⟐ Commented December 18, 2023 at 1:52 MST

⟐ Answered November 18, 2025 at 22:59 MST

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

Please don’t mind me asking - is it possible to upgrade the RAM in the new version of the Mac Mini from March 2020 as described for the 2018 Model? It would think so, but would like to make sure for my purchase.

Cheers

⟐ Commented November 24, 2020 at 10:31 MST

⟐ Commented February 19, 2024 at 14:53 MST

⟐ Commented September 01, 2019 at 11:46 MST

My question is for the M1 Mac Mini is there still an internal port where you can add a second drive?

⟐ Answer edited August 16, 2022 at 13:14 MST

I have tried to reset PRAM and SMC but i cannot tell if they have actually reset, not sure if the sandy bridge based macs use something different.

I also ran the "d" diag utility and everything passes. The machine runs fine the fan is just stuck at 100% and its very annoying.

⟐ Commented August 28, 2021 at 0:22 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

I have read several people have installed their ssd in a late MacMini 2012 in the original slot where the hard disk was, and the HD in the empty bay. What is currently considered the best thing to do (also since I'm now running 10.10, which was not the standard OS when the guide from ifixit was made)?

Same question regarding the cable to attach the new ssd? Is it best to use the original cable for the ssd or better to use the ifixit cable for the sad?

Thanks,

Eric

⟐ Answer accepted June 14, 2015 at 2:31 MST

When the computer restarts, it doesn't indicate a kernel panic.

No idea what to do, thank you for the help!

⟐ Commented July 12, 2025 at 12:03 MST

Some background information may help some readers understand why I am asking this question.

On the 2010 Mac mini, a thermal sensor was taped to the hard drive. This was also done on the older iMacs. But the 2011 iMac switched to proprietary sensors internal to the hard drive itself, as noted the following article:

http://www.macgasm.net/2011/05/16/owc-in...

It starts out:

Other World Computing (OWC), supplier of many parts for new and old Macs, has gone in-depth into the reported restriction of Apple’s mid-2011 iMacs. The issue is that if a non-Apple hard drive is placed into the 2011 iMac, the fans will eventually spin at their maximum speed and the iMac will fail the Apple Hardware Test.

Apple is using custom firmware on their supplied hard drives to monitor the thermal properties of the hard drive while it is operating. In order to accomplish this task, Apple must use a special 7-pin SATA cable with the additional two pins being used for thermal monitoring.

__________________________________________

Was this change also made to the 2011 Mac mini? I thought that it might have since there is no longer a thermal sensor taped to the drive in the iFixit teardown.

The teardown is here:

Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown

But some of the commentators hint that basically there are no thermal sensors for the hard drives at all! I would like to have a clear answer, if possible. If the drive were to fail after the warranty expires, I would want to install a non-Apple supplied “off the shelf” hard drive myself rather than pay apple to do the work to install their proprietary hard drive.

Thanks!

⟐ Answer edited December 05, 2014 at 23:43 MST

is the new design too tightly integrated to do this? Does it have different voltage requirements anyway making it more awkward to supply with power?

⟐ Commented September 23, 2024 at 21:43 MST

I have a Mid 2011 Mac Mini (2.5Ghz i5 model A1347) which I bought from the refurb store in 2013.

From mid 2013 to late 2016 it served as a media server, running XBMC/Kodi. Towards the end of that time it started to randomly shut down. I then stopped using it and since then it's been sat in a cupboard.

I was going to wipe it and set it up for my daughter, but I can't get it started. When I try to start it, the power light comes on and I can hear something (I think it's the HDD) and then about one second later it switches off.

Any guidance on troubleshooting this would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Barry

⟐ Commented March 27, 2025 at 10:57 MST

I'm looking for a take apart guide for Mac mini Server (Mid 2010). I need to replace both internal hard disks.

⟐ Answer edited September 17, 2014 at 10:37 MST

Is it processor dependent ? (some Intel processors are listed at 16 GB, some at 32 GB)

---

Added:

To be more specific:

If you look at this question:

What are the comercial names of Mac mini 2012 chipset and processor?

there is a link to an Intel comparison:

http://ark.intel.com/compare/67355,65709... .

Here one of the processors accept 16 Gb while the 2 others accept 32. My question is: if I upgrade the processor of the server version, will the Mac Mini accept 32 Gb as listed in the Intel table?

Did anyone tried that?

⟐ Commented March 06, 2022 at 8:19 MST

I have been running Catalina Public Beta. I got a notice that an update was available, so I updated. When I came back a few hours later, my Mac Mini was shut down. No light or noise on pushing power button. Verified power available and then contacted Apple support. They verified it was still under warranty until November and made an appointment at the local store. Taking it in today and will follow up.

⟐ Answered December 26, 2020 at 6:32 MST

I'm looking at purchasing a 2012 Mac Mini with an i5 processor. I have a PC at home that is not really used as I am a Mac user. The PC is pretty high spec - well it was 3 years ago. It's running an i7 processor and I was wandering if I could put it in the Mac?

Any help is appreciated.

Many thanks,

Steve

⟐ Commented May 29, 2024 at 11:47 MST

My mini is still under warranty as it hasn't been out for very long. This is actually my 2nd mini as I exchanged the first one hoping the 2nd one would run cooler. But they run almost identical. This mini has the discrete gpu thus ~6W idle additional heat to dissipate.

I am irritated that I cannot enjoyably stream Netflix without the cpu die reporting 95C via iStat Menus and Hardware Monitor by Bresink, although it does settle out to ~90C. This i5's thermal limit is 100C. Thankfully the SMC is working as the fan runs at almost full and thus I can hardly even hear the movie. Now I know that the total amount of heat isn't going to change by reapplying thermal compound but I think it might greatly reduce the die temp and thus allow the fan to back off a bit.

The mini is on a metal wire shelf that allows airflow into the bottom intake and the rear cables come down from the top so as to not obstruct the exhaust vent. The room is at 26C (55%RH) and the mini idles (2% cpu) at 71C cpu diode and about 66C cpu proximity with ambient air sensor in mini at 56C.

I recently had Apple fix my MBP6,1 17" as it was also having thermal problems however it took almost a week of *arguing* with Apple to get them to make it right, but now it idles at 42C and never goes over like 86C and it used to hit like 103C. I know the mini won't be that cool but I want to know if it can do better than my current readings? I woud assume do this fix myself as the arguing with Apple is incredibly stressful. Oddly none of the reviewers seemed to mention temperature data? I would be curious to see a picture of the cpu die before you cleaned it off in your tear down if you have it? Oh and if these temps are like clearly showing a problem with my mini to the extent that Apple might listen then please tell me :)

Thanks for any advice / stats you can give. I admit I am a tad scared to tear the mini apart but the needing to know what the temp *could* be is killing me :D

Ryan

[update - AUG 29]

A friend of mine bought a new mac mini (base model) and it runs just as hot. Yet he found a mac mini in an Apple Store didn't run hot. Perhaps some cool units exist? I found that Netflix is just bearable with Plex as it uses slightly less cpu than chrome or safari. Probably will endup getting a ROKU or an Apple TV for the future as the mini just sucks at Netflix. Anyways last night I decided to point a fan at my mini. This drops the idle temp from 70C to ~60C (internal fan chills out too). Kinda annoying having the extra fan noise but helps a lot and makes the top of the mini touchable. So that is my temporary advice. I may try water cooling the top of the mini in the future just to avoid the extra fan noise.

As for repasting I will indeed hold off as that seems like the wise thing to do. Also it seems that the GPU either has hardware problems or is in serious need of better drivers. As youtube videos will get like weird green stuff going on and windows with transparency on my other monitor will get weird crosshatch patterns (concurrent). Thus I want to wait and see if Apple is gonna software update or if this unit has issues. Once all that is sorted out and my warranty is nearing the end I will reapply z paste.

[pictures of mini w/ fan xD]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2091843/ifixit/m...

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2091843/ifixit/m...

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2091843/ifixit/m...

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2091843/ifixit/m...

⟐ Commented October 16, 2015 at 18:14 MST