Damn, you need to start your own semiconductor factory! Now!
I make them out of balsa wood! They look awesome!
... they don't actually work.
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This C|Net article claims that replacing the mini RAM requires a trip to an Apple service center.
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I make them out of balsa wood! They look awesome!
... they don't actually work.
I hope its not true. It would ruin my plan of getting the base model and upgrading the ram for cheap
Indeed. Call me queasy but disassembling the 2012 to slide in an SSD wasn't a particularly pleasant experience. Afterwards I often toyed with the idea to install a second drive but shuddered at the thought of opening that machine up again.
And I did assemble my own PCs from parts back in the day - that's much easier in comparison.
Just out of curiosity: What's difficult about sliding the logicboard out and back in? "Alignment"?
Genuine question, it sounds straight-forward to me.
Genuine question, it sounds straight-forward to me.
Inside the 2012, there are screw holes that need to perfectly align since they go through the top WiFi antenna plate, down to the SATA bracket, then towards the mobo at the bottom, a total of 3 layers. If you don't line those up you can't screw them back in place. The room inside the chassis are tight fit, and some soft cables were tugged at angles to be shoved, so if it is the first time a person taking a mini apart, the step of putting the mobo inside can mean lots of trial and error, particularly if what you do is to add a 2nd SATA drive + bracket which means you are adding lots of stuff internally, which could have been empty room for cables to go around out of factory.
I am optimistic this time though, since we no longer have SATA bays to worry about, and judging from photos it seems lots of bottom volume are occupied by the fan chamber, once removed it probably means only a rather thin mobo needs to be slided out.
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Internals in the 2018, starting from the top grille, look completely different to me. We might still have to slide the logic board out, but I doubt the 2012 is a good comparison model, so I am as optimistic as you that, once the fan enclosure is out, the sliding becomes easy.
How could this take 3 hours? Surely 1 hour maximum. Base, Wifi shield, fan, memory swap - then reassemble. If it takes longer then seriously don't work on hardware.
And that Mac mini was a TOTAL pain to open, and impossible to do without it being clear you’d done it (scrapes around the bottom).
While I expect this year’s model to be much easier to mess with, it’s clearly not a quick swap, which is a shame.
I have the skills but it’s still a risk. I’m starting to wonder how much it costs for a walk in install. I mean if you can bring your own chips, are saving $600 and it’s $50 + lunch in the foodcourt, the food sounds like more trouble/risk to me.
What you say cannot be Apple policy because that is expressly forbidden in the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act, section 102(c). I think people are misinterpreting some of the following possibilities:
- Some random Apple tech said that, but the technician is wrong
- Apple can refuse to work on the third party parts
- Apple can refuse to work on damage caused by the user during the upgrade
- Apple can refuse to work on damage that occurred as a direct result of the third party parts (but is required to prove the link to the FTC and obtain a waiver to the Act)
Just to be clear.... none of that was necessary to upgrade the RAM in the 2012 Mini. That merely involved twisting off the bottom and plugging in the chips. Apple designed the 2010-2012 Mini's to be user-upgradeable and has illustrated instructions on their site.
That certainly doesn't seem to be the case with the 2018 Mini.