Has anyone installed an Apple blade SSD into a Mac Mini

[AnilPani]

I was wondering if the Apple "blade style" SSDs from iMacs, MacBook Pros, or MacBook Airs can be installed in Mac Minis.

I found some enclosures that are supposed to make the blade style drives compatible with SATA III connectors:

Sintech A1369 A1370 A1377 Apple MACBOOK AIR ssd to SATA converter

SINTECH 2012 MACBOOK PRO Retina A1398 MC975 MC976 ssd to 2.5" SATA 3 Adapter

Has anyone tried this? I wonder if the drive performance is unaffected?

 

[scottsjack]

Very interesting.

 

[tvguy]

My mini holds two regular 2.5 inch laptop drives.

 

[MacVidCards]

I was wondering if the Apple "blade style" SSDs from iMacs, MacBook Pros, or MacBook Airs can be installed in Mac Minis.

I found some enclosures that are supposed to make the blade style drives compatible with SATA III connectors:

Sintech A1369 A1370 A1377 Apple MACBOOK AIR ssd to SATA converter

SINTECH 2012 MACBOOK PRO Retina A1398 MC975 MC976 ssd to 2.5" SATA 3 Adapter

Has anyone tried this? I wonder if the drive performance is unaffected?

Drive performance will be SATAIII at best.

Note that the 2nd link you posted is for rMBP 2012 (typing this on one)

They only contain a SATA SSD Blade.

Much better to get true PCIE SSD blade.

I have gotten a couple adapters form these guys, work fine.

They have a very handy pic in the ad, you really should be looking at things to use with the far image on right. It's the one capable of 1,000 MB/s, the others are not.

And this is on first link you posted:

"Not FIT 2.5 inch SATA HDD because the length of the adapter plate is bigger than 2.5 inch SATA HDD. Only converted to 3.5 inch SATA HDD"

 

[redheeler]

My mini holds two regular 2.5 inch laptop drives.

Yes, the OP wants to know if it's possible to adapt an Apple PCIe SSD (from a late 2013 or later Mac) or SATA SSD (from an earlier rMBP/MBA) to substitute one of the drives in a 2012 Mac mini. The reasoning behind this could be TRIM support or faster transfer speeds.

 

[AnilPani]

Drive performance will be SATAIII at best.

Note that the 2nd link you posted is for rMBP 2012 (typing this on one)

They only contain a SATA SSD Blade.

Much better to get true PCIE SSD blade.

I have gotten a couple adapters form these guys, work fine.

They have a very handy pic in the ad, you really should be looking at things to use with the far image on right. It's the one capable of 1,000 MB/s, the others are not.

And this is on first link you posted:

"Not FIT 2.5 inch SATA HDD because the length of the adapter plate is bigger than 2.5 inch SATA HDD. Only converted to 3.5 inch SATA HDD"

Excellent information. Thank you!

Do the drives installed with the Sintech adapters appear as Apple drives in the System Utility?

If so, that would be another upgrade possibility for us that will allow TRIM out of the box.

Thanks again for the info!

Best regards,
Pani

 

[Mizouse]

I'm curious about this too if it brings native TRIM support with a SATA adapter.

is it beneficial to have TRIM enabled on the PCIe blade style SDDs as well?

I'm thinking that if 2014 Mac mini SSDs show up on eBay I'll snag one and stuff it in my 2012 with an adapter if it brings native TRIM.

 

[handheldgames]

I was wondering if the Apple "blade style" SSDs from iMacs, MacBook Pros, or MacBook Airs can be installed in Mac Minis.

I found some enclosures that are supposed to make the blade style drives compatible with SATA III connectors:

Sintech A1369 A1370 A1377 Apple MACBOOK AIR ssd to SATA converter

SINTECH 2012 MACBOOK PRO Retina A1398 MC975 MC976 ssd to 2.5" SATA 3 Adapter

Has anyone tried this? I wonder if the drive performance is unaffected?

The PCIe slot used for Bluetooth and witeless is the same one from the nMP and the Sintech adapter. No one has tested the PCIE slot to see how many channels it provides. I'm considering a mini test drive to find out.

 

[MacVidCards]

The PCIe slot used for Bluetooth and witeless is the same one from the nMP and the Sintech adapter. No one has tested the PCIE slot to see how many channels it provides. I'm considering a mini test drive to find out.

Are you certain of this?

The WiFi & BT card from iMac and MBP and MBA are all the same connector, and they are nothing like the SSD Blade from nMP.

Let me know if you mean something else, I have a 2014 Mini here and already have a 512Gb SSD to put inside, I had forgotten how miserable a 5400rpm drive was. Beachballs, spinning everywhere.

 

[handheldgames]

I finally found a close up of the PCI express Bluetooth / card as described by fixit that was posted in an expanded tear down of '14 mini. The pin count does not match any standard PCIe or Apple flash PCIe configurations. Rats!!

The $200 external PCIe thunderbolt box you are using with external video cards appears to be the best DIY thunderbolt flash expansion option when coupled with an Apple Flash SSD. At a combined cost of under 850, it comes in almost $400 cheaper than the Lacie LBDT2 equipped with 2x Samsung xp941