Dockcase Smart Magsafe M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure review: Storage puck for the iPhone
Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Expandable memory
- External power supply
- SSD health monitoring
- Robust housing
Cons
- Relatively large enclosure
- You must provide your own 2230/2242 NVMe M.2 SSD module
Our Verdict
The Dockcase Smart Magsafe M.2 NVMe SSD enclosure offers crucial professional features, thanks to its external power connection, flexible storage expansion, and integrated SSD health monitoring. These features make the enclosure slightly larger than necessary, but the Dockcase is highly recommended for professional users.
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Slip in an SSD module into the Dockcase Smart Magsafe M.2 NVMe SSD case, then attach it magnetically to an iPhone 15 Pro or 16 Pro, connect it with a USB-C cable, and the video fun can begin. The Dockcase SSD enclosure enables 4K60Hz ProRes recording directly to the SSD, an ideal solution to conserve internal storage. You can then simply connect the SSD to your Mac or iPad Pro for editing.
The enclosure supports compact NVMe M.2 SSDs in 2230 and 2242 formats that you must buy separately. You can get a maximum capacity of 2TB, enough for up to three hours of recording in 4K ProRes.
A 1.54-inch 240-by-240 pixel IPS LC display shows real-time details on SSD health and transfer rate. The integrated display may appear playful at first glance, but it offers a wealth of information, especially on SSD health, which is particularly relevant for professionals. A side button can be used to rotate the display by 90 degrees or switch to another display to call up information on the performance and settings of the SSD.
The round aluminum housing is compact with a diameter of 59 millimeters and a height of 14.5 millimeters, and weighs just 53 grams. Ventilation slots are integrated around the housing to dissipate heat. Silicon pads on the Magsafe side protect the iPhone and ensure optimized airflow.
An integrated power loss protection (PLP) protects the data even in the event of unexpected power failures and backs up the files for up to 3 seconds. In addition, a write-protected mode ensures that important files are not accidentally changed or deleted.
The USB 3.2 interface offers a transfer speed of 10Gbps. On the Mac, we measured a respectable 741MBps when writing and 781MBps when reading. Mind you, this was with our very small 128GB SSD. Larger SSDs should be faster.
In addition to the USB-C data port, the Dockcase SSD enclosure has an additional USB-C port for the power supply, which supports up to 100 watts. With an external power supply, the USB-C output of the enclosure delivers up to 15 watts, while an alternative version of the device even offers up to 90 watts of output power.
Dockcase includes a short USB-C cable, a screwdriver, a Magsafe sticker, and a wrist strap.
Should you buy the Dockcase Smart Magsafe M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure?
iPhone filmmakers will love the little puck. The Dockcase Smart MagSafe M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure may not be the most compact iPhone SSD storage, but it scores with upgradeability and an external power connection–a real advantage for long shoots, as iPhone runtime can be extended with a power bank.
This article originally appeared on our sister publication Macwelt and was translated and localized from German.
