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New Mac Mini - Can the hard drive be upgraded?

G

GrandPixel

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 15, 2010
4
0
Can the hard drive in the new mac mini be upgraded? Are they standard 2.5" notebook form factor? I would like to install an Intel SSD.
 
It's 2.5" SATA HD but currently, we have no idea where the HD is located inside the Mini thus it can be very hard to get access for it. Wait for teardown before buying
 
so we know that the ram can be upgraded, but we do not know about the hard disk, right?
 
My guess is the screws on the bottom will get you inside. The screws appear to be Torx 5 point security, which can be very tough to get.
 
I'm sure ifixit will get to the HDD in a tear down and tutorial. The real question is how difficult and how much work will it require to get at the HDD.
 
3N16MA said:
I'm sure ifixit will get to the HDD in a tear down and tutorial. The real question is how difficult and how much work will it require to get at the HDD.
Click to expand...

Or what screws it might have. If Apple uses those 5-point Torx security screws, you might be at a loss.
 
It's not user replaceable... You need to take out: memory, fan , cowling, antenna cover, and the logic board(needs a special tool) to get to the hard drive.

i just cheked it in the apple service manual. :(
 
Vikz said:
It's not user replaceable... You need to take out: memory, fan , cowling, antenna cover, and the logic board(needs a special tool) to get to the hard drive.

i just cheked it in the apple service manual. :(
Click to expand...

Wow, seriously? So they made the RAM easier to get to, but the Hard Drive EXTRA-hard? Lame. Especially since there's still no SSD options for the Mini.
 
Vikz said:
It's not user replaceable... You need to take out: memory, fan , cowling, antenna cover, and the logic board(needs a special tool) to get to the hard drive.

i just cheked it in the apple service manual. :(
Click to expand...

Do you have a new Mini? At least US site doesn't have the new manual yet so please post a link if you can
 
I just had a look at the guide (I cannot disclose where I get it or post it, sorry). The hard drive will be a messy upgrade, I wouldn't advice anyone to do it themselves. The whole logic board has to be removed, which is never a good sign.

You _will_ void your warranty when replacing the hard drive in the new Mini, for sure.
 
Could it really be that hard?

I just changed the speakers in my Penryn 15" MBP, and that involved taking out everything, including the logic board. I put it all back, and it seems to work fine, including the microphone which didn't work before. Admittedly, this involved a lot of work (about 1 1/2 hours), but it was better than paying Apple the extra $150 they wanted. I think that if you have a good manual (which is absolutely indispensable) giving the step-by-step procedure, it probably wouldn't be that hard to replace the hard drive in the new Mini.
 
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Any chance the connector for the HD is easy to get to? Or even the optical drive?

If so, you could hook up an extension cord and route it out like eSATA.
 
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Bummer. It only takes me about 20 minutes to change the RAM and hard drive in the previous design.
 
Heilage said:
I just had a look at the guide (I cannot disclose where I get it or post it, sorry). The hard drive will be a messy upgrade, I wouldn't advice anyone to do it themselves. The whole logic board has to be removed, which is never a good sign.

You _will_ void your warranty when replacing the hard drive in the new Mini, for sure.
Click to expand...

Nope:

On that note, Apple’s policy on upgrading the Mac mini yourself has always been that as long as you don’t break anything in the process, your warranty is still valid. I confirmed with Apple that this is, indeed, still the case with the newest Mac mini. However, the company contends that because the new mini includes at least 320GB of hard-drive space—and you can upgrade at the time of purchase to 500GB for $100—there’s less of a need to upgrade the hard drive than when the mini shipped with only 160GB.
Click to expand...

http://www.macworld.com/article/152061/2010/06/macmini2010handson.html?lsrc=rss_main
 
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