Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

mac mini (2012): on its side okay?

therealseebs

therealseebs

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Apr 14, 2010
1,057
312
I have a setup in which it would be stupendously convenient if I could put the mini on its side next to a thing that has about 3" of space left next to it. I have checked Apple's support site, and found nothing. Google in general turned up threads from 2005-2009 or so which linked to an Apple support article for those models, but the article link is now dead (it just goes to the new support page). Apple's support search form suggestions include multiple variants of "on its side" or "orientation", but do not link to any articles which are even a bit relevant.
 
therealseebs

therealseebs

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Apr 14, 2010
1,057
312
Darby67 said:
I've not done it personally but I've seen several people doing just that, in fact there are a few bases around which help to keep it in that position. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'm hoping for the best, anyway.

I'd be a little less concerned if I had the resources to swap the drive out for an SSD (since the only drives I've ever heard of caring about orientation were hard drives), but I figure laptop drives are probably pretty good about this anyway.
 
dasx

dasx

macrumors 65816
Jun 18, 2012
1,107
18
Barcelona
There's a stand for the Mini (see attached photo) so it can't be too bad.
The only problem I could think of might be the HDD. I'm not sure if a mechanical drive will perform at its best when on its side. My point being I think there would be a higher probability of failure of the drive.

BUT. I might be wrong, that's all a guess based on how regular drives work.

On the other hand, and if you own an SSD and no mechanical drives, I think there shouldn't be any problem. (Again, can't tell for sure).
 

Attachments

  • NewerTech-NuStand-Alloy-for-2010-Mac-Mini.jpg
    NewerTech-NuStand-Alloy-for-2010-Mac-Mini.jpg
    21.2 KB · Views: 720
P

poloponies

Suspended
May 3, 2010
2,661
1,366
dasx said:
There's a stand for the Mini (see attached photo) so it can't be too bad.
The only problem I could think of might be the HDD. I'm not sure if a mechanical drive will perform at its best when on its side. My point being I think there would be a higher probability of failure of the drive.

BUT. I might be wrong, that's all a guess based on how regular drives work.

On the other hand, and if you own an SSD and no mechanical drives, I think there shouldn't be any problem. (Again, can't tell for sure).
Click to expand...

There are no issues whatsoever with a vertical orientation.
 
M

Mojo1

macrumors 65816
Jul 26, 2011
1,244
21
Mechanical hard drives are not the equivalent of a record player where the LPs will fall off the platter if stacked on its side (not to mention the tone arm will have considerable trouble with gravity). You can turn the Mini upside-down and it will still function (but it will look rather funny in that position...)

The previous respondent did not provide a link but I think that OWC sells the Mini stand that is pictured in his post.
 
C

CausticPuppy

macrumors 68000
May 1, 2012
1,536
68
In the old days, hard drives generally only worked when horizontal. By "old days" I mean the 80's and early 90's.

Today's hard drives will work fine in any orientation.
 
dasx

dasx

macrumors 65816
Jun 18, 2012
1,107
18
Barcelona
poloponies said:
There are no issues whatsoever with a vertical orientation.
Click to expand...

Great to know!

I was only "worried" about the HD being in a vertical position. Although now that I think about it I can recall servers having their drives vertically. :p

Mojo1 said:
The previous respondent did not provide a link but I think that OWC sells the Mini stand that is pictured in his post.
Click to expand...

Assuming the OP is USA citizen… Here's one.
 
N

nikolajlr

macrumors member
May 11, 2011
31
0
Denmark
It is not an issue these days. It was 20+ years ago especially with SOME (but not all) 5,25" hard drives (perhaps some 3,5" as well, but personally I only had problems with 5,25" drives). And as bbucy pointed out the 3,5" drive in the iMacs are mounted vertically.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom