Best Docking Stations for the M1 Mac Mini in 2021
Docking Station is a very useful item for everyone who uses a Mac Mini M1. I’ve talked about several accessories for Mac Mini M1 from two separate articles before. This article is completely dedicated to list the Best Docking Stations out there in the market.
Anker Docking Station : PowerExpand Elite 13-in-1
This all in one docking station is from Anker, a leading trademark in the electronic device business. First of all, I’d like to say that you will have an 18-month warranty for this item after you bought it. The docking station has a pretty attractive exterior design and a very high build quality. When talking about the size it is quite portable, the dimensions are (in inches) 4.9×3.5×1.6 and weighs nearly 500gm.
Anker has put some of the most useful things in their Docking Station. There are SD and Micro SD card readers, and audio port (in and out), 2x USB 3.1 Type — C ports (one port is capable to deliver 15W/18W power), x2 USB 3.1 Type-A port, x2 Thunderbolt ports, one HDMI 2.0 and an Ethernet port.
With this docking station you will receive a 2.3ft long Thunderbolt 3 cable. If you need an additional cable should buy one separately but make sure you are buying and authentic compatible cable. With the Thunderbolt 3 port you can connect to a monitor which supports 5K 60fps. The HDMI cable can be used to connect with a 4K 60fps monitor. Thunderbolt 3 shows an unbelievable 40Gbps (5GBps) speed when it comes to data transferring. You can connect up to 3 monitors at once (please refer the user guide on the Amazon).
Charging laptops can be done with the Thunderbolt 3 port which is actually a bit slower than a normal laptop charger but it gets the job done with some extra little time. For mobile phones you can use the USB Type — C port which delivers 18W power. You will receive a 180W power adapter for the docking station with the package. The device is fully compatible with Linux and Windows other than the Mac OS and the iPad OS.
Elecife USB Type C Hub with Hard Drive Enclosure, 7 in 1 Docking Station
This is a 7-in-1 docking station but with an extra advantage. This Elecife docking station includes a 2.5″ hard drive enclosure which is really helpful for Mac Mini users to expand their storage easily. A SATA SSD or a HDD (maximum limit it 5TB) will easily fit the enclosure.
This docking station is designed in a horizontal style and has rounded edges. This is made with Aluminium Alloy (Space Grey colour) which is a good heat dissipation. You can place your Mac Mini on the top of this and the measurements fits perfectly with the docking station.
When it comes to the additional ports I can’t say it is quite great when comparing to the previous Anker device. This only has x2 USB 3.0 Type — A ports, x2 USB 2.0 Type — A ports, A USB Type — C port for connect with the Mac Mini and two SD and Micro SD card readers. There are two good things about this docking station. The first one is, this is the hard drive enclosure and the second one is, unlike the Anker device this is specially made to use with the Mac Mini. It is up to you to decide whether you should buy this or not after considering your actual needs.
Elecife presents you a 1-year warranty, a USB Type — C cable to connect with the Mac Mini, A screw driver and several screws alongside a user manual.
AGPTEK USB-C Docking Station
This AGPTEK docking station is very similar to the Elecife one, only the name is different. Same as the previous device this is a 7-in-1 device and has a 2.5” hard drive enclosure that fits SATA SSDs and HDDs (2TB). It’s made from Aluminium Alloy and is space grey in colour (see, almost no difference). There are x2 USB 3.0 Type — A ports, x2 USB 2.0 Type — A ports, A USB Type — C port for connect with the Mac Mini and two SD and Micro SD card readers.
You will get the same items with too but this time the package will have a 2 in 1 USB Type — A and USB Type — C cable.
Hagibis Type-C Docking Station
Hagibis docking station is another partner to the last two items. It has a 2.5” hard drive enclosure that can hold a SATA SSD or a SATA HDD (max 2TB). Fortunately, this device comes in both silver and grey colors (but with a considerable price differs). Just like the previous docking station this Hagibis device too has the same ports. Those are x2 USB 3.0 Type — A ports, x2 USB 2.0 Type — A ports, A USB Type — C port for connect with the Mac Mini and two SD and Micro SD card readers. Both SD and Micro SD cards can be read at the same time (but both are bit slow) which might be an advantage (but being slow is a disadvantage actually) for some users.
HumanCentric USB C Hub and Stand
This comes only in Space Grey color and looks very much like the last3 docking stations. There is a 2.5” hard drive enclosure which is able to keep a SATA SSD or a HDD. There are 7 different ports, those are x2 USB 3.0 Type — A ports, x2 USB 2.0 Type — A ports, A USB Type — C port and two SD and Micro SD card readers. This is made from the same Aluminium Alloy so the extra heat won’t be a much of a problem.
There will be a Type — C cable, several additional screws and a screwdriver inside the package. You can refer the user manual to clear the installation process if needed.
Satechi Type-C Aluminum Stand & Hub
This comes in both Silver and Grey colours. Unlike the last four docking stations this one has a 3.5mm headphone jack port. That feature single-handedly can outperform all the last four items before this. There are 7 ports in total, x3 USB 3.0 Type — A ports, 3.5mm port, SD and Micro SD readers and the Type — C port.
There are built-in air vents in this item so the heat waves can be removed easily. Sadly, this only supports Mac Mini version 2018 and later. This DOES NOT support the older versions. Personally I think this one is the most useful one from last five items.
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