Find Of The Week - MyElectronics Mac Studio Rack Mount
Until now if you wanted to rack mount an Apple Mac Studio then Sonnet was the choice. Not anymore and even better, this option is significantly cheaper.
In Short
The Apple Mac Studio form factor means that if you want to mount it in a rack you need some additional hardware. Until recently the options you had were Sonnet or Sonnet. However, MyElectonics, a company based in the Netherlands and with 25 years experience have made a cost effective alernative, we ordered one and we can’t see any downsides.
In Depth
What You Get
The Mac Studio Rack Mount in two pre-configured options:
6880: Pre-configured for 1 or 2 Mac Studios. (blank cover included)
6881: Preconfigured for 1 Mac Studio and 1 Mac mini. (blank cover included)
The difference is mainly the position of the second (right) power button. Mac Studio and Mac mini have different orientations of the power button. But all the parts are included. You can convert your Mac Studio Rack Mount to any version, whatever your initial configuration was when you bought it.
The design allows the Macs to be pushed in and out from the front. Even if the rack mount is already mounted in the 19-inch rack!
Two special power buttons are fitted as standard in the front panel. This allows you to switch the Mac Studio (or two Mac Studios) on and off from the front panel.
Two Mac Studios mounted
Options
The Mac Studio Rack Mount comes with some customisation options.
The two slots are both configured with a power button assembly. And the good thing is that the second slot can be converted to a Mac mini slot. With this Mac Studio Rack Mount all 3 options are included:
1 xMac Studio and 1 slot with a blank cover
2 x Mac Studio
1 x Mac Studio and 1x Mac mini (conversion by customer)
There’s also some extra customisation with handy connectors for front connectivity.
LAN CAT.6A (art.nr. 6563)
USB3.0 (art.nr. 6517)
HDMI (art.nr. 6564)
HDMI 2.0 (art.nr. 6776)
Audio Jack (art.nr. 6568)
Our Impressions
The unit was ordered from the UK and arrived in a matter of days. Configuration on the website was easy, we opted for 2 x USB 3 connectors on the front, handy when you need to plug something in fast.
The design and build quality are excellent, some thought has gone into the unit. For example, to mount the Mac Studio you unscrew two thumb bolts and the front panel comes off, then you simply slide the unit in. There’s plenty of space around the unit to get the cables and other stuff mounted. We opted to mount our Caldigit TS3 Pro hub in the empty space. We now have a very compact and tidy unit with all of connectivity set up.
The Best News
The best news is that the MyElectronics Mac Studio Rack Mount costs €245, at current exchange rates that’s about £217, with VAT added that comes to £260. The base level Sonnet xMax Studio is £647 plus VAT, that’s £730. The Sonnet does have some differences, like a 4 port hub, however we’re not sure they are nearly £500 worth of differences.
Find Of The Week
Bottom line, for a lot of people who need to rack mount a Mac Studio the MyElectronics unit is a great option. It’s got great features, excellent construction and fast delivery… what’s not to love? If you buy one, please tell them we sent you. We get no payment for recommending this product.