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Intel Mac mini Disassembly and Details

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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With the release of the Intel Mac mini, several sites have already taken the new Mac apart.

Macworld posts some photos disassembling the new Intel Mac mini, revealing that the 2.5" hard drive is SATA and the RAM slots are now horizontal, making them less accessible than previous models.

Another user also posts more detailed photos with some interesting observations:

- 110 Watt Power Supply (vs 85 Watt)
- Packed tighter and no room for a seperate video card
- The Intel Processor appears socketed - which means it is potentially upgradable in the future by a simple chip replacement. The Intel iMac also has a socketed chip, while the MacBook Pro processor is soldered on.

Finally, Applefritter posts a detailed guide on the dissembly with step by step photos.
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2006/03/02/intel-mac-mini-disassembly-and-details/
Macrumors said:
The Intel iMac also has a socketed chip, while the MacBook Pro processor is soldered on.
Click to expand...

It would have been neat if the MacBook Pro also had the socketed chip. Now that I think about it, has there ever been a line of Mac laptops that did allow one to upgrade the processor?

I was under the impression that most laptops didn't permit this.
 
Awesome!! Upgradeable CPUs!!! :D :D

That means you could probably buy a 2.13 Ghz Core Duo if you really wanted to and put it straight into a 1.5Ghz Core Solo Machine. Now I wonder how that would perform?!!
 
jsw said:
Yes, I'd like to see where the nay-sayers would put that GPU they keep clamoring for.
Click to expand...

Exactly, thank you. If they want a Mac Mini with a full-blown GPU, they can buy one. It's called an iMac, and it has a heck of a lot more space for components than the Mini does.

While the CowCase and the HiFi were disappointents to me the other day, I thought the Mini really kicked *** for its price and components.
 
Seasought said:
It would have been neat if the MacBook Pro also had the socketed chip. Now that I think about it, has there ever been a line of Mac laptops that did allow one to upgrade the processor?

I was under the impression that most laptops didn't permit this.
Click to expand...
Yes. Most, if not all, PC laptops have the chips soldered onto the motherboard. There has only been one Apple laptop I'm aware of with a socketed chip and that was one of their old G3 models.
 
So, after all that wailing, it turns out Apple uses integrated graphics because of purely technical reasons. And you get much more upgradeable machine than before, to boot. I think it is not that big of a tradeoff. Plus, next iteration will potentially get a better logic board design and maybe a discrete graphics chip.
 
I wonder how long it'll take for the guy(s) over at Nakfull Propaganda to open up their Intel iMac and switch the chip with the Intel Mini. They've got both they're and they're not afraid to take things apart... I give it 24 hours. :rolleyes:
 
Spanky Deluxe said:
Awesome!! Upgradeable CPUs!!! :D :D

That means you could probably buy a 2.13 Ghz Core Duo if you really wanted to and put it straight into a 1.5Ghz Core Solo Machine. Now I wonder how that would perform?!!
Click to expand...

I'd be worried about cooling. A 2.13 dual core has got to produce a lot more heat than the 1.5 single core and there just isn't any room in there for cooling.
 
I'm sure a 2.13Ghz chip would work in there fine although the fan would be on a lot more. I'm assuming the Core Solo and Core Duo models have identical cooling systems btw.

What will be *really* interesting to see is if Meroms will work in these minis when they come out. That is if Merom shares the same pinout as these chips - I don't know that.
 
Mac Mini Core Duo 1.66 GHz Answers

Okay, time for some answers, based upon my experience with one at the Apple Store and at home last night (I am so Steve Jobs' bitch):

From the Quicktime HD Gallery (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/), I used the Higher Ground trailer as a guide to its H.264 decoding capabilities:
  • 720p played the first 40 seconds with no noticable frame drops
  • 1080p did skip frames occasionally -- enough to be noticable
I bought the thing anyway and was able to watch the IMAX Deep Sea 3D 720p trailer without noticable frame dropping.
The new Mac Mini is capable of displaying in my Sony CRT at 1080i (and 720p, though mine upsamples it).
World of Warcraft loads, updates, and plays -- but not very well. I do not have a Mini G4 to compare against, so here's what I know: It's subjectively worse than my (Mobile) Radeon 9600-based PowerBook G4, which I use all the time. Running at 720p, it starts losing fps very quickly and I would not attempt PvP combat on a Mini Core Duo. During a flight from Stormwind to Ironforge, even with all of the Video Options tweaked down, I was able to drop the fps to 0 by swinging the camera around. Standing in Stormwind's auction house gave me 29 fps. Standing outside Stormwind's bank gave me 25fps max.

Front Row is great at 1080i, though. :D
 
Spanky Deluxe said:
I'm sure a 2.13Ghz chip would work in there fine although the fan would be on a lot more. I'm assuming the Core Solo and Core Duo models have identical cooling systems btw.

What will be *really* interesting to see is if Meroms will work in these minis when they come out. That is if Merom shares the same pinout as these chips - I don't know that.
Click to expand...

What about the FSB speed, though?
 
iGary said:
What about the FSB speed, though?
Click to expand...

I thought that at launch Merom will maintain the 667Mhz FSB of the Yonahs but this will be upped to 800Mhz later on. Kind of like the Dothan's coming in to replace the Banias breed of Pentium-Ms. They were initially announced with the same FSB as the Banias chips (400Mhz) which was later upped to 533Mhz.
 
Video editing?

I am considering getting one of th new core duo minis. The most intensive activities I would use it for would be video editing DV from a camcorder and the occasional DIVX or iPod video conversion.

Do you think the mini's are too underpowered for this? Would getting 2 GB RAM help any?
 
Even if really there's no space if the current configuration for a discrete gfx, it's a case of form over function. Apple prefers to make a bad machine instead of a good one and just very slightly bigger.
 
JustADecoy said:
Okay, time for some answers, based upon my experience with one at the Apple Store and at home last night (I am so Steve Jobs' bitch):

From the Quicktime HD Gallery (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/), I used the Higher Ground trailer as a guide to its H.264 decoding capabilities:
  • 720p played the first 40 seconds with no noticable frame drops
  • 1080p did skip frames occasionally -- enough to be noticable
I bought the thing anyway and was able to watch the IMAX Deep Sea 3D 720p trailer without noticable frame dropping.
The new Mac Mini is capable of displaying in my Sony CRT at 1080i (and 720p, though mine upsamples it).
World of Warcraft loads, updates, and plays -- but not very well. I do not have a Mini G4 to compare against, so here's what I know: It's subjectively worse than my (Mobile) Radeon 9600-based PowerBook G4, which I use all the time. Running at 720p, it starts losing fps very quickly and I would not attempt PvP combat on a Mini Core Duo. During a flight from Stormwind to Ironforge, even with all of the Video Options tweaked down, I was able to drop the fps to 0 by swinging the camera around. Standing in Stormwind's auction house gave me 29 fps. Standing outside Stormwind's bank gave me 25fps max.

Front Row is great at 1080i, though. :D
Click to expand...

How much RAM do you have in the mini? Could the 1080 playback be choppy, because of occasional HDD reading? Are the WOW stats at 1024x768 or 1280x720 (or a higher/lower resolution)?
 
Trebz said:
I am considering getting one of th new core duo minis. The most intensive activities I would use it for would be video editing DV from a camcorder and the occasional DIVX or iPod video conversion.

Do you think the mini's are too underpowered for this? Would getting 2 GB RAM help any?
Click to expand...

TO early to say... hold out for some extensive benchmarking. My guess is it'll be good for non-Motion based video editing, especially with an added high speed FW HDD.
 
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