New Apple Mac Mini. User Upgradeable?

October 30, 2018, 01:39 PM

I watched most of the Apple event and checked out the premier Mac web sites, and cannot find the answer to this question:

Are the new Mac Minis upgradeable by the user? I know the CPU is soldered to the board, and Apple has taken to soldering memory as well, but one of the key selling points of the Mini in the past was the ability to add memory and disk as the need arose.

Nowhere can I find the answer to "are parts of the new Mac Mini user-upgradeable?"

October 30, 2018, 01:43 PM

italia

I have the same questions, as I have upgraded the drive and memory of my current Mini. We'll probably have to wait until one of those groups does a tear-down to see. Keep your eyes on macrumors.com for it to come up in the next few weeks.

October 30, 2018, 01:48 PM

deepocean

They seem like a great product. I'm curious to know, too. I've shied away because of the generation where the system memory was soldered in.

October 30, 2018, 02:30 PM

lkdr1989

Memory is upgradeable, I'm not sure about the drive.

...let him who has no sword sell his robe and buy one. Luke 22:35-36 NAV

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October 30, 2018, 02:37 PM

Prefontaine

I’d bet it’s all soldered. I have the last quad core mini they offered and you could upgrade RAM and the hard drives. Apple figured that out quick and went solder only. At least they have hosted it up now. Quad or 6 core, and up to 64gb of ram. Glad to know it’s a real machine again and I’ll have an upgrade path once mine is no longer supported. This new one will also push 2 4K monitors also.

October 30, 2018, 05:08 PM

mrbill345

Only the RAM can be upgraded. Other World Computing is already advertising RAM kits.

October 30, 2018, 05:19 PM

PASig

The only upgrades are going to be RAM and USB add on devices, drives etc.

October 30, 2018, 05:23 PM

ensigmatic

If the drive's not user-replaceable/-upgradable that'd be a "no" from me.

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October 30, 2018, 06:26 PM

cparktd

quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
If the drive's not user-replaceable/-upgradable that'd be a "no" from me.

Just curious... Why? Are you going to use it mobilized? External storage should be a pretty good option via USB 3 I would think. Cheap, easy and unlimited space.

I fix-it, and others will likely do a tare down when they get their hands on one... if they haven't already.

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardow...rt=recent&filter=all

October 30, 2018, 09:21 PM

snwghst

Typically the mini is not upgradable easily

Essentially they are a laptop in a small box

I’m in need of upgrading my mini (#2) for me. I’m very happy it FINALLY got refreshed

October 30, 2018, 09:47 PM

Prefontaine

quote:
Originally posted by Prefontaine:
I’d bet it’s all soldered. I have the last quad core mini they offered and you could upgrade RAM and the hard drives. Apple figured that out quick and went solder only. At least they have hosted it up now. Quad or 6 core, and up to 64gb of ram. Glad to know it’s a real machine again and I’ll have an upgrade path once mine is no longer supported. This new one will also push 2 4K monitors also.

Definitely user upgradable ram, excellent job Apple.

Buy the 6 core, lowest hd size (use external drive for files), and lowest ram. Then buy 2 X 32 slots and have a 64gb ram machine. External HD’s are cheap. Very happy to see this.

October 30, 2018, 09:55 PM

deepocean

The new Mac Mini can cost more than $4,000 with some options?

Those guys could sell icebergs to eskimos.

October 31, 2018, 10:04 AM

henryaz

iFixit will let us know about the insides shortly, when they do their teardown.

October 31, 2018, 10:08 AM

sjtill

My configuration came to almost 3 grand, decided to see what can be upgraded postmarket. 1 TB SSD is mandatory though to replace current one with 1 TB hybrid drive.

October 31, 2018, 12:30 PM

muddle_mann

quote:
Originally posted by fpuhan:
I watched most of the Apple event and checked out the premier Mac web sites, and cannot find the answer to this question:

Are the new Mac Minis upgradeable by the user? I know the CPU is soldered to the board, and Apple has taken to soldering memory as well, but one of the key selling points of the Mini in the past was the ability to add memory and disk as the need arose.

Nowhere can I find the answer to "are parts of the new Mac Mini user-upgradeable?"

A slight correction: the ability to add memory is only during check out when buying if it's wired to the board. Older Minis used SO DIMM memory.

Shame really, but this is a trend in all their machines and tablets. No screws; use glue for stuff inside. Hard wire what you can to the board. It sucks but Apple does that because their surveys show that users don't upgrade the machines. They use them until they don't want them anymore and buy new ones.

October 31, 2018, 01:27 PM

sjtill

quote:
reached out to Apple about this and was told: "Yes, Mac mini is configurable up to 64GB and uses industry-standard DDR4 SO-DIMMs. While we don't consider the memory directly end-user accessible, service providers can access the internals of the Mac mini to upgrade the memory."

This is the best of both worlds, because Apple's RAM upgrades cost $200 to go to 16GB, $600 to go to 32GB, and a whopping $1,400 to go to 2666MHz DDR 4-based 64GB RAM.

If RAM is upgradeable after purchase, this is a big thing. A quick look at the Crucial site today (RAM prices change constantly) show that that same 64GB upgrade can be had for $879, $521 less than Apple charges. Even better, it means you can get an affordable Mac mini and later, as your needs change, can grow your RAM footprint.

Link

October 31, 2018, 05:48 PM

Leeann

Memory is user-upgradeable in the new Mini.

Storage is PCIe, so hopefully that also means user-upgradeable.

I'm still nursing my 2012 quad-core with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD, but the specs on the new ones are a bit tempting.

November 09, 2018, 09:32 AM

henryaz

Finally, the authoritative iFixit teardown and repairability guide to the new Mac Mini. As noted, it appears only the RAM is user upgradeable, and that with some extensive (but easily) removed parts, including the logic board, to access the RAM. Only two torx screwdrivers are needed, but I would also use a plastic spudger (which iFixit sells) instead of prying component cables loose with a screwdriver.

iFixit 2018 Mac Mini teardown.