Mini with "a revolutionary new design" putting the button where everyone can reach it? :)
If we are already making IT-related videos, it would be good to be aware of the concepts.
There is a BIG difference between 1 megabit (1 Mb or Mbit) and 1 megabyte (1 MB). Eightfold !
5:05
No!
6000-7000 megabytes, NOT megabits.
5:17
No!
970 megabytes/sec and 870 megabytes/sec !
And again....5:28 & 5:32
Errors happen. Thanks for the detailed answer.
They keep lying about when they are going to ship the units. Ordered my Nov 22 and have not received any correspondence or tracking number, It would be nice if you actually receive the dock, but I have lost hope. Emails are never answered.
You too!!!!!
That’s unacceptable. Be persistent until you get a shipping date or ask for a refund. Then buy through Amazon so you can hold someone accountable.
@@Mr.BrownsBasement They don't respond to emails or the chat, so have no clue if I will ever get it
@@optiontrader1111 Depending on how you paid (e.g., by credit card or PayPAL) you may be able to secure a chargeback. This is a non-trivial amount of money!
@@Mr.BrownsBasement Amazon ships it from them. They don't stock them which is why yours took so long to get once allegedy shipped. What pisses me off is they are shipping to Amazon customers before those who ordered direct and their customer response is pretty close to ZERO.
I can never understand why they even produce such hubs or stands? For those "speeds" it is too expensive. It needs Thunderbolt. Everything else is nonsense. Thanks for trying it out.
You’re welcome. But I’m going to use this dock. The SSD inside the dock is a backup (Time Machine) drive. Backup occurs in the background so I don’t notice the speed. My data disk (with home folder) is in a separate TB3 enclosure. No hesitancy loading FCP files or scrolling across the timeline. I can use the added ports on the dock. Yes, I wish it was TB3 or better, that it had more ports, and that all but 2 of the ports were on the back. But it was $150, improves my cable management, and looks good. And I can use it.
Please do that! That is why you bought it in the first place. I Just wished someone would make (me) such a dock or stand with more throughput. Obviously there is a lot of people that don't want to spend the extra cash to warrant Thunderbolt-speeds....
I don’t have any inside information, but given the size of the market and the demand, I would expect competing products to enter the marketplace by later this year.
Hey thanks for the video. I had been looking at this but there are major flaws.
1. UHS-1. It’s 2024 and not to include that? Silly.
2. USB-C from computer to dock is 10Gbps. Connecting a nvme, external SSD, monitor plus utilize the UHS-1 slot kills its usability imho.
Both of those kill the deal. They have a 40Gbps one but then it’s only like 3 or 4 ports additional with no sd card reader.
Just a heads up the nvme is rated in megaBYTES not bits. Also not to be “that guy” but those nails need a clippin.
They just released this too fast without truly thinking about the electrical engineering in it. 10gbps connection to the Mac mini is just backwards with all of those ports. It’s half engineered.
Thanks!
I can understand how some of the omissions could be a deal breaker. Hopefully, more products will enter the marketplace early in 2025 and create some real competition and choice. Right now for Mac Mini M4 docks, there isn't much.
@ ya. In this case being first isn’t best.
@@Cary_mac Being first means being almost the only choice. There is also the product made by Colorii. It's nicer design as long as you don't want to use WiFi…(deal breaker for me)
Disagree with you about the button to turn it off. I use mine as a server and automate turning it on an off with a neat utility tool called Onyx.
Disagree is OK.
@@Mr.BrownsBasementlooking forward to getting mine soon. Thanks for the review.
I hope yours arrives quickly. A number of commenters have said they ordered their dock before I did (December 7) and still haven’t received anything.
Shit still no dock of this size in my country yet
You may be able to order it directly off Raycue's website (www.raycue.com)
You were lucky to get your unit in only 2 weeks. I ordered mine Nov 20 and have not received it yet as of 1/1/2025. My last communication with RayCue promised they would ship my unit by 12/27/2024. I still have not gotten a confirmation that it has shipped. I too would prefer Thunderbolt for the M.2 slot. They have brought out a Thunderbolt version, but my plan now is to use the RayCue hub M.2 slot for a 1TB drive I am using for Time Machine and use a Zike external Thunderbolt enclosure for a 2TB M.2 drive for external storage. Like most people I cheaped out on the internal storage, but I did not want to continue to feed the Apple beast by paying them $200 for each 256gb increment of storage. I was happy to see your video. I was beginning to worry that I was scammed. Until I see the unit though, I will not be convinced that I didn’t pay $100 for vaporware. Good video, although I think you could have re-recorded the voice-over when you discovered the errors that you corrected with on-screen text. I give you a thumbs up and subscribe. Good luck in your UA-cam journey.
Thank you for taking the time to comment. I hope your unit arrives soon. And it's definitely not vapourware! I found there was a was a long lag (several days) between a shipping milestone and it showing up in the tracking. I must admit I also cheated out (at least partially) on the memory, choosing to spend more money on the Unified memory than on the Apple tax. I'm using a "Acasis" TB3 enclosure for my data (and home folder) and the SSD in the Raycue enclosure for my Time Machine backup. I'm happy with the arrangement except for one detail: Putting the home folder on an external drive can mess up Spotlight. It has for me. Thank you also for the subscription.
waited for this. nice. don't like the texts on it, is it printed on? maybe with so acetone it can be removed :-)
Yes, looks silkscreened on. Probably could be removed with solvent. You’ll forgive me if I don’t try? :)
@ yes don’t do it. Solvent may likely harm the metal finish. Thanks for the fast heads-up
I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a plastic overspray to protect the surface. No plans for solvents other than water, no abrasives.
Design flaw? Who in their right mind would want to use the magic mouse plugged in?! LOL!
(And yes I have one, I used it 8 hours every single day, and it only needs to be charged 4x a year. Why ruin a perfect design?)
As for the power button, I have a 2015 27" iMac. The power button is on the back. I've only used it 4 times in 10 years (due to power outages). No need to ever use the power button.
I won't ask you why you don't use your power button on your M4 Mac Mini; it's none of my business. But imagine (…for a moment…) that you did, then you'd probably think it was a pain in the butt. In terms of the Magic Mouse (or Magic Mouse 2), I don't think I'd call it a "perfect design". I used one with my iMac. I think the design of the Mighty Mouse is better (but still not "perfect"). I still use a Mighty Mouse.
The power button on the bottom wasn't a design flaw, it was deliberately put there to prevent this kind of product to work flawlessly. Otherwise why spending a fortune for built in storage?
I stand corrected! :)
Now you know why Apple placed the power button on the bottom!
Because I haven’t yet found a good enough excuse to eliminate it? You know, like the headphone jack? Or the headphones and charger? Just sayin’…
Has anyone else received theirs? Ordered mine on the same day (ironically) as Mr. Brown's.
I hope you get yours soon. Mine were shipped by Yun Express; last mile delivery by Canada SPX.
I am sure everyone is aware of the mad rush for someone to produce a REAL Docking station that works ! Many other videos on other products fail to state wether its plastic or aluminum ... you did! I assume the SSD card , did not come with the dock? Thanks to this review... i'll pass on the Raycue .. the search continues.....
When you buy at Raycue you can choose to have SSD's with different sizes included for a higher price of course. It doesn't mention which brand and type they'll deliver, so I prefer to buy my own.
I’m sure better products will come to market. The demand is there. The SSD was bought separately. I had no way of knowing whose SSD they would supply (…probably the cheapest …) and I my data is too valuable to me to take unnecessary risks with it.
Agreed, 100%!
Very disappointed with the speed. I had hoped this would allow me to get rid of the external TB 3 exclosure I am using, but this would be a downgrade.
You’re right, the speed isn’t great. I’m going to order a better cable and see if that makes a difference. If it does, I’ll add an update to the video description.
@@Mr.BrownsBasement There is a poorly advertised 40Gbps version too instead of this 10Gbps one..... on finding this out I emailed and asked for that instead and paid the difference. They started shipping today.
Eventually, old people will learn not to turn their macs off 🤷🏻♂️
You bet I'm old. Almost ancient. I've been turning off my computers since about 1983 when I got my first Apple II. Each to their own.
I agree! As I am in my "late 70's" I have been dealing with mainframe computers back in the late 60's and since ~late 1977 with the Radio Shack TRS-80 model 1 and beyond and have NEVER turned off a computer other than to service it and even sometimes then I left it on. :-) Mostly homebrew Windows machines. This Mac Mini 4 Pro is my first real entry into the Mac world other than a Hackintosh about 8 years ago. As for the Mini what's the big deal with the switch? Just use the menu shutdown or yank the plug!
In my opinionit is a design flaw to put the hook-up for a just USB-C Device in the back so you have to sacrifice a valuable TB-Port. For a dock with designed especially for the M4 Mac Mini to be attached at the TB-ports in the back it has to be a TB 3 or 4 device.
To be honest the people don't needing the speed usually don't need a dock anyway. a TB 3 or 4 enclosure is around 20 bucks more expensive (taken the same build quality into account) as an USB-enclosure. So in my eyes having a pricepoint slightly higher but providing TB would be the dealbreaker for me.
I see now they have a TB 4 version with limited ports vs this version. $100. Single drive TB 3/4 cases in the USA are $60, so $40 for the hub. ZFP is nice tho.
@@JamesBond-fo6ow But what 6 ports are missing? then its limited barely to an external SSD enclosure in Mac mini style. So what is remaining Card readers Audio Jack, video connector external USB,.., ? Wait i'm allready above the 4 remaining functions.
Ah if you put it into the cart you can get a presentation, all the frontside connections are gone no Card readers, back one Audio, 2 USB-A 2.0 and the USB-C Uplink.
Sorry thats not what i'm looking for. The base design 10 functions with TB4 thats what woulbe the searched solution.
It absolutely needs a faster connection. I have a TB3 enclosure for an SSD - no hub included. Alone, it was more money than the Raycue. It’s also much faster. I wouldn’t be surprised if a TB3 (or better) version comes out. I would also expect it to be 2 to 3 times more expensive … but we’ll see.
I’m sure better products will be released this year. Right now the choices are very limited.
@@tomsun3159 I'm hoping to keep my Mac Mini M4 for a while. But if I see a better docking solution, especially with TB4 that doesn't break the bank, I wouldn't hesitate to replace the Raycue dock.
Hey Mr Brown, my name is Johnny and I'm a freelance logo designer, would you love to have a logo redesign to have a basement look in your logo to make it more match and fun to be used as merch print to sell to your fans too? Let me know if you interested and I would love to design it for you! :-)
That sounds interesting. Please contact me at the e-mail address found on my channel description. Thanks.
Please don’t use orange text on the video it’s very hard to read - use white for full accessibility
I have been trying to develop a design language for my videos. I often use American Typewriter (bold) in Brown, with warm whites, pale oranges for card backgrounds. Depending on what's on the screen I will change the colour if there's not enough contrast, often to black or white. Early in the editing of this video I used orange (for contrast) but I thought I took it all out.
Megabytes/s, not bits. 😊
Errors happen. Sorry.
This is significantly underwhelming as far as specs go. Just why did anyone think this would be the way to go?
My guess is that it was rushed.The Mac Mini was released on October 29. I saw the Raycue dock about a month later online but not available for purchase yet. That's not a lot of time to develop a product and start manufacturing at scale. I would expect better products to come out in 2025.
waiting for 2 weeks? I've been waiting well over a month!
A month? If I were you I'd reach out to the place you ordered it from. I ordered mine on Dec.7th. It left the shipper facility on the 10th. Carrier received package on 21st. I received the package 10 days later.
@ I ordered directly from them on Nov. 24. . Got an email from them last week saying the first 500 orders had shipped and the reaining orders would be shipped today Jan 2.
@@SergeiWhobichakokov LOL, since changed AGAIN until January 10th! I ordered early Nov before it was even showing on their website. Still waiting.
Good design but horrible performance…. 4k only 60hz? Also we have way better SSD performance available externally. For $65 I got a thunderbolt 4 aluminum enclosure and get 3500mbs read write easy. Also yes like you mentioned power button should be addressed. I guess it’s a good basic dock for the price but people want no botttlenecks
The Mac mini supports up to three monitors, each 4K at 60 Hz. It’s my understanding that if you have only two monitors, the scan rate can be higher. I don’t know whether the HDMI port on the Raycue dock supports higher than 60 Hz at 4K. The issue is moot for me. I don’t have a 4K monitor and unless it was absolutely huge, I wouldn’t be able to read it.
I don’t like that the ports are labeled. I specifically bought it for that reason
You _don't_ like that the ports are labeled? I suppose you could use a solvent to remove the labels.
@ good tip, think I’m gonna try that!
@@jooplin Try the solvent on the back in an inconspicuous place first in case the aluminum is also covered by a clear plastic spray.
Terrible on screen text color. It was rough to read.
Really? You don't like BROWN?
@ As I said, it was hard to see. Maybe use a stroke or background behind it. Just a suggestion.
@@IndianaGraphics Thank you,, suggestion appreciated. I will consider it.
It's a 'mao'del, in honor of chaiman mao of course. Or it could be a reference to a cat, which is 'mao' with a first tone. Or maybe it's mao with a falling tone, which would be hat. Hard to know, chinese is likea a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma..
I don’t know. But I thought it deserved mention.
That Read/Wright speed is atrocious in both instances.
Ideally, faster is better. But since I'm using the Raycue enclosure for my Time Machine backup it hasn't been a hardship. That said, I rarely need to restore files from my backup drive. Perhaps a Thunderbolt 3 (or better) enclosure will come out this year. Speed was one of my beefs with this drive (#2 of 3).
@@Mr.BrownsBasement Ya I purchaced a Thunderbolt 4 Enclosure w/ a Samsung 990 EVO SSD. Debating moving my home Folder to it or not. I see many Pros and Cons. For backups on my Windows PC I just Clone the SSD.
@@HoundDogMech I have moved my Home folder to my external drive (in a TB3 enclosure). The only problem I have -- and I wish Apple would fix it -- is that it has killed my Spotlight. My drives index but Spotlight still doesn't work. Doesn't help even if I force a re-index. 🤷
The poor design of the Mac mini has forced everyone to use these ridiculous storage expanders for years. Apple could easily add an ssd expansion slot on the bottom of the Mac mini. The Mac mini is on par with the stupid Apple mouse charging cord.
Yeah, I’d agree with that. Apple could also have reasonably priced their SSD storage. There’s nothing holy about Apple-branded RAM.
Orange text on gray and yellow backgrounds is poor for readability. If you use fonts with such color then the characters should be outlined in white or black.
I thought I had used only brown text in this video, except in a couple of places where brown didn’t provide enough contrast, so I used white instead.
I't is fine for M1 mini's, but in the age of M4 mini's it is too slow. Most professional cards are "CFexpress 2.0 type B and SD UHD and above", so the card readers are limited.
The whole dock is limited. Hopefully, products with better features and that are competitively priced will come out early in 2025. Right now, there are really only two products.
Seems like a downgrade for your M4 Mac Mini. The speed of ports and SSD speed is extremely slow. Waste of money.
My data drive which has my home folder is on a different SSD in a TB3 enclosure. The SSD inside the Raycue dock is my time machine backup. I don’t see the slow performance because I rarely need to restore anything from my back up drive.
Here's my take on the power button and magic mouse design flaws. Authentic and expensive Persian rugs always have a small flaw somewhere on the rug. It's put there by the maker because, according to rug making lore, only Allah is perfect. In the case of Apple, only Jobs is perfect.😂
Your explanation is priceless. 😂
Thank you. 😊
Bwa ha ha ha ha ha
This is a pretty good design if it was tb4, it’s a waste the port from m4 for 10gbps.
Just get the 40gbit version..
I wish it were TB4. But it wouldn't have been $150 CAD. I'm hoping that more products will be released this year to compete in this space, with competitive prices and better features.
@@dalivanwyngarden3204 The 40gb/s version has the SSD enclosure, audio I/O, USB-A 2.0 x2. USB 2??? Not even a card reader.
@@dalivanwyngarden3204 I got the base m4 on day1 and then I got the owc tb4 enclosure with 2TB, my user home folder is on this now and doing TM to have a local backup of the 1.5tb iCloud data.
If I didn’t buy the owc I would love to get this th4 but I just hate to wait.
@@Mr.BrownsBasement isn’t it us$99 for the tb4 version?!
Ummm, capital B I’m the testing app means megabytes, not megabits? 998 MB per second represents full 10 megabit USB 3.2 Gen 2 performance. This is pretty basic stuff.
Errors happen. You can also refer to my video description which has edits and updates.
The on/off switch is a complete non-issue. So sick of hearing this crap. Its not a windows machine you have to turn on and off every few days because it froze up. I can count on one hand with fingers left the number of times I've had to use the power button on my Mac minis since 2013
And besides, if anyone is that concerned about it you can order very simple adaptors online and they’re dirt cheap.
Yeah I never turn off my Macbook Pro from 2017, I rarely even reboot it, only when updates happen, so that‘s not a problem at all :)
I’ve had the M1 Mac Mini for over 4 years and I’ve used the power button one time…that was when I was setting it up. 😂
One of the hallmarks of good design is making something that is easy to use (user friendliness) with accessibility and intuitive interactions. I'm not going to ask you why you don't use your power button; it's none of my business. But I do use it. And I don't like it.
@@johnanderson1245 I guess the point is that you shouldn't have to buy a simple (or any adapter) for something like a pushbutton.
disabling the dislike button -- good move when you do not want to hear the truth...
I didn't disable the dislike button. Really. I typically set my videos "not made for kids", "allow remixing", "comments ON" with "strict moderation". If you don't like my videos, you should be able to dislike them.
Bytes not bits.
Apologies for errors & omissions.
If you’re referring to the ports then it’s gigabits, not bytes.
@@oo0Spyder0oo Apologies for errors & omissions.
Also, the dock is ugly in my opinion, particularly because of the gap between the dock and the computer
I’m just guessing that’s for ventilation. The Mac Mini M4 sucks air in from underneath and then vents it out underneath.
Please cut your nails when you make such videos!!..thanks
Got it.
Junk product. People need to realize most of these docs that are coming out are not great in terms of the specs. Most of these are Chinese companies rushing to be the first to have a doc that matches the same size as the new Mac mini. You’re overpaying at this point buying this garbage. Wait a month or two and you’ll get better products. The write speeds of all these ports are horrible. At this point, none of them include thunderbolt ports. Just because the port is listed at 10 GB doesn’t mean it transfers at that speed, this model has cheap controllers. The reason these docs don’t have thunderbolt is the chip
Is expensive to include… any doc that has this in the future will be at least two to $300 dollars
You're right, this dock isn't great. But I paid about $150 CAD for it. I don't think that's outrageous and I don't think it's garbage. It works, it reduces the clutter on my desk and looks okay. I'm happy with it. When a new dock comes out in TB3 or TB4, if the price isn't excessive, I'll buy it. This Raycue dock will be sold. Nothing wasted. This dock is better than what I had before: Nothing.
This is whack usb-c is slow you need a Thunderbolt 4 for the top speeds mac mini m4 uses a thunderbolt 4 connection to be fast!! smh waste of money SMH
I have a TB3 enclosure for my data drive. I’m using the Raycue enclosure for my Time Machine backup drive. Yes, it’s slow. But as far as I can tell, it’s the best dock for the Mac mini so far. I’m expecting better (and much more expensive) products this year. We’ll have to wait & see. But the Raycue will have to do until then. I’m going to replace the cable to see if that makes a difference.
@@Mr.BrownsBasement not really there are better enclosures
and Thunderbolt 4 not 3
@@producerdata which dock for Mac mini m4 with tb4 nvme ?
In terms of enclosures for the Mac mini M4, there are only two on the market that I’m aware of. One of the two is available under about half a dozen different names, but it’s the same enclosure. Hopefully the situation will change soon