Mac mini M2 external hard drive installation system help: Can 10Gbps hard drive box + 1TB SSD be used?
by Poster
May 11, 2025
38
Hello everyone, after reading your mac mini m4 external hard drive, I plan to install an external system disk on the Mac mini m2 8 +256. I would like to ask you for your actual experience and suggestions.
My configuration and usage requirements are as follows:
Model: Mac mini M2 (Beggars Edition), currently 60GB of hard drive left.
External equipment: Prepare to buy a 10Gbps hard drive box with a 1TB SSD.
Usage scenario: Install macOS in an external hard disk and use it as the main system.
Usually mainly run: Office, open 10 daily apps, 2-3 CLion projects, and about 10 web pages at the same time
The main doubt is:
Can the 10Gbps external hard disk box stably support the running of external systems? Will there be obvious fever, stuck or speed drop? Is it possible that mac mini can't wake up after sleeping?
Are there any recommended cost-effective hard drive enclosure models and hard drive recommendations?
I think the 40Gbps Thunderbolt 4 boxes are close to 500, which is a bit expensive, so I prefer the more cost-effective 10/20 Gbps hard disk boxes, but I'm afraid of running system instability or lag.
Thank you all!
Replies
-
Anonymous629 May 11, 202510G storage is fine, but installing the system is not very good. If you think Thunderbolt is expensive, you can buy USB4
-
Anonymous2773 May 11, 2025Haven't tried an external system, but tried the game put in a 10Gbps external hard drive box and it loads very slowly... I don't dare to think how stuck it is when it is made into an external system
-
Anonymous2774 May 11, 2025The 40gbps Thunderbolt 4 hard disk box of 500 yuan level (7440?) can actually achieve a speed of up to 24Gbps. If the 20Gbps hard disk box can be full speed, there is actually not much difference. The 2464 Thunderbolt 4 box is cheaper. After the discount, it is estimated to be around 200 yuan, but even if there is no reading and writing, the heat generation is huge. It is recommended to equip a small external fan in 10 yuan.
-
Anonymous2775 May 11, 2025I think the same as you, I'm M2 256 too. The 40G box is too hot, and the 10G box is now only used as an external storage disk, which is quite stable. I think it is feasible to install the system. If you think about it, you will know that random reading and writing may exceed 1GB/s? Only sequential reading and writing can be used, and sequential reading and writing rarely require several gigabytes of things to read at a time. (Attachment: Last month, I installed the gate of winning 3 and 30 pins on the external plate to play normally)
-
Anonymous42 May 11, 2025It works. The usb box has a very low probability of dropping the disk.... I haven't found thunder and lightning so far.
-
Anonymous2776 May 11, 2025Please refer to https://www.v2ex.com/t/1090140 My reply, it has been used stably for half a year (almost) without shutting down
-
Anonymous452 May 11, 2025I started with a 10Gpbs usb3.1 hard drive box externally connected to 2TB, directly pointing my account's home to the external disk. I don't feel the difference in ordinary use. The biggest problem is that when I log in for the first time after restarting, I have to wait fifteen minutes to complete loading (the standard is that the desktop widget must be started). This is very magical, especially when the mac is automatically upgraded at night. The first time I logged in early the next morning, I was numb. I replaced the tb4 hard disk box, and the desktop was loaded 30s after restarting. If you have already bought a 10G box, you can also use it first to see if it meets your requirements. To change the tb4 box, you only need to remove the ssd, and there is no need to move data at all.
-
Poster May 11, 2025@ Anonymous629 seems to be usb4 now, and then compatible with Thunderbolt 4 @ Anonymous2773 Got it, still have to 40Gbps @ Anonymous2774 @ Anonymous2776 These two guys both have 2464 + radiators, I'll refer to them. Thank you
-
Poster May 11, 2025@ Anonymous452 For safety reasons, it still needs 40gbps
-
Anonymous1802 May 11, 2025Thunderbolt 4 to PCIE m2 is a difficult solution Learn about the native Thunderbolt 4 Corsair EX400U, which is the world's first mobile hard drive equipped with the world's first native usb4 storage controller PS2251-21 (U21)
-
Poster May 11, 2025@ Anonymous1802 This one is more expensive and has low cost performance
-
Anonymous629 May 11, 2025@ Poster # 7 USB4 is a Xiangshuo chip, so it is cheaper, Thunderbolt is an Intel chip, which is more expensive
-
Anonymous1989 May 11, 2025After installing the external system, the reading will be halved. I don't know why, but the M4 plug-in Akasis 405proM is quite stable after more than a month of use
-
Anonymous10822 May 11, 2025I must get Thunderbolt 4, which is only five or six hundred yuan.
-
Anonymous2777 May 11, 2025@ Anonymous2776 # 6 can you share the workflow of smartmontools
-
Anonymous2778 May 11, 2025@ Anonymous629 Thunderbolt's, because you have to pay the certification fee to Intel Thunderbolt Division, so it is expensive! In fact, the price of 2464 is about the same as that of 7440, 8440, and 9480. The suggested retail price of 9480 is less than 20 US dollars. However, it is made into a Thunderbolt 5 hard disk box and the price is 1,500. You don't know how black-hearted these people in China are, and the Thunderbolt certification fee is only 10,000 US dollars (one-off fee) 🥶
-
Anonymous2778 May 11, 2025https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/225919/intel-jhl9480-thunderbolt-5-accessory-controller/specifications.html, the suggested retail price is 19.50 USD 🥶, the material cost is 300 to die, the cost is 100, 400 to sell 1500, MAC high-end users, I love you to death
-
Anonymous2776 May 11, 2025@ Anonymous2777 # 15 https://i.imgur.com/W1RGlDC. png Workflows Create a new workflow, right-click to add Inputs-> Script Filter, and fill in the following script code. That disk4 uses diskutil list to find the actual disk of your SSD and replace it. My script is only applicable to TiPlus 7100. The smartctl output information of other SSDs may have a different format and you need to modify the read command yourself. # Get temperature values temps = $(smartctl-a disk4 grep "Temperature Sensor" awk '{print $4}') Read-r temp1 temp2 < < < $temps echo "{ \ "rerun\": 2, \ "items\": { \ "title\":\ "Master temperature $temp1 °C\", }, { \ "title\":\ "Particle temperature $temp2 °C\", } ] }"
-
Anonymous339 May 11, 2025The hard disk box of usb3 does not support trim, and the speed drops seriously when the disk is dirty. Buy a fanless JHL7440 box, which only costs about 300 yuan. Just get a single heat pipe for 20 yuan to dissipate the heat
-
Anonymous2641 May 11, 2025I bought the 7440 Thunderbolt 3 hard drive box + 2T hard drive, the system was restored with TimeMachine, and it is no different from the original hard drive. I glued a usb fan to the case myself, and the temperature was cooler than the internal hard drive. It's okay to keep it plugged in all the time, but it's a bit problematic to unplug and change places and start it again.