The internet has been strangely silent on this topic. I haven't been able to find anything definitive from either iFixit or OWC, which are usually all over upgrades like these.

⟐ Answered November 21, 2025 at 8:42 MST

I have the Mac mini late 2014, the mid model, with the i5 at 2,6 ghz, iris graphics, 8 gb ram, 1 TB HDD.

From what I gather, I have a free slot on the machine for an SSD. All I need to do is to buy a cable from IFIXIT.

I want to get a SSD and use it with the 1 TB HDD that already come with the Mini. What interface should the new SSD be? M.2? Also, I have a SATA 3 SSD in a drawer... I can't use it at all,no?

⟐ Answered December 05, 2020 at 11:49 MST

This is a disaster for me because I like to have RAID on the internal drive to provide redundancy in case one of the internal drives fails.

I do Time Machine backups but internal RAID is just one extra level of safety for our data.

Can a second hard drive be successfully and relatively easily installed inside the new Mac minis?

I know we can use external drives but I am asking specifically about the internal drives.

It seems the answer (from iFixit) is NO!

Very disappointing Apple.

RAM soldered to the motherboard as well :-(

The Mac mini just morphed into something way less valuable (to me at least).

I have to reconsider the future for our family and SOHO server.

I guess Apple wants us to go iCloud totally - good by Mac OS X Server...

⟐ Answer deleted June 12, 2018 at 16:52 MST

Thanks in advance.

⟐ Commented August 25, 2020 at 4:15 MST

Thanks for reply.

⟐ Answer accepted June 16, 2015 at 14:12 MST

⟐ Answer accepted June 18, 2017 at 19:08 MST

How difficult it is (if possible)?

⟐ Commented January 13, 2022 at 4:32 MST

I'd like to make it a dual drive setup, but can't confirm what part is needed to do so. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

⟐ Commented July 17, 2019 at 11:46 MST

I have the late mac mini 2014 model with PCI flash only. I want to add a hard disk drive to increase internal storage and create a single fusion model.

Can someone confirm whether this is possible and which kit in need to buy. I've understood that the sata cable for the HHD is not included in the PCI-only version.

Many thanks

⟐ Commented December 06, 2018 at 12:17 MST

Off topic: The reason I bought the Mac Mini was because I got a 4k display and my Macbook Air wasn't able to drive the display. The Mini seems to be working but the UI elements (like the top bar, finder windows, etc) are all very very very tiny (screenshot here). Is there a way to scale those up?

⟐ Answer accepted August 10, 2015 at 6:53 MST

After days of tests and readings, I turn to you to seek for advice.

Here is my problem:

I am trying to upgrade a new Mac Mini (Late 2014 model) from it's original mechanical HDD to a Vertex 2 SSD I have been using for a few years with no problems to report, great product.

First 1 cloned my HDD onto the Vertex 2 SSD using SuperDuper, all went well.

I then switched disks and set the SSD in the SATA III slot inside the Mac Mini and reboot... the disk would boot, the recovery system and the disk utility would not see the disk (or it would see it just long enough to try to make a disk verification and then would disappear).

Here is what I have already tried:

- Boot from Linux LiveCD, I can see the Vertex SSD, I can see all it's file and browse them

- Reformat the disk, in HFS+ with GUID partition table

- Clean PRAM

- Perform a Hardware Check - all good

- Boot from the original HDD connected through a SATA-to-USB adapter - all good, i can boot the system, but i don't see the SSD drive (or only for a moment then as soon as i try some action on it (like a disk verification) it stalls and then disappears)

- Try to OCZ toolbox to make a security erase and start fresh. I had here a major issue, the OCZ toolbox would not start, it froze after a lot of complaints a "Scanning for hard disk partitions and creating /etc/fstab" and wouldn't move.

- Dissassembled the Mac Mini, removed the SSD, put it in a Macbook Pro, use OCZ Toolbox on it, this time, it loaded perfectly, identified the disk, i did a firmware update to the latest (1.37) and performed a security erase. All went perfectly. For verificiation I rebooted in recovery mode from the Macbook with the SSD and formatted properly the disk using the Apple Disk Utility (GUIP partition table+ HFS+ partition) and the system neatly identified it as a good host for system install. Then i removed the Vertex 2 SSD from the Macbook pro, put it back in the Mac Mini (reassembled it - god, that's a big pain !) and boot it again in recovery, only to see... nothing, the disk is still not recognized by the system.

Voilà... now I'm out of idea, It could be some low level hardware incompatibility, or anything else, i read about TRIM and Yosemite sometime not behaving well, about SATA II and SATA III compatibility problems, but so far, nothing clear.

I therefore welcome in anticipation your knowledge and hope we can figure this out. For the sake of extending the reach, I will also post this on Anandtech and Apple support forums. Links will be added.

OCZForum

AnandTech Forum

Apple Support Forum

⟐ Answered December 14, 2014 at 7:27 MST

But I want to replace installed 1TB 5400 rpm HD with Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD. I read all of the posts and answers here but I am not sure that it will work :( I already ordered a repait kit from ifixit...

Can anybody help me about this question because I already bought my mini mac since I thought HD->SDD upgrade would be possible. And I dont want to buy an extra SSD for nothing.

Best wishes...

Devrim

My SATA interface and HD like as follows, according to the system report.

Any issue?

⟐ Commented January 05, 2019 at 17:01 MST

Would like to check if a Samsung M.2 PCIe SSD (MZHPV256HDGL) might work on my Mini.

Have been told that with an adapter for the Flex Cable identified as 821-00010-A and all should work perfectly, but it doesn't!

The Mini doesn't even detects the drive! Verified thru the System Information tool, Disk Utility, etc.

Thanks in advance to the community!

Guillermo

Hello, we’re in July 2023, and despite @danj or @mayer awful comments/recommendations, my custom configuration still works like the first day 💪 💪 💪

I strongly recommend buying the specific adapter (Flex Cable identified as 821-00010-A), and any PCIe SSD with respective connector, to boost & upgrade your 2014 Mini.

Regards!!

⟐ Commented July 05, 2024 at 3:27 MST

I have a Mac mini Late 2014, it works fine when im using it but cannot update OS not install new one, each time I try to do it, it comes with up error and points to running diagnostics due to a hardware fault. Ran diagnostics and came back with PPM002 error pointing to an issue with memory module (crappy onboard on this version of Mac mini so can't replace). However when I Run a memory test software like Rember (I've tried a couple of others too) all memory tests come back with no issues. I've attached pics of the diagnostics screen as well as the memory tests.

Any help is appreciated.

⟐ Answered September 11, 2024 at 1:17 MST

1. Do I need to purchase anything besides the 970 Evo Plus (M.2) and related tools make this work?
2. Are there any special steps I need to take before I install the new SSD?
3. Do I install the 970 Evo Plus in the same slot as the original Apple SSD blade location?

⟐ Commented December 15, 2022 at 9:05 MST

I'm working on an A1347 820-5509-A Mac Mini. Looking at the system I have see these component are burnt. Can someone tell me which components I need to replace here and where to order them.

• @oldturkey03 I need you sir....
• @reecee i need you sir..

I want to thank everyone. Thank you!

⟐ Answered June 05, 2018 at 4:53 MST

I was about to purchase a brand new one from Apple but I discovered they were essentially sealed shut in terms of user upgrades and maintenance.

I'm thinking that the best thing to do would be to purchase as late a model as possible without getting one that cannot be easily upgraded. But, I don't know what year Apple began making units that were difficult, if not impossible, to upgrade.

I'm OK with anything but desoldering things off the motherboard. I want to get as fast a unit as possible so my plan was to purchase a low end unit, on eBay, and install a SSHD and RAM upgrade. I intend to use it primarily for running XCODE for development purposes.

⟐ Answer accepted December 04, 2016 at 16:49 MST

Specs are Dual Core i5 2,5Ghz, 8Gb RAM, 1Tb HD.

After I openned it up, I see that the cooler tries to spin but then it stops, checked the power supply from the machine and its giving 12v as it should be, on power supply after I press the power button it goes to 0,4A then zero, then 0,7A then zero again, and it repeats over and over again...

HD is Ok, I can boot from it using another mac, Power Supply is Ok, buttons, flats, I´ve already rehoted the RAMs chips that are soldered to the board just to make shure (theres no beep indicating RAM problem...)

I dont know what else can it be, anyone can help me with an scheme or an more advanced tech tip?

Thanks!

⟐ Commented July 30, 2023 at 14:41 MST

All I can find is this: Mac mini Late 2014

⟐ Commented July 17, 2019 at 11:44 MST

⟐ Commented February 02, 2015 at 19:30 MST