Using a Standard M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD in the 2014 Mini

[enplaned]

I wrote a post that tries to cover all adapters available to allow an SSD to be used in an Apple computer with a proprietary connector - which includes the late 2014 Mac Mini. Therefore, it includes a link back to this thread. It covers everything from 2010 Macbook Airs to 2019 iMacs.

I am far from an expert and would welcome comments.

Thank you!

Mac SSD adapters - hopefully comprehensive view

CORRECTIONS WELCOMED, ALL ERRORS ARE MINE, USE AT YOUR OWN RISK... etc. (links to Amazon, etc, are for information purposes only - none of them is an affiliate link) I started looking at this when considering a non-Apple SSD upgrade for my rMPB 11,1 and 11,4 - and went down the rabbit hole. I...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[EugW]

A generous fellow MacRumors member, @Kaida, sent me the retaining clip for the SSD, so I've installed that now.

I didn't put any tape or anything between the clip and the M.2 adapter. Luckily it doesn't seem to need it. Everything is working great!

 

[Populus]

If my 2014 mac mini flies with a SATA III SSD, I can’t imagine how good it will be with an NVMe.

Enjoy it, my mac mini still has at least a couple of years ahead before I jump into an M3 powered Mac mini.

 

[csonni]

I went directly from the sluggish HDD in my Mac mini to the NVME SSD. Totally happy with it. Can't say it flies but it sure has breathed new life into the late 2014 mini.

 

[EugW]

Just to be clear, it was working fine before without the retaining clip, but it made me nervous since the only things holding the adapter in place were the drive connector and the foam adhesive on the back of the adapter, attached to the Mac mini's black plastic plate, which is flexible and moves around a bit. I mentioned this in a previous post but I couldn't use a mounting screw for the adapter because the adapter rode several mm above the screw mount. If I screwed the adapter down, it would bend the adapter.

Adding the retaining clip secures the adapter in place at the connector end. I previously did not have the retaining clip, since my 2014 Mac mini was originally the hard drive-only model, with no existing SSD.

Thanks again, @Kaida!

 

[tphan91]

My eBay Mac mini arrived today, and to my surprise, inside of it it was absolutely pristine. It looks like the seller must have cleaned it before sending it.

I had already ordered the PUSOKEI branded NVME adapter from Amazon Canada, simply because it was cheaper than the Sintek. Like half the price actually. It looks just like the picture, and it works beautifully. The Torx screwdriver that came in the package was useless, because it is regular Torx, not security Torx. Luckily I have security Torx in my handy iFixit toolkit. Overall, this is by far the easiest SSD upgrade I’ve ever done in any computer. Even easier than the cheese grater Mac Pro because it doesn't weigh so damn much. Despite having never before opened a Mac mini, I was done start to finish in 5 minutes. It was sooo simple to do.

I did try screwing down the adapter to the existing SSD screw mount, and while the extra hole on the adapter board does line up, screwing it down bends the board. It needs a spacer (and longer screw) if you want to keep it straight. So, like the others here, I just rely on the adhesive to keep the drive adapter in place. Anyone know where we can get a spacer for this? A small plastic spacer would be ideal. I don’t know the length required though.

My Core i5-4278U 2014 model came with Catalina pre-installed, but even with 8 GB RAM and no data on the drive, the hard drive was basically unusable with more than one application active. It literally took minutes to launch the Monterey installer (partially because the built-in anti-malware daemon in macOS was scanning it, presumably since I had downloaded my archived .dmg of the installer from my local storage as opposed to from Apple directly). It was just painful. In contrast, Monterey runs great on the WD 500 GB SN550 SSD, even with this old dual-core CPU. I’m very pleased.

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A lot of people like to criticize the 2014 for its lack of quad-core CPU options, but from my perspective in 2021 and 2022 for my business application type usage, the performance is fine, and the fact that it can run Monterey and the fact the SSD upgrade is so simple are major plusses in my book.

BTW, for those 2014 units that came with only SSD, do they also include the hard drive bracket and cable? I wasn't sure, which is why I specifically sought out a used HD version. I'd keep the HD (with its bracket) in for now, potentially for a 2.5" SSD swap in the future if the HD dies, but in the meantime I just needed 5 minutes for a faster NVMe SSD install.

Hi EugW,

Hope you're doing well.

I've been following your posts on purchasing the Mac Mini late 2014 off eBay as well as installing the NVME SSD to it. Thank you for all the helpful info.

I actually was thinking of buying one off eBay myself. And I'm planning to use it for learning how to program/code.

I found one great listing (i7, 16GB RAM, 250GB SSD) and the seller has 100% feedback. But I don't have much experience buying anything off eBay. I've heard of many stories of people getting scammed even the seller seems legit so that kind scares me a little.

If you don't mind if I ask, what would you look for in a listing to determine if the offer is good? Any extra tips would be appreciated.

When you have the time, please let me know.

Tee

 

[EugW]

If you don't mind if I ask, what would you look for in a listing to determine if the offer is good? Any extra tips would be appreciated.

When you have the time, please let me know.

There's always a risk, but I just do the usual. Go for someone with lots of positive seller (not buyer) feedback of items more substantial than little trinkets, triple check the details of the listing, buy preferably within your own region, and pay by PayPal.

Regarding the listing details, some will list the wrong model. eg. i7 + 16 GB from 2012 is a very different product than i7 + 16 GB from 2014. The other common misleading listing is they list the year of the OS instead of the year of the hardware.

Anyhow there are guides online on how to protect yourself on eBay. Luke Miani on YouTube also has a guide for buying Macs on eBay.

If my 2014 mac mini flies with a SATA III SSD, I can’t imagine how good it will be with an NVMe.

Enjoy it, my mac mini still has at least a couple of years ahead before I jump into an M3 powered Mac mini.

I'm waiting for an M1 Pro or M2 Mac mini. The Mac Studio is way overkill and far too costly for my needs. I don't actually need an M1 Pro or M2 as my 2014 i5 with 8 GB RAM works just fine for my business applications, but I just want to play with an Apple Silicon Mac. I don't currently own any Apple Silicon Macs.

 

[tphan91]

There's always a risk, but I just do the usual. Go for someone with lots of positive seller (not buyer) feedback of items more substantial than little trinkets, triple check the details of the listing, buy preferably within your own region, and pay by PayPal.

Regarding the listing details, some will list the wrong model. eg. i7 + 16 GB from 2012 is a very different product than i7 + 16 GB from 2014. The other common misleading listing is they list the year of the OS instead of the year of the hardware.

Anyhow there are guides online on how to protect yourself on eBay. Luke Miani on YouTube also has a guide for buying Macs on eBay.



I'm waiting for an M1 Pro or M2 Mac mini. The Mac Studio is way overkill and far too costly for my needs. I don't actually need an M1 Pro or M2 as my 2014 i5 with 8 GB RAM works just fine for my business applications, but I just want to play with an Apple Silicon Mac. I don't currently own any Apple Silicon Macs.

Thanks EugW. I’ve also been watching a lot of Luke’s videos as well. The guy really knows his stuff.

After receiving the item, are there anything that you would look out for, such as iCloud account, firmware password, hard drive's health etc.?

By the way, have you had any experience buying used mac from OWC/Macsales.com? I was trying to find reviews on reddit, YT, and Quora, but not many of them.

Really appreciate all your help. Thanks again.

Tee

 

[Boyd01]

have you had any experience buying used mac from OWC/Macsales.com?

I bought my 2012 quad-core Mini server from them six or seven years ago. At the time, the 2014 Mini was the newest model and I also considered getting a new top configuration of that. However, since they did not offer quad core chips in 2014, the top 2012 Mini is actually about 50% faster than the top 2014. With 16gb RAM and original Apple internal 256gb SSD, the used 2012 Mini was about $100 cheaper than a new 2014 i7 Mini 16/256, so I went for it.

It looked like it was brand new and has worked perfectly ever since. However, you are not likely to find any bargains on the MacSales used Mini's, they will be significantly more expensive than the same used computer from a private seller. But you need to consider that OWC fully checks them out and provides a 90-day warranty. Since I planned to use it heavily and keep it a long time, I decided it was worth the additional cost. So, no regrets.

But if you're the kind of person who wants to get the lowest price on a used computer, it may not be for you. Basically, you need to calculate how much that 90-day warranty is worth...

 

[EugW]

The only thing I worried about with the Mac mini was the firmware lock, but normally you can't check that until you get the machine. Luckily, this is not that common of a problem with Mac desktops, but it does occur.

The reason I was not worried about other stuff like iCloud protected accounts is because I'd wipe the hard drive anyway, and install an SSD. I also didn't worry too much about hard drive health. If it was bad, oh well, I'd just remove it. Luckily, my HD is fine though so I use it for extra storage (which I never actually use since I installed a large enough SSD), and for Time Machine.

I don't usually shop from OWC, since I'm not in the US, and their prices aren't cheap anyway. In Canada where I live, the comparable purchase would be from a local used Mac shop, but their prices are similarly high.

Keep in mind though that this Mac mini was only meant to be a temporary solution anyway, so I was willing to take some risks on eBay to find something as cheap as possible. This is a secondary machine for me, for mainstream business usage, and my original plan was to continue using my 2007 Mac Pro for this purpose until the M1 Pro / M2 Mac mini was released, and then I'd upgrade. However, I ran into some software and hardware issues with the Mac Pro in 2021, so I bought the 2014 Mac mini to tide me over for the year or so.

BTW, I lucked out with the Mac mini probably partially because the eBay ad was not very well set up, and the pictures were not very good, so I ended up winning the auction at a pretty low price. Also, when I received the unit I was pleased to discover it looked almost brand new and it was absolutely pristine inside, with not even one speck of dust. It looked like it had been professionally cleaned, which in retrospect makes sense since the pictures looked like they were taken on a shop countertop. No guarantees though. eBay is hit and miss. Sometimes you get lucky like I did, but sometimes you don't.

 

[tphan91]

I bought my 2012 quad-core Mini server from them six or seven years ago. At the time, the 2014 Mini was the newest model and I also considered getting a new top configuration of that. However, since they did not offer quad core chips in 2014, the top 2012 Mini is actually about 50% faster than the top 2014. With 16gb RAM and original Apple internal 256gb SSD, the used 2012 Mini was about $100 cheaper than a new 2014 i7 Mini 16/256, so I went for it.

It looked like it was brand new and has worked perfectly ever since. However, you are not likely to find any bargains on the MacSales used Mini's, they will be significantly more expensive than the same used computer from a private seller. But you need to consider that OWC fully checks them out and provides a 90-day warranty. Since I planned to use it heavily and keep it a long time, I decided it was worth the additional cost. So, no regrets.

But if you're the kind of person who wants to get the lowest price on a used computer, it may not be for you. Basically, you need to calculate how much that 90-day warranty is worth...

Thanks Boyd01. I saw your comment on the other post.

The only thing I worried about with the Mac mini was the firmware lock, but normally you can't check that until you get the machine. Luckily, this is not that common of a problem with Mac desktops, but it does occur.

The reason I was not worried about other stuff like iCloud protected accounts is because I'd wipe the hard drive anyway, and install an SSD. I also didn't worry too much about hard drive health. If it was bad, oh well, I'd just remove it. Luckily, my HD is fine though so I use it for extra storage (which I never actually use since I installed a large enough SSD), and for Time Machine.

I don't usually shop from OWC, since I'm not in the US, and their prices aren't cheap anyway. In Canada where I live, the comparable purchase would be from a local used Mac shop, but their prices are similarly high.

Keep in mind though that this Mac mini was only meant to be a temporary solution anyway, so I was willing to take some risks on eBay to find something as cheap as possible. This is a secondary machine for me, for mainstream business usage, and my original plan was to continue using my 2007 Mac Pro for this purpose until the M1 Pro / M2 Mac mini was released, and then I'd upgrade. However, I ran into some software and hardware issues with the Mac Pro in 2021, so I bought the 2014 Mac mini to tide me over for the year or so.

BTW, I lucked out with the Mac mini probably partially because the eBay ad was not very well set up, and the pictures were not very good, so I ended up winning the auction at a pretty low price. Also, when I received the unit I was pleased to discover it looked almost brand new and it was absolutely pristine inside, with not even one speck of dust. It looked like it had been professionally cleaned, which in retrospect makes sense since the pictures looked like they were taken on a shop countertop. No guarantees though. eBay is hit and miss. Sometimes you get lucky like I did, but sometimes you don't.

I hear ya. Hey, where are you in Canada? I'm from Vancouver.

My initial plan is to buy a Mac Mini 2020 since I don't need a laptop because I already have all the peripherals necessary. But I don't really want to shell out $1500 for a 16gb RAM 512gb SSD with a chip that is only 1.5 years young. I would rather wait a few more years before committing to the transition from x86-64 to ARM. Just so software developers can fix the incompatible issues and for Apple to perfect the M chip even more.

I do have a Macbook Air 11" Mid 2013, however it is so so slow now. The Mac Mini 2014 seems like a good upgrade, but I think that Monterey might be the last OS update for it. I might be wrong but finger-crossed here.

With that said, I think Boyd01 kind of convinces me to get the Mac Mini 2018 since its base model is way more powerful than the top-end 2014 on the other post. The only downside is that OWC only sells the 128GB SSD version atm so I might wait until they have something available or buy something off eBay or even install an external SSD.

 

[Boyd01]

I do have a Macbook Air 11" Mid 2013, however it is so so slow now.

Haha, I have one of those too, mine is the top i7 8gb/512gb version. I don't use it anymore but fired it up a couple weeks ago to do something and it did not feel slow to me. Still running Sierra, which may be faster than newer versions of MacOS.

 

[tphan91]

Haha yah I run Catalina so maybe that's why. It takes the dang thing a few seconds just to open Chrome. I might update the SSD, replace the battery since it's at over 2000 counts now, and install Ubuntu on the thing very soon.

 

[EugW]

Thanks Boyd01. I saw your comment on the other post.


I hear ya. Hey, where are you in Canada? I'm from Vancouver.

My initial plan is to buy a Mac Mini 2020 since I don't need a laptop because I already have all the peripherals necessary. But I don't really want to shell out $1500 for a 16gb RAM 512gb SSD with a chip that is only 1.5 years young. I would rather wait a few more years before committing to the transition from x86-64 to ARM. Just so software developers can fix the incompatible issues and for Apple to perfect the M chip even more.

I do have a Macbook Air 11" Mid 2013, however it is so so slow now. The Mac Mini 2014 seems like a good upgrade, but I think that Monterey might be the last OS update for it. I might be wrong but finger-crossed here.

With that said, I think Boyd01 kind of convinces me to get the Mac Mini 2018 since its base model is way more powerful than the top-end 2014 on the other post. The only downside is that OWC only sells the 128GB SSD version atm so I might wait until they have something available or buy something off eBay or even install an external SSD.

I am in Toronto. BTW, getting stuff from eBay from the USA can often be problematic for shipping since so many US sellers are using the Global Shipping Program for Canada. That tends to be expensive because they factor in extra handling charges and taxes and an increased amount for shipping since it's essentially shipped twice (once from the seller to the Pitney Bowes shipping centre, and then again from Pitney Bowes to Canada). It's often cheaper for USPS shipments direct to Canada, as brokerage charges are very low, although you may still have to pay taxes. Beware of direct shipments via FedEx Ground or UPS Standard from the US, because they can hit you hard with high brokerage fees if the seller uses these cheaper shipping methods. OTOH, the advantage of the Global Shipping program is you pay one price and you won't pay anything more once it arrives in Canada. If you're buying from a Canadian seller, much of those charges can be avoided, but be aware that a lot of the bigger Canadian eBayers must charge taxes so pay attention to the listing. It's often buried at the bottom of the listing or something like that. If it's an individual seller, then there is no tax charged for Canadian listings sold to Canadian buyers.

As for the 2018 Mac mini, you'll probably get 3-4 more years or so of full macOS updates on it plus a couple more years of security updates so it should last a while, but at that pricing I'd personally rather just get a refurb or edu Apple Silicon Mac mini for a few hundred more.

 

[tphan91]

Thanks for the advice, EugW. Well, if I can find a good deal on a 2018 Mini, I will probably go for that. But if I can't, I think the 2014 is a good choice for me. The 2012 is too old now. And the M1 with the specs that I want (16gb 512gb) is around $1500 CAD even with the edu discount. So we shall see. I'll keep you guys updated.

 

[tphan91]

I got a bunch of them from a supplier but both me and the supplier is in Singapore though..

Hi @Kaida, could I buy it off of you by any chance? I'm located in Canada.

Please let me know.

TIA.

 

[zorro23]

Hi,

does anyone know which 1TB or 2TB M.2 works in a 2014 Mac Mini (using an adapter)?

Thanks!

 

[Kaida]

Hi @Kaida, could I buy it off of you by any chance? I'm located in Canada.

Please let me know.

TIA.

check your pm

 

[estabya]

Hi,

does anyone know which 1TB or 2TB M.2 works in a 2014 Mac Mini (using an adapter)?

Thanks!

Mine has been running the 512gb version of this drive for 2.5 years. I would be confident purchasing the 1TB one.

https://www.amazon.com/XPG-SX8200-Gen3x4-3000MB-ASX8200PNP-1TT-C/