Upgrade HDD to Fusion Drive

[ethan-1878]

Hi all,

This isn't the usual "how to I *insert title here*". What I'd like to know is, have any of you ever had such a replacement/upgrade made after purchase in your local Genius Bar? The reason I ask is that my 2014 Mac Mini (which I bought on eBay) is still in warranty. I know that it's possible to put a PCIe SSD inside of it and build a fusion drive in Disk Utility but I don't want to void my AppleCare!

I've tried calling Apple but the support rep on the phone didn't seem to understand my question and was then told by my local genius bar that the upgrade wasn't possible at all as the components are soldered to the motherboard! (I smell something fishy going on here)

So, yeah, I'd just like to know if any of you have had the replacement/upgrade carried out by your local Genius Bar.

Thanks!

Ethan.

 

[Fishrrman]

I may be wrong here but I don't believe the Apple store will do such an upgrade (by installing a PCIe-based SSD where it normally goes.

I believe you have 3 choices:

1. Buy a PCIe drive and cable, and install it yourself. These aren't available as a new item, you'd have to find a used one off ebay (drive). Cable and bracket can be ordered new.

2. Get an independent Mac repair place to do the job if you don't wish to do it.

3. Add an external SSD. You could "fuse" it with the internal HDD, but in my opinion you'd probably do better just to boot and run it as a "standalone" external booter, and let your internal HDD continue to "show up" on the desktop as a second drive icon.