Yes, I was able to DFU the original SSD from Apple so I know the cable and everything was working OK.
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Upgrading M4 Mac Mini SSD: Pre-Soldered 2TB Chip Options
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The wires came out of the power switch after I followed the iFixIt instructions to gently pull by the wires. But the bare wires came out but the pictures show tipped metallic clamp to the wires (step 7 at link below). Those clamps are missing from my power switch so I do wonder if it's a MFG defect.
How to Replace the SSD in your Mac mini (2024)
Use this guide to replace the SSD, or flash storage module, in your Mac mini (2024). This guide was written with a base model M4 Mac mini. Although...
www.ifixit.com
I manually powered on by touching the wires together then set MacOS to boot on a power failure so it does work but switch is broken.
You mean the two metallic wire terminal jackets that are supposed to be inside the plastic tab are now missing? I wouldn't say it is trivial to fix since you need to find a size that fits exactly, but it is not impossible.The wires came out of the power switch after I followed the iFixIt instructions to gently pull by the wires. But the bare wires came out but the pictures show tipped metallic clamp to the wires (step 7 at link below). Those clamps are missing from my power switch so I do wonder if it's a MFG defect.
How to Replace the SSD in your Mac mini (2024)
Use this guide to replace the SSD, or flash storage module, in your Mac mini (2024). This guide was written with a base model M4 Mac mini. Although...
I manually powered on by touching the wires together then set MacOS to boot on a power failure so it does work but switch is broken.
(Though I wonder if someone were to just put the mini together, bring it to Genius Bar, say nothing except "**** doesn't turn on anymore", what would happen, lol)
If you mean the collars on the tips of the wire are missing, they must still be in the jack you yanked the wires out of. If you don't see them, check very carefully that they did not somehow fall into the rest of the Mini as they can cause a short somewhere down the line. If you can feed the wires back into the jack and secure with a tiny bit of hot glue or tape even, the switch will still work as long as the pins in the socket are in contact the tips of the wires. This really does sound like something you can fix/bodge yourself.
Yeah I think so on the DFU aspect. I got a refund from the vendor after providing them with the relevant details.
Hmmm...
2 reports now of broken power button cables.
Sounds like this "drive surgery" can be a bit tricky...
2 reports now of broken power button cables.
Sounds like this "drive surgery" can be a bit tricky...
It's the hardest step, everything else is easy if you don't strip the screws. Hint: Apply downward pressure while turning the screwdriver when loosening the screws.
I don’t like the idea of guides saying to disconnect by pulling the wires.
I’d never disconnect this style of connector that way.
I always use a spudger, precision flat head screwdriver or sewing needle to pry between the socket and plug at the wire end.
Just need to be careful not to pry between the PCB/switch and socket or you will rip it off the board.
You could get ideas from the latest AirPort Extreme HDD upgrade guides as they use the same style connector that also commonly got broken.
Unfortunately there will also be others that don’t read guides and think you disconnect by pulling sideways instead of lifting upwards.
I’d never disconnect this style of connector that way.
I always use a spudger, precision flat head screwdriver or sewing needle to pry between the socket and plug at the wire end.
Just need to be careful not to pry between the PCB/switch and socket or you will rip it off the board.
You could get ideas from the latest AirPort Extreme HDD upgrade guides as they use the same style connector that also commonly got broken.
Unfortunately there will also be others that don’t read guides and think you disconnect by pulling sideways instead of lifting upwards.
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There is no need to remove that cable. Follow the other guides that have it tilted out of the way.
Many hard drive upgrade chips come from China. My M4 Mini was replaced with a Toshiba 2TB chip at a third-party Apple repair shop in Beijing. After two weeks of stable use, it crashed and the computer could not start. Because it was under warranty, I went to the repair shop to replace the chips with new ones, but my data could not be retrieved. After the replacement, I wrote about 300GB of data to the hard drive, and it crashed again. I don’t know if it’s a chip problem. The repairman said that there was a problem with the power supply of my computer hard drive chip. I plan to go to the repair shop again on Saturday to let the repairman check it.
Replacing third-party chips is risky, please consider carefully
Replacing third-party chips is risky, please consider carefully
Just to clarify, you had the repair shop keep your SSD modules but have them swap out the chips? (like they usually do with MacBooks that don't have SSD modules) Or did you keep your original modules and install 3rd party ones like we're doing in this thread?
I'd bet since he physically visits the shop, 99% it is a soldering job, not a card-only purchase. Ironically that's meant to be the more stable way to do it since you'd still be using the vanilla Apple card.
It seems to me the NAND supply is under huge pressure now, not only the quality issue above, but the price is rising not dropping. You know with the M4 MBA being out and base is only 256GB like the mini, lots of people bring their new base MBA to these shops to upgrade too. It is said that for a 2TB upgrade it costs 1400 RMB.
It seems to me the NAND supply is under huge pressure now, not only the quality issue above, but the price is rising not dropping. You know with the M4 MBA being out and base is only 256GB like the mini, lots of people bring their new base MBA to these shops to upgrade too. It is said that for a 2TB upgrade it costs 1400 RMB.
Seems like buying a whole new card would be the safer deal, so you can pop the original back in if the new part dies or you want to take it in for service, etc.
This is going to make things messy in the commodity used market for Minis later. Is that used M4 with 1TB in it all-original parts, or not? Sure, if you sell it on eBay you can state it's 3rd party, but how is Best Buy going to know when you try to sell it back to them? Will Apple mark it "damaged" if your trade-in no longer has only OEM parts?
This is going to make things messy in the commodity used market for Minis later. Is that used M4 with 1TB in it all-original parts, or not? Sure, if you sell it on eBay you can state it's 3rd party, but how is Best Buy going to know when you try to sell it back to them? Will Apple mark it "damaged" if your trade-in no longer has only OEM parts?
I guess it’s going to be caveat emptor for FB marketplace/Ebay in the future for these M4 mini’s. The only way you can tell if it’s OEM storage or not is to open them up. You’re also right about trade ins at 3rd parties like Best Buy, but Apple’s database I believe keeps the stats of the factory configuration so Apple trade ins will be an issue if you’re trying to get a bigger trade in by keeping in the 2TB drive instead of restoring the original 256gb module.
Only the chip was replaced, and the original Apple module was used. I went to the repair shop to check it out over the weekend. They checked all the possible problems for me and fixed them. I wrote about 1TB of data on site and found no problems. This matter has come to an end for now.
That's pretty gutsy move to do that instead of just swapping out the modules. At least it's working now for you. Sounds like there's some bad NAND chips going around. These chips might be factory rejects that somehow don't get destroyed and end up on the gray market.
These posts about using the bare NAND chips should really be moved out of this thread...
The process the rest of this thread talks about is using a new board and simply removing the factory board with the new one, which is a safer and easier path.
The process the rest of this thread talks about is using a new board and simply removing the factory board with the new one, which is a safer and easier path.
I wonder if Best Buy and Apple can simply run a diagnostic to determine if there's a third party upgrade. Although these upgrades are welcome, it's important to know what you are getting. I would imagine at least Apple is monitoring the situation, or will be. These upgrades are not common.
Agree, but is so entertaining to know that some of these chips replacements are performed manually wo precision and consistent machinery.
Only in Shenzhen and some third world countries can one go down to a local store to replace the chips. All western, is about customer DIY-replace the board.