Expand the utility of your Thunderbolt 4 device and streamline your workflow with the matte silver OWC 18TB miniStack STX Thunderbolt Hub Xpansionfrom OWC / Other World Computing. This model combines a 2TB PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 2280 SSD, which is designed for low latency instant access operations that include gaming as well as photo, video, and audio editing, with a 16TB 7200 rpm SATA 3.5" hard drive, which is well suited for large data storage needs and everyday tasks, such as backups, photos, music, and documents. Both the NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 slot and 3.5/2.5" drive bay are user accessible. No matter what you're doing, the miniStack is there to help you store large files and connect high-powered devices so you can work efficiently.

The miniStack connects to your host system using a Thunderbolt 4 port that provides up to 96W of Power Delivery, while three additional Thunderbolt 4 ports provide 15W of power and may be used to connect additional peripherals, including keyboards, mice, and up to two displays. These three ports may also be used to create a daisy chain, with up to five Thunderbolt and three USB devices on each, for a total of eight device per chain. Designed to work in various environments, the miniStack STX supports multiple platforms including macOS 10.14 to 14, Windows 10 (32/64-bit), Windows 11, Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2019, Linux, iPadOS 14 to 17, Android 11.x to 13.x, and Chrome.

Please note that this configuration requires a 40 Gb/s Thunderbolt 4, Thunderbolt 3, or USB4 host connection with a compatible system running macOS 11.x or later. Connecting the miniStack STX to a USB-C or USB-A host requires macOS 10.14.6 or later, but will only allow for the use of its SATA drive bay and will only let the Thunderbolt ports be used as a USB hub for accessories. Also, please bear in mind that the maximum performance of the internal M.2 NVMe SSD is 770 MB/s because of bandwidth limitations of the system's PCIe 3.0 x1 bus.

18TB Storage Capacity    2TB PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 2280 SSD    16TB 7200 rpm SATA 3.5" Hard Drive    3.5/2.5" Drive Bay | NVMe PCIe M.2 Slot    Thunderbolt 4 Port with 96W PD    Three Thunderbolt 4 Ports with 15W    Supports up to Two Displays    Up to 770 MB/s Data Transfer Speeds    Whisper-Quiet Operation | Plug-and-Play    For Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android

• macOS 11.1 or later is required for Thunderbolt hosts, while macOS 10.14.6 is required for USB hosts
• Actual display support depends upon the host. Please review the display specifications for your specific host system to determine the maximum supported resolution, refresh rate, color depth, and number of external displays over Thunderbolt or USB
• NVMe SSD usage requires a Thunderbolt 4 host connection with a compatible system running macOS 11.x or later
• USB host connectivity provides SATA drive use only and limits additional miniStack STX ports to USB connectivity only
• Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2 hosts are supported via a USB-A connection, which requires a USB-C to USB-A adapter (sold separately). Thunderbolt and Thunderbolt 2 hosts are not otherwise supported and USB-A hosts do not support displays or power delivery

The miniStack and the Mac mini have been the perfect pair since 2005. Now featuring Storage and Thunderbolt Xpansion, the miniStack STX continues its legacy as a top sidekick that the Mac mini can have.

With a universal 3.5/2.5" SATA HDD/SSD bay and an NVMe M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD slot, you can expand your mini's storage capacity to gigantic proportions. Three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports enable you to connect to millions of Thunderbolt, USB, and future USB4 drives, displays, A/V mixers, cameras, tablets, and desktop accessories like a keyboard, card reader, or mouse. The possibilities of how you can use your Mac mini is now only limited to your imagination.

While sized identically to the Mac mini, the miniStack STX is also a sleek, complementary companion for MacBook and PC computers, iPads, and Chromebooks. While highly powerful, these machines are often limited in the number and variety of ports they offer. The miniStack STX solves that expansion limitation with a new world of increased connectivity and storage capacity.

Just like superheroes have an alter ego, so too does the miniStack STX. The universal SATA drive bay holds a hard disk drive or SSD for upstanding data storage performance with big capacity. When you need to support bandwidth-intensive operations, the NVMe M.2 SSD slot reveals miniStack STX's ferocious power. NVMe was designed to deliver the speed potential of modern flash drive technology by using a direct path to a computer's processor over PCIe. As a result, you can enjoy near instant access performance with the miniStack STX.

With multiple drive configurations available, you can experience data transfer speeds of up to 770 MB/s. Move 5GB of GoPro footage in about 6 seconds, transfer thousands of photos of that priceless event in mere seconds, and use the SATA drive for Time Machine or File History backups while working off the NVMe drive. With heavyweight performance like this, the miniStack STX is great for multi-stream compressed 4K video editing, photography, audio, virtual machines, and everyday data tasks.

For even more power and security, add OWC's SoftRAID software to your miniStack STX and create a RAID 1 to automatically maintain identical copies of all your data on each drive. For over 25 years, SoftRAID has been a fully featured and powerful software RAID solution available for Mac and Windows. It starts protecting your data even before you start saving by validating the STX drives are safe for data storage. In the improbable event that you experience a disk issue, your data is still complete and accessible on the miniStack STX's other drive. SoftRAID then constantly monitors your disks with a combination of S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) attributes along with its own I/O statistics. This deep dive disk health analysis identifies potential problems so you can take preventive action. SoftRAID is available for both Mac and PC making it possible to share the miniStack STX between computers.

Transferring data between Macs and Windows PCs has become easier, but can be extremely time consuming using cloud or email transfers. Now you can do it directly with external drives and take advantage of crazy fast speeds to transfer huge amounts of data in no time at all thanks to OWC's MacDrive. This seamless Windows software runs in the background, so there's nothing to launch or learn. Simply unplug your HFS+ formatted drive from your Mac or PC and move it to your other computer. Not only do you have instant read access, but full write access. MacDrive also includes powerful features that enable you to create and partition and repair basic drive issues.

• Compatible: Works with all types of media including hard drives, SSDs, CD/DVD, etc.
• Access: Read and write Mac disks direct from Windows Explorer
• Manage: Format, partition, and delete Mac disks on your PC
• Repair: Built-in tools can safely fix basic drive issues
• Backups: Browse through Time Machine backups as well as copy those files and folders to your PC

Whether your computer or tablet is sporting the latest technology or is a few years loved, the OWC miniStack STX gives you multiple options to expand your visual horizons, with single and dual display support, including:

• One 8K display at 60 Hz
• One 5K display at 60 Hz
• One 4K Display at 120 Hz
• Two 4K displays at 60 Hz
• One 4K display at 60 Hz
• One 4K display at 30 Hz

• Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or M2): 4K at 30 Hz, 4K at 60 Hz, 5K at 60 Hz (Apple Studio Display or LG Ultrafine 5K)
• Apple Silicon Mac (M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra, M2 Pro, or M2 Max): 4K at 30 Hz, 4K at 60 Hz, Dual 4K at 60 Hz, 5K at 60 Hz (Apple Studio Display or LG Ultrafine 5K), Dual 5K at 60 Hz (Apple Studio Display), 6K at 60 Hz (Apple Pro XDR), Dual 6K at 60 Hz (Apple Pro XDR)
• Intel Mac with Thunderbolt 3: 4K at 30 Hz, 4K at 60 Hz, Dual 4K at 60 Hz, 5K at 60 Hz (Apple Studio Display or LG Ultrafine 5K), Dual 5K at 60 Hz (Apple Studio Display), 6K at 60 Hz (Apple Pro XDR)
• iPad Pro or iPad Air with Thunderbolt: 4K at 30 Hz, 4K at 60 Hz, 6K at 60 Hz (Apple Pro XDR)
• iPad Pro with USB-C: 4K at 30 Hz, 4K at 60 Hz, 5K at 60 Hz (Apple Studio Display or LG Ultrafine 5K)
• iPad Air with USB-C: 4K at 60 Hz
• Chromebook: 4K at 30 Hz, 4K at 60 Hz, Dual 4K at 60 Hz
• Windows with Thunderbolt 4: 4K at 30 Hz, 4K at 60 Hz, Dual 4K at 60 Hz, 6K at 60 Hz (Apple Pro XDR), 8K at 60 Hz
• Windows with Thunderbolt 3/USB4: 4K at 30 Hz, 4K at 60 Hz, Dual 4K at 60 Hz
• Windows with 10 Gb/s USB-C (with DisplayPort): 4K at 30 Hz, 4K at 60 Hz
• Windows with 5 Gb/s USB-C (with DisplayPort): 4K at 30 Hz
• Windows Tablet: 4K at 30 Hz

Building your music setup can be daunting. With two configurable drives in the OWC miniStack STX, it's easy to create a storage powerhouse for recording and playback of essential tracks in real-time. You can even store your entire loop and sample libraries on the NVMe SSD for in-a-flash use with near zero latency.

You'll gain a newfound freedom by being able to connect to nearly any past, present, or future device and accessory via three Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports. Just like the miniStack STX's innovative storage capability, these three ports have a second ability. They reinvent the daisy chain by allowing you to create three independent chains with up to five bus-powered Thunderbolt devices with a USB device on the end of each chain for 8 devices total. You can now also remove devices from one chain without affecting the other chain or chains.

If you own a 2018 Intel Mac mini or the latest Apple silicon version, the fact that the internal factory drive can't be upgraded is no longer a reason to sell your beloved little powerhouse. The miniStack STX maximizes your mini's investment with a mighty capacity punch for a fraction of the time and money you would spend in buying and setting up a new machine. You're not left behind if you own a Mac, PC, or device equipped with USB-A only. With a USB-C to USB-A adapter cable (sold separately), you can utilize the miniStack STX's SATA drive bay to transfer data to/from your machine plus infuse your trusty setup with additional device connectivity.

All the features of an external drive don't mean a thing if you don't know how much of a particular file type it can hold. For every 1TB of your OWC drive capacity, you can store up to any of the following:

• 250,000 photos
• 250,000 standard quality songs
• 38,000 high-quality songs
• 200 high-definition movies
• 41.6 hours of GoPro 4K footage
• 4.3 million MS Office documents
• 24+ PS4/Xbox games

Whether you're taking a short break or are done for the day, the miniStack STX keeps you powering ahead. No matter if your machine or STX goes into sleep mode, the STX's Thunderbolt ports continue to power and/or charge connected devices. Your notebook will stay charged and ready too, with 96W of power through its Thunderbolt or USB-C connection.

Unexpected disconnects during file transfers or a work session can be devastating. The OWC ClingOn (sold separately) easily reduces—if not eliminates—cable strain on the miniStack STX Thunderbolt connection ports.

OWC understands having confidence in gear reliability is paramount to creative professionals. That's why the miniStack STX goes through a multi-step performance certification prior to shipping. This ensures it arrives operating properly and immediately ready for your demanding use.

OWC builds their hardware to the highest standards of reliability and performance. Because 100% reliability is always the goal, they rigorously quality test and back the miniStack STX with 24/7 global customer support.

Related Questions and Answers

Q: 1. Can you use this in daisy chain with another thunderbolt dock? I have the brydge stone pro docking station and want to use this in conjunction to get more thunderbolt ports. Using with an M1 MacBook Air

A: You can use daisy chained hubs to get more Thunderbolt ports.

Q: 2. Will this work with iPadOS 15?

A: The OWC Thunderbolt Hub is not rated for iOS.

Q: 3. Is this compatible with Thunderbolt / USB 4 Mac mini with M1 2021?

A: Yes, the OWC 3TB miniStack STX & Thunderbolt Hub Xpansion (1TB SSD + 2TB HDD, Matte Black) is compatible with the 2021 Mac mini (M1).

Q: 4. Would this work with iMac Mini M1?

A: Yes, however actual display support varies by computer specifications. Supported Intel-based Apple Mac models and Thunderbolt 4 PCs support two displays over a Thunderbolt port. Apple M1 Mac models support a single display over a Thunderbolt port.

Q: 5. How much does the ministack weigh with a hard drive and an ssd?

A: OWC has not provided a spec for the Ministack STX in this configuration.

Q: 6. Lost Power Cable to go from Adapter to Wall Outlet. What replacement to use?

A: BH #OWCPWR20V150 can be used a replacement power adapter for the OWC Thunderbolt Hub.

Q: 7. Will this work with PCs with Thunderbolt 4 on the new Z590 motherboards?

A: Yes, as per the manufacture "The Thunderbolt Hub is designed for the Windows 10 and macOS operating systems. This hub requires a Thunderbolt 4 port but can also use Thunderbolt 3 connections for macOS version 11.1 or later. For external video support, DisplayPort version 1.4 capabilities must be present on the host device."

Q: 8. Will this work with a thunderbolt 3 port from a 2017 iMac?

A: Yes, but you must be running Big Sur.

Q: 9. How do you connect the OWC TB4 hub to M1 Mac mini and prevent PD charge current from going into Mac mini? Are there circuit protections in either the hub or the Mac mini?

A: We have not received any complaints about charge currents going into the Mac. Neither Apple nor OWC specify it having circuit protection.

Q: 10. Will this work connected to usb 3.1 port or even usb 3 port on my windows 11 desktop?

A: No, the OWC Thunderbolt Hub requires a Thunderbolt 4 host connection with Windows PCs.