Last weekend, I did an invasive and meticulous operation on one of my more treasured devices: an overdue 2014 Mac mini. You see, it changed into sluggish and hampered with the aid of its components and in determined want of a velocity boost. So, I determined to replace its spinning authoritarian disk power with a solid country one. However, because the product is made through Apple, a seemingly easy technique seems to be an afternoon-long adventure into the innermost, darkest parts of the DIY laptop repair network.
Macs are notoriously tough to improve, and that’s by using design. This I recognize properly from easy cases like RAM improvements. However, I was in no way organized for the many ventures the past due 2014-generation Mac mini requires of customers. Indeed, to be considered one of perhaps the handiest parts, a median computer proprietor may additionally want to improve independently. It concerned painstakingly dismantling the entire system piece by piece, using janky gear in areas of the specialized ones I didn’t have. It turned into but any other awful lot-needed reminder that Apple goes out of its way to make tinkering an arduous mission.
I should preface this by saying I purchased the Mac mini, knowing it has not become a powerful machine. I wanted a desktop computer, commonly because I may want to keep some coins, and felt I didn’t want a PC if I’d be using a piece system for 90 percent of my everyday duties. A Mac mini might permit me to keep my workflow, files, and apps intact from my demise MacBook while not having to spend upwards of $1,000.
About a year after buying, the mini wasn’t cutting it. It would stall, forestall, and choke up on even the perfect tasks. I knew the RAM became soldered to the excellent judgment board in this specific model, leaving an SSD substitute as the only genuine alternative. And that is regarded as nice. As a person enjoying the speediness of Flash Garage at my place of work, MacBook Air, I felt the upgrade on my home device become lengthy and late. Lifestyles are just too short for sluggish computer systems, as the Verge’s Nilay Patel placed it returned in April.
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So, I purchased a 480GB SSD, an external challenging pressure docking station, and a Torx screwdriver set from Amazon. This would be a remarkably painless technique from my revel in the pre-2014 Mac minis. Only a few elements wanted to be removed, and this new set could cover all the bases. Or so I notion.
When I got to step four of iFixit’s guide, I realized that the new Mac mini is more exclusive than its predecessor. Not only was this new guide 35 steps long but getting inside the Mac mini involved doing away with 3 TR6 Torx security screws. The screws have a small pillar within the middle, requiring an excellent extra specialized screwdriver to take it out. Neither of the two hardware stores within strolling distance of my rental had a suitable device. Happily, a laptop restore shop did. (In a boring twist, the preservation man just jammed an everyday Torx tool into the screw head, as his protection one didn’t even healthy.)
