Connect an external SSD (USB Type-C) to Mac Mini (mid 2011)?

Solution 1:

I do not think a simple cable to going to be sufficient. The differences between Thunderbolt and USB Type-C are different enough that an adapter will be needed. One such possible adapter would be the Kanex Thunderbolt Male to USB 3.1 (G2 Type-A) Female/ eSATA Female Adapter - Black. Unfortunately, this item is more expensive than anything mentioned in your question.

Another possible way to access the speed of a SSD would be to replace your internal drive. Although, these instructions show the upgrade procedure may be difficult.

Solution 2:

I know this question is old but I came across a solution for myself. I wanted to speed up an old Mac with a new drive but keep the drive "future proof" by getting one with USB-C. I did this by getting a drive with a USB-C port, as opposed to an attached USB-C cable. A drive like the one in the link. -> https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ENVPROC2N02/

By having a female port instead of a captive cable with a male plug I can use a common USB-C to USB-A cable to plug into any USB-A port at USB 3.1 speeds. I found out that this drive from OWC is backward compatible with USB 2.0, which makes it potentially even more useful in the future.

USB-C on a drive can mean it's talking USB or Thunderbolt on the wire. A ThunderBolt drive with a USB-C port on it might fall back to USB 3.x or even USB 2.0 but don't bet on it without looking closely at the spec sheet.

A ThunderBolt drive with a captive USB-C cable (like this one -> https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/TB3ENVP20/ ) is not going to plug into a computer with ThunderBolt 2 and USB-A ports cheaply and easily.

Best option, in my opinion, for connecting fast drives to ThunderBolt 2 computers is an adapter like this -> https://www.kanex.com/thunderbolt-esata

With a USB 3.x and eSATA ports you will be able to plug into faster drives, and with ports more common than ThunderBolt 2. A drive with a USB-C port (as opposed to a captive cable) can plug in with an inexpensive USB-A to USB-C "superspeed" cable.

If you really, absolutely, need a USB-C port that can be used to plug in a SSD at it's best speed then you are looking at a ThunderBolt 2 PCIe breakout box with a USB-C card inside. Maybe you can still find a ThunderBolt 2 dock with a USB-C port but as I recall they were always rare, expensive, and not on the market for long.

One example of such a breakout box. -> https://eshop.macsales.com/item/AKiTiO/2PCTIA/

There's lots of USB-C PCIe cards out there, I'll leave finding those as an exercise for the reader.