Review: Macessity Stack On Mi

The Mac mini accessory market is certainly an interesting one—it hasn’t reached the “everyone has one” status of the iPod, and still doesn’t have the “personal” feel of a laptop, yet many manufacturers have created stands, drives, and other accessories. Macessity, a newcomer in this market sells the Stack On Mi, a $30 stand that also happens to be a USB hub.

What is there to say about this product? It’s a USB hub that also elevates your Mac mini off of the desk by about an inch. Unlike products such as the NuBlue mini or mini Skirt Glo, the Stack On Mi does not light up, and is actually hollow in the center, allowing better airflow under your Mac mini. Besides that, it also has another function (most likely its primary function): it’s a 4-port USB 2.0 hub.

The USB hub works like any other model—plug the included AC adapter into the wall and the other end in the back of the hub and plug the included USB cable into both the hub and the Mac mini (or other powered hub). The included cable is rather short—just long enough to reach the back of a Mac mini or hard drive/hub combo. We would’ve liked to see more USB ports, especially rear ones, since the Mac minis either have a rather measly 2 or 4.

The steel of the Stack On Mi matches the Mac mini pretty closely, although not exactly. Stacking it with other products such as the aforementioned stands or hard drives such as the miniStack is not a problem.

For the money, the Stack On Mi is not much more than other USB hubs. What it does add is USB ports on the front of your Mac mini and cuts down on wasting desk space. We think it’s a pretty solid product and should be a good addition to any Mac mini setup.