Any first hand experience with applecare-mac mini- DIY SSD??

I've never needed to have my mini repaired but in the 2011 and I presume 2012 models it only takes 10-15 mins max to swap out hard drives. Just keep your stock hard drive (with the original OS installed) and put it back in if there is a problem. That's also a good way to verify that your issue is Apple hardware related and not your third party SSD causing it.

My speaker stopped working. Months after a successful ssd swap. I pulled the ssd and put the oem drive back inside my mini. I told the apple store the speaker stopped working. They put in a new speaker.

philipma1957 said:

My speaker stopped working. Months after a successful ssd swap. I pulled the ssd and put the oem drive back inside my mini. I told the apple store the speaker stopped working. They put in a new speaker.

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Well that pretty much confirms that opening up the mac mini doesn't void the warranty then. Guess i'll be keeping the oem drive untouched

Interesting. Will probably keep a spare version of OS X on the 1TB just incase then on a separate partition

This is sorta on topic If you install an after market SSD, can you then download a free version of the OS from Apple for the SSD?

sean barry said:

This is sorta on topic If you install an after market SSD, can you then download a free version of the OS from Apple for the SSD?

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Yes you can. The recovery mode of modern macs allows you to restore directly from apple's server.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718

rezinous said:

Interesting. Will probably keep a spare version of OS X on the 1TB just incase then on a separate partition

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I had a thought. Instead of keeping the 1TB aside just as a spare OS X (kind of a waste dont cha think?) we nuke it and use it as a normal external/internal non-OS drive.

Say, the speaker blows or a USB port goes bad, 'something' happens, but the computer can still run. Can't we just pop our SSD out, back up the 1tb and then reload OS X back on the 1TB via internet recovery and send it into shop?

milkmandan said:

Say, the speaker blows or a USB port goes bad, 'something' happens, but the computer can still run. Can't we just pop our SSD out, back up the 1tb and then reload OS X back on the 1TB via internet recovery and send it into shop?

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You could do that, but it sounds like a lot of effort. I'd probably just repartition the 1TB after initially setting it up, leaving the existing out-of-the-box install on a small partition, and creating a second partition for whatever you want. You'll never touch the first partition in normal use, but it'll be bootable and ready to go in the event of AppleCare. Then you only need to remove the SSD to cover your tracks ahead of the repair.

milkmandan said:

I had a thought. Instead of keeping the 1TB aside just as a spare OS X (kind of a waste dont cha think?) we nuke it and use it as a normal external/internal non-OS drive.

Say, the speaker blows or a USB port goes bad, 'something' happens, but the computer can still run. Can't we just pop our SSD out, back up the 1tb and then reload OS X back on the 1TB via internet recovery and send it into shop?

Click to expand...

Probably partitioning the 1TB 10/90. 10% for a backup version of OS X for recovery purposes & for AppleCare. The other 90% for normal usage. Still deciding if I'll put the 1TB internally or externally as a USB3 drive.

Having 50GB put aside with a backup of OS X for peace of mind works for me.