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The new Mac mini (M4 / M4 Pro) has only two USB-C ports on the front and three Thunderbolt ports on the back—the USB-A ports are gone. Where do you plug in a USB-A mouse, keyboard, or printer? And the built-in Gigabit Ethernet port is painfully slow for transferring large files to a NAS. In this article, we’ll discuss how to use a single USB4 cable to handle both of these tasks at once.

Existing Issues

The Mac mini's ports really aren't enough.

On the Mac mini (M4 / M4 Pro) models released after 2024, Apple made the case smaller and removed the USB-A port. The port looks like this:

• Front: 2 USB-C ports (USB 3, 10 Gb/s) + headphone jack
• Back: 3 Thunderbolt ports (Thunderbolt 4 on the M4, Thunderbolt 5 on the M4 Pro) + HDMI + Gigabit Ethernet (10Gb available as an optional upgrade for an additional fee)

USB-A ports—not a single one.

In my case, the day I got my M4 Mac mini, I dug out a mouse, a mechanical keyboard, and a printer from a drawer—all of which I’d been using for four or five years—and they all had USB-A connectors. Not a single one would plug into the computer. I made do with adapters for a few days, but my desk was cluttered with a bunch of little cables, and one of the Thunderbolt ports was taken up.

The network is also a headache. My home NAS stores 4K footage, original photo files, and virtual machine images. It took over six minutes to copy a 50GB folder from the NAS using the built-in Gigabit port. Even though both the NAS and the switch are 10-Gigabit devices, the bottleneck is right here—the last meter at the Mac mini.

These two issues may sound like completely different things, but in fact, a single device can solve both of them.

Why Do Mac mini Users Need “One Cable” to Solve the Problem?

The absence of a USB-A port is a design choice by Apple.

The Mac mini from the M1 and M2 eras also had two USB-A ports on the back. With the M4, Apple removed these two ports as part of its move toward a unified USB-C and Thunderbolt ecosystem.

So, for external devices, you’ll basically have to rely on adapters: either buy a bunch of adapters, or just get a hub that can expand the USB-A ports. USB-A mice, keyboards, printers, flash drives, external hard drives, and card readers—these devices are far from obsolete.

Gigabit Ethernet Ports: The Ultimate Choice for NAS Users

The base model Mac mini comes standard with Gigabit Ethernet (1000 Mbps; Ethernet, IP, and TCP consume some bytes, reducing the effective payload. In an ideal environment, the theoretical TCP limit is approximately 115–120 MB/s; in practice, with a high-quality network cable and network card, speeds commonly reach around 110 MB/s). Nowadays, mainstream NAS devices, software routers, and 10-Gigabit switches are quite common. Whether you’re transferring 4K video project files from a NAS, performing a full-system Time Machine backup, or having multiple devices simultaneously read from and write to LAN shares—Gigabit bandwidth is often maxed out, resulting in a frustrating “spinning wheel” experience.

If you switch to 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE, with a theoretical speed of approximately 1,250 MB/s), the theoretical bandwidth for the same file increases by about 10 times.

Interfaces are precious

The Mac mini’s Thunderbolt ports should be reserved for devices that really demand bandwidth, such as monitors, high-speed SSDs, and capture cards. If a single Thunderbolt port could handle the A port, 10-Gigabit Ethernet, and the card reader, the remaining ports could be freed up for devices like monitors.

DTB3R61: A single USB4 cable provides both a Type-A port and 10 Gigabit Ethernet

LEKUO's DTB3R61 6-in-1 USB4 40 Gbps docking station was designed specifically to address these two issues:

This isn’t just an ordinary USB-C adapter. Thanks to the 40 Gbps USB4 connection, you can access all six ports while using just one Thunderbolt port on your Mac mini.

Buying Separately vs. All-in-One Solution: Which Is More Cost-Effective?

If you also need to connect a card reader, buying it separately means adding another device; the DTB3R61 already has a built-in card reader.

What are these ports used for?

3× USB-A (5 Gbps) — Common USB-A peripherals like mice and keyboards are plug-and-play. Printers, scanners, and USB sound cards work just fine, and it supports external hard drives, USB flash drives, and external optical drives without issue. 5 Gbps is more than enough for keyboards and mice, and even mechanical external hard drives won’t slow things down.

1× 10 Gigabit RJ45 (10GbE) — Connect it to a 10 Gigabit switch, router, or NAS, and your local network will run at full 10 Gigabit speed. It features six-speed auto-negotiation; even if you’re still using an older Gigabit network, it will automatically adjust its speed to ensure a connection. The AQC113 is natively recognized by macOS—once plugged in, a new network adapter will automatically appear in your network settings without any additional configuration required.

1× TF/SD 3.0 Card Reader—For memory cards from cameras, drones, and dashcams, you can import footage right away. This should be quite convenient for those who edit videos or retouch photos.

USB4 40 Gbps upstream: Just plug it into any Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 5 port on the back of the Mac mini—Thunderbolt ports are compatible with USB4 devices. The 40 Gbps bandwidth allows you to run a 10-Gigabit Ethernet connection, connect several USB-A devices, and use a card reader simultaneously, all without any performance conflicts.

Actual Test Data

• 10-Gigabit Ethernet Port Traffic Generation Test

• Noise Testing

• Temperature

How to Use

1. Plug one end of the included 40 Gbps cable into the dock and the other end into any Thunderbolt port on the back of the Mac mini.
2. Plug your mouse and keyboard into any of the three USB-A ports, and they'll work right away.
3. Plug one end of the Ethernet cable into the docking station's 10 Gigabit RJ45 port, and the other end into a switch, router, or NAS.
4. Open System Settings → Network, and you'll see an additional Ethernet interface (the AQC113 has been recognized).
5. Insert the TF/SD card into the card reader, and it will automatically appear on your desktop—that's it.

Q&A

Q1: Does the M4 Mac mini really not have any USB-A ports?

Yes, it doesn’t. M4 and M4 Pro Mac minis released in 2024 or later no longer include USB-A ports; they have two USB-C ports on the front and three Thunderbolt ports on the back. Older M1 and M2 models still have two USB-A ports on the back, but the newer models do not.

Q2: Which port on the Mac mini should I plug the DTB3R61 into?

Plug it into any Thunderbolt 4 (M4) or Thunderbolt 5 (M4 Pro) port on the back. Thunderbolt ports are compatible with USB4 devices, and the DTB3R61’s USB4 upstream connection works normally, achieving the full 40 Gbps bandwidth.

Q3: Will the 10-Gigabit Ethernet port conflict with the Mac mini’s built-in Gigabit Ethernet?

No, the two network cards operate independently. You can route the internet traffic through the built-in Gigabit Ethernet and the NAS internal network through the 10-Gigabit port by specifying the priority in the network settings.

Q4: Does the AQC113 require a driver on a Mac?

No. The AQC113 has native kernel driver support on macOS; it will appear in Network Preferences as soon as you plug it in.

Q5: Are three USB-A ports enough for a mouse, keyboard, and printer?

Yes. The mouse and keyboard take up two ports, and the printer or external hard drive can use the third. Low-speed devices like mice and keyboards won’t even use up the full 5 Gbps bandwidth. If you have more peripherals, simply connect a USB hub to the bottom port.

Q6: How fast does 10 Gigabit actually run?

The theoretical bandwidth is approximately 9.5 Gb, and internal network file transfer speeds are about 1.1 GB/s. Actual performance depends on your NAS, switch, network cable (Cat6a or higher recommended), and hard drive. As long as all your devices support 10 Gigabit, the experience is worlds apart from Gigabit.