Just got my kit. I plan to install a samsung pro 850 ssd while keeping the existing 1tb spinner. Quick question about position of the drives. My spinner is in the lower drive, so I bought the appropriate kit from OWC. The video shows that I should put my ssd in the upper bay and keep the existing drive in the lower bay. Seems pretty straight forward. Doing a bit of research I noticed a lot of people on the ifixit site said that they had to swap the position and put the existing spinner in the upper bay and put the SSD in the lower bay. Not sure what to believe, as it seems people using the OWC kit do not have this issue. So does position matter? Just want to make sure I do this right the first time.
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OWC Data Double Kit - 2012 Mini - SSD Drive Position
- Thread starter MotionxxUSxx
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I did the SSD addon on two 2012 Minis, an i5 and i7. On both, I had to move the existing HDD from its stock position to the empty bay, and put the SSD in the slot where the HDD was, otherwise I had trouble booting the SSD.
I didn't say upper or lower bay because I'm still confused, some places that sell the cable used upper and lower interchangeably. The original HDD position would be "lower", if you look at the Mini sitting right side up. But then if you have the Mini upside down when working on it, that "lower" bay becomes upper lol.
Looking at disk utility, my SSD is in the lower position, so I guess the uppwer and lower designation is based on looking at the Mini right side up.
The "upper" location is the one that requires logic board removal for access. I'm not sure how exactly people get so confused, invert the computer and everything is inverted.
That said, when I added the SSD to my Mini, I had (and still have) ZERO problems booting from the SSD with the SSD in the "upper" position. I did a clean install of the OS and selected the SSD as the destination drive for that install.
That said, when I added the SSD to my Mini, I had (and still have) ZERO problems booting from the SSD with the SSD in the "upper" position. I did a clean install of the OS and selected the SSD as the destination drive for that install.
I wonder if this is just for Samsung SSDs or for all SSDs (eg Crucial etc)?
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So is the "upper" bay the one on top when the computer is right side up (normal) or upside down when you have the bottom opened up?
I'm also about to do this upgrade. My spinner is in lower. I was thinking of swapping the drives anyway for two reasons. I'd rather have the spinner above the SSD, closer to the aluminum body, where I suspect heat will be taken away from it a tad quicker. Second, I'd rather have easier access to the SSD in case I need to replace it again.
Also, while I'm at it, I plan on re-applying the thermal paste, using some Tuniq 4 which seems to be recommended here and on other forums for the Mini.
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Also, this graphic is helpful:
![mac-mini-bays.jpg]()
Also, while I'm at it, I plan on re-applying the thermal paste, using some Tuniq 4 which seems to be recommended here and on other forums for the Mini.
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Also, this graphic is helpful:
The confusion comes from some of the Ebay listings, since they don't specify which way the Mini is oriented when they say upper and lower. Some list the second drive cable as upper bay, others list it as lower bay. As the stock HDD position is always lower bay, it wouldn't make sense to sell a second drive cable as the lower bay cable.
My SSD is in the upper bay (as reported by OS X) and I've not had any issues with my DIY fusion drive.
If you want to see the most frustrating scenario for this sort of install just check out my thread...
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1809745/
Any insight there is appreciated
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1809745/
Any insight there is appreciated
I'm able to boot from either position in my 2012 i7 mini so I put the 2TB HDD in the 'upper' as I don't see a larger 2.5 HDD coming out anytime soon, while I do see myself upgrading the SSD sometime in the future...
The 'bottom' drive can be swapped out without taking out the logic board.
The 'bottom' drive can be swapped out without taking out the logic board.
The nomenclature comes directly from Apple - it's what they call the bays in System Report and Disk Utility.
The stock HDD isn't always in the lower bay. According to OWC and iFixIt, some models shipped with the HDD in the upper bay, hence the need for two different kits:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIYIMM11D2/
Ah I didn't know some Minis shipped with the stock drive in the upper bay. Good to know.
My Samsung 840 EVO is in the upper bay and everything is working fine. 1TB drive is in it's original location (lower bay).
After a lot of research i also came to the conclusion that its safer to put the SSD in the "primary" bay, i.e. move the stock drive to whatever your other bay is and put the SSD in its place.
It is down to the exact version of Mini and wether you use the ifixit or OWC kits, but swapping the drives should work in all situations, whereas just adding it in... ...well, your milage may vary.
Personally, I would say its worth the extra work to pull out the logic board and do the swap.
It is down to the exact version of Mini and wether you use the ifixit or OWC kits, but swapping the drives should work in all situations, whereas just adding it in... ...well, your milage may vary.
Personally, I would say its worth the extra work to pull out the logic board and do the swap.
Buy a kit as it comes with all the screwdrivers you need, and the tool for getting the main board out.
Just +1 for @KrisLord. You won't manage (without damage) with your normal screwdrivers. And the difference in price between kit and just the adapter is minimal.
To pile on, you need more in parts than the cable anyway, you need 4 of the special rubber grommets and screws, which are somewhat unique to the mac mini. From what I can see, all those parts and the cable separately costs more than the OWC kit (which is also on Amazon in case you want prime shipping). Not mentioned in the description, but as I just found out, the OWC kit also comes with shielding for the USB3, which fixes the interference problems between the bluetooth and USB3.
Thanks guys for your advice. Just ordered the OWC kit.
My first 2012 mini (Late 2012 2.3 GHz i7) I bought a couple of months ago had the drive in the upper bay.
I picked up another Late 2012 2.3 GHz i7 last week but haven't opened it yet to see if it's the same way.