Beelink Mate mini dock for Mac mini debuts with support for up to 16 TB storage

Beelink has a new expansion dock for the Apple Mac mini. Called the Mate mini, the docking station connects to the mini PC with a Thunderbolt 5 port, and it can expand the storage of the system by up to 16 TB. More specifically, there are two models available: A and B.

Among the two, the Model A is geared to offer large storage capacity, featuring two M.2 PCIe x2 slots. Each of these slots can hold an 8 TB SSD, totaling the expanded storage by up to 16 TB. As for the Model B, it's mainly for speed, with one PCIe x4 slot that can hold up to an 8 TB SSD (8 TB WD_Black SN850X curr. $619.99 on Amazon).

The company claims that the read and write speed with the Model B can reach 5,809 MB/s and 3,162 MB/s, respectively. As for the Model A, the rated transfer speeds are 3,219 MB/s and 2,800 MB/s, respectively.

Besides offering the ability to expand the storage of the Mac mini, the Beelink Mate mini also expands the port selection. The dock has the following:

• 2x USB 3.0 Type-A
• 1x 2.5G Ethernet
• 1x SD 4.0 card reader
• 1x USB Type-C with PD
• 1x Thunderbolt 5

Among the ports, the Thunderbolt 5 port is there to pair the dock with the Mac mini, and that also suggests that the docking station is mostly designed for the M4 Pro variant of the mini PC. As for the USB Type-C port with PD, it's there to offer additional power to the power-hungry peripherals.

Another notable aspect of the Mate mini dock is the built-in fan with a radiator, which, according to Beelink, ensures stable operation during heavy loads. The company has yet to provide details on the pricing and availability of this new Mac mini accessory.