replace mac mini intel i5 HD

Not only is it possible, but it is easy to do as shown here.
I'd suggest a drive such as this.
As always, backup any important files before undertaking a task such as this.

A 7200RPM drive won't make a huge difference in speed. The stock 5400RPM drive that came in my mini was read/writing around 100MB/s, and you will probably get 120-130 MB/s with a 7200 drive. If you did an SSD or fusion setup you would see a much greater improvement.

sergionetto said:

I have a late 2012 Mac Mini Intel i5 Mac Mini, with an 500GB internal HD.
It has 16MB of RAM, so it's running fast, but the only bottleneck is the internal 5400rpm HD. I would like to replace it for a 1TB HD, 7200rpm. Is it possible?

Click to expand...

FYI, there is only one 1TB 7200rpm RPM 2.5" 9.5mm drive on the market (HGST). I run it in a Fusion Drive.

You may want to head over to OWC and just add a second drive a SSD, they have some nice benchmarks there to show you what you will gainhttp://eshop.macsales.com/shop/mac-mini/ the mid 2011 mini can be made into a lil kicker! Also they can perform the work and digging into one of these little machines is full of peril if you aint careful.

If you REALLY "want speed", and if you're not cramped for space, you might consider this:

- Buy an SSD (wait for Black Friday sales, or even end-of-year sales, and pick something up in the 256 GB range)

- If you don't feel like opening up the Mini and pulling out the motherboard to install it, get a USB3/SATA docking station and run it that way as your "external booter". The speeds will be indistinguishable from an internally-installed SSD.

You can get a USB3/SATA dock for less than $25 at amazon. Go there, and enter "usb3 sata dock" into the search box to see what's available.

An SSD will be a world apart from any platter-based HDD, speed-wise.