Mac mini upgrade ram 2013

Improvisation complete! Our packrat engineers produced a lone prototype T6 Torx Security screwdriver, a tool we originally abandoned because nobody had seen such a screw used in real life. Unfortunately, we're not home free yet. One end of the Wi-Fi antenna cable is clamped firmly to the plate, while the other end is screwed down onto the logic board.

Upon removal, the fan seems identical to the one from the previous model—but let's not be too quick to judge a fan by its cover. What exactly is Advanced Hydraulic Bearing? Let's find out. According to Asia Vital Components:. AHB "consists of a polished steel shaft, a sintered bearing and fluid lubricant. AHB is best for fans that operate at a lower speed. It's better at absorbing shock and dampening vibration than traditional ball bearings, making for a quieter fan. The AirPort card is dispatched after removing one screw and disconnecting two more antennas from their sockets.

Skyworks SE Dual-Band Using our handy hand-powered Mac mini logic board removal tool , we handily remove our Mac mini's handsome logic board. While past Mac minis have featured two SATA ports, allowing users to upgrade their base model with an extra hard drive, this year we only get one. True to our word, we cracked open a Fusion drive equipped Mac mini, and it looks like our suspicions were accurate.

The empty connector is now filled—by a PCIe cable, glued to the top of the hard drive tray. Unfortunately, the RAM is soldered to the logic board. This means that if you want to upgrade the RAM, you can only do so at time of purchase. We've got the power supply at the tips of our fingers. It's an easy extraction, even if it took a while to get here.

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We get a slight rush before we realize it is the same as the model In the immortal words of Gertrude Stein, "This is the lesson that history teaches: Apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Before we go, let's pull out the hard drive tray and take a look at the platter drive our mini came loaded with. Tucked under the tray: To test just how promising, we dropped in the SSD from our recently torn down 27" Retina 5K iMac and used its mounting screw.

Looks like a nice fit!

Mac mini Late Repairability: There's no glue anywhere inside that needs to be removed while disassembling the mini. T6 Torx Security screws are intended to lock you out of your mini, and make it hard to clean the fan or replace the hard drive.

Is there an obvious size or accessibility issue that forced them into soldering the RAM down? I know Apple is all about sleek and slim, but was this necessary? The option for the future would have been nice. I think Apple was going for the simplest solution with the least amount of connections that could become loose. With the security screws, Apple obviously doesn't want anyone inside even though it appears to be easy to replace the hard drive, power supply, and fan. I see this as a commodity item where you replace instead of repair.

I know that doesn't fit the mold of iFixit but at least they didn't glue it shut. If this model becomes the replacement for server farms, I would like to know how many Mac mini's are actually repaired when they fail and how many are simply replaced with new ones and fired back up old ones either repaired or tossed.

Will iFixit be tearing down one of the higher spec mini models? I'm usually positive about new products but totally bummed about the Mac Mini line. I recently upgraded the ram on my Quad Core i7 Server to an undocumented 16GB, just by onscrewing the base and slipping 'em in. Felt great and made her run a lot more smoothly.

Now I better take good care of her, because there'll be no more Quad Cores and no more user-upgradeable memory. And Apple couldn't give a shrimp. Select a Language: Lay your Mac mini upside down on a soft cloth or towel, and then rotate the bottom cover counterclockwise to the unlocked position. Press on the cover to pop up the opposite side, and then remove the cover.

Remove the original memory modules Gently spread the clips at the ends of the top memory module just enough to let the free edge pop up. Pull the module out of the slot.

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Repeat to remove the second, bottom module. Install the new memory Carefully press the notched edge of the new memory module into the bottom slot while keeping the opposite edge slightly raised. Press down on the raised edge until the clips snap into place. Repeat to install the top memory module. Replace the bottom cover Don't connect the power cord or turn on your Mac mini until you replace the bottom cover. Replace the bottom cover using the alignment dots to place it in the unlocked position. Rotate the cover clockwise to lock it in place.

Reconnect the power cord and any other cables you disconnected. Confirm that your Mac sees the new memory To check that the computer recognizes the new memory: Start up your computer.

Confirm that the memory listed matches the memory you installed. Published Date: Thu Feb 07 Yes No. Character limit: