Since the Mac mini and Mac Studio share the same footprint, the latter can take advantage of docks that add expandable storage and extra ports.
Apple‘s Mac Studio is a pricey enthusiast and professional-grade desktop computer, but users can upgrade their device’s storage without paying up-front thanks to a third-party dock from Satechi. Apple has shipped computers with soldered-down storage chips for years, preventing buyers from expanding their storage down the road. Surprisingly, the Mac Studio was released with a removable solid state drive (SSD), but that doesn’t mean it comes with expandable storage. Every SSD has a controller that facilitates reading and writing to the drive, but the Mac Studio’s controller is built into the M1 Max or M1 Ultra SoC, depending on the variant.
Since the Mac Studio’s storage controllers are housed within its SoC, swapping out or adding SSDs isn’t as easy as it might seem. Tests have showed that even original Apple SSDs cannot be used to swap or expand a Mac Studio’s storage unless they are the exact configurations the M1 Max or Ultra is expecting. Even then, a full system restore is required to get the drives working properly. However, users can still add storage through external drives. Satechi’s stand and hub for the Mac mini, which adds an M.2 SSD slot and seven extra ports, is also compatible with the Mac Studio since the two Macs share the same desktop footprint.
An M.2 Slot Offers Storage Expansion
Satechi’s product page says that the stand and hub is only compatible with Mac mini models released in 2018 or later, but the company’s official Amazon listing confirms that it works with the Mac Studio. The stand packs an M.2 SATA slot on its underside and connects to a Mac Studio through a hardwired USB-C cable. That allows users to add additional storage to a Mac Studio for cheaper than an internal upgrade at the time of purchase, while preserving the Studio’s elegant form factor.
The base model Mac Studio is equipped with 512GB of storage and comes with a starting price of $1,999. Upgrading the internal storage capacity to 1TB will run buyers an extra $200, and storage upgrades get pricier as the denominations increase. But with Satechi’s stand and hub, users can add a full terabyte to the Mac Studio for less than the initial upgrade fee from Apple.
The stand and hub has an MSRP of $99.99, but frequently dips below that number with discount codes and Amazon offers. Buyers can get a 1TB M.2 SSD compatible with the stand for under $100 — such as Samsung’s renowned 980 1TB SSD, priced at $89.99 on Amazon. Paired with a base model Mac Studio, users can have access to 1.5 TB of storage for less than a stock 1TB Mac Studio, while having an M.2 slot on hand for future upgrades.
Satechi’s stand and hub solves two of the Mac Studio’s flaws — expensive storage upgrades and the lack of expandable storage — with a single accessory. For users willing to insert an M.2 SSD into the stand and connect it to their Mac Studio, the stand and hub serves as a simple solution that manages to provide both form and function.
