miniStack STX
Designed to stack perfectly with the Mac mini and the ideal storage and connectivity expansion companion for Thunderbolt or USB-equipped computers.
Mini Sized. Mammoth Possibilities.
Just like great duos Kirk and Spock, Frodo and Sam, or Woody and Buzz, the ministack and the Mac mini have been the perfect pair since 2005. The miniStack STX now features Storage and Thunderbolt Xpansion, continuing its award-winning legacy as the best sidekick a Mac mini can have. Meet the world’s first Thunderbolt certified Thunderbolt 4 storage solution.
With a universal SATA HDD/SSD AND an NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD slot, you can expand your mini’s storage capacity to gigantic proportions. Three Thunderbolt (USB-C) ports enable you to connect to millions of Thunderbolt, USB, and future USB4 drives, displays, A/V mixers, cameras, and tablets. It also works with desktop accessories like a keyboard, card reader, or mouse. The possibilities of how you can use your Mac mini are now limited only to your imagination.
Massive Capacity
Add over 200x greater data storage on top of your Mac mini's built-in storage1
Mega Thunderbolt
Use more accessories and devices with three Thunderbolt (USB-C) expansion ports
Maximum Compatibility
Use with Thunderbolt or USB equipped Macs, PCs, iPads, Chromebook, Android tablets…virtually anything that supports external storage2,3
More Connectivity
Add a mix of up to five Thunderbolt devices, three USB devices, and two displays2,5
Power While Working
60W of notebook charging power via Thunderbolt or USB-C
Pro-grade Performance
Save/access/backup data and edit 4K video with up to 770MB/s real-world-tested performance
Easy Backups
Apple Time Machine and Windows File History ready
Plug and Play
Includes Thunderbolt cable
Whisper-Quiet
An aluminum housing with internal heat sink and high-efficiency cooling fan provides cool, nearly silent operation
Xpands Notebooks, Tablets, and More
Sized identically to the Mac mini, the miniStack STX is also a sleek, complementary companion for MacBook and PC notebook and desktop machines, 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.
The Dual Drive Dynamo
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 big capacity data storage. When you need to support low latency instant access 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.
Edit. Save. Access Like a Pro.
With multiple drive configurations available, you can experience up to 770MB/s of real-world data transfer speed. Move 5GB of GoPro footage in about 6 seconds. Transfer 1000s of photos from that priceless event in mere seconds. 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.
Easily Monitor and Protect Your Data
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 the most 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 miniStack 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.
Move Between Macs and PCs
Accessing your miniStack STX on a Windows PC is remarkably easy with the addition of OWC’s MacDrive. This seamless software runs in the background, so there’s nothing to launch or learn. Just connect the miniStack STX and not only do you have instant-read access, but full write access too! MacDrive also includes powerful features that enable you to format and partition drives as well as repair basic disk issues.
Learn more about MacDrive »
Xpand Your Sonic Journey
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.
Xpand Your Connections
You’ll experience newfound freedom when you’re able to connect to nearly any past, present, or future device/accessory via three Thunderbolt (USB-C) ports. Just like the miniStack STX’s innovative storage capability, these three ports have a second superpower: 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(s).
Xtend Your Investment
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.
Store from Minutes to Millions
All the features and “technospeak” 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 miniStack STX capacity, you can store up to any of the following:4
250K
PHOTOS
41.6Hrs
GOPRO 4K FOOTAGE
200
HIGH DEFINITION MOVIES
38K
HIGH QUALITY SONGS
4.3M
MS OFFICE DOCUMENTS
Keeps the Power Flowing
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 up to 96 watts of power through its Thunderbolt or USB-C connection.
Certified for Demanding Use
We understand having confidence in gear reliability is paramount to creative professionals. That’s why every miniStack STX goes through a multi-step performance certification prior to shipping. This ensures your miniStack STX arrives operating properly and immediately ready for demanding use.
Secure Your Workflow with OWC ClingOn
Greatly reduce — if not eliminate — cable strain and accidental disconnects with the OWC ClingOn (sold separately). These custom cable stabilizers secure your Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C connections to prevent work session interruption and possible data loss.
- Based on 2018 Mac mini with factory equipped 128GB SSD vs miniStack STX with 18TB HDD and 8TB NVMe SSD.
- Thunderbolt 4 devices like miniStack STX are not supported for use with legacy Thunderbolt 1 and 2 machines via Apple’s Thunderbolt adapter. Use with a Mac, PC, or device equipped with USB-A only requires a USB-C to USB-A adapter cable (available separately). Up to two external displays supported by Intel Mac machines over Thunderbolt connection. Apple silicon M1 and M2 Macs support one external display over Thunderbolt.
- Use of miniStack STX with a USB-C or USB-A host allows use of the miniStack STX’s SATA drive only and use of its ports for USB accessories only.
- Storage examples for illustrative purposes only. Individual results may be different based on variety of factors including specific file size and format, settings, features, software and other factors. Storage estimates based on the following:
- 12-megapixel camera with 4MB image sizes
- 4-minute average 4MB MP3 songs
- 4-minute average uncompressed Apple Lossless (ALAC) songs
- 1080p HD videos with 5GB average file size
- GoPro 4K footage at 60FPS 24GB/hr
- 250KB average MS Office document file size