2014 Mac Mini Teardown Highlights Increased Difficulty For User Upgradability

[Count Blah]

Apples new green initiative.

When the ram is insufficient, throw the whole machine away. When the mini is not powerful enough for you, buy an iMac with a monitor you don't want.

Go Green!!!

 

[iolinux333]

I built a hot rod of an overclocked PC in 2000 when O/Cing was fun.

That was my main machine until 2010 and it worked fine for TEN YEARS, still running XP.

The only reason I tossed it out was because I was bored with it and wanted a laptop. First I got a POS laptop (Dell Mini 9), then in 2011 got a MBA.

This MBA works every bit as well as the day I got it.

This is terrifying the entire PC industry.

There is essentially zero reason real for me to upgrade for a decade. Maybe several decades. Apple is going to have to work like heck to trash the capabilities of my MBA to make me want something else.

Business School 101, after the chapter slashing costs to the bone is finished, goes into the chapter about selling light bulbs.

Edison developed perpetual filament light bulbs that cost exactly the same to manufacture, that have been burning continuously, after he made them, to this day. I saw a chandelier of his bulbs once that was turned on, and left on, something like a hundred years ago and they all still work fine.

Apple has been documented time and time again forcing obsolescence on us.

They recently just arbitrarily removed Handoff from mid-2011 MBA. An enterprising person in one of the subforums here figured out how to re-enable it with a 2 minute software hack. I suspect a future OS X update will do away with that hack, also known as the "evil bastard maneuver."

I don't know if I can blame them though. Unless something unforseen happens to make people want more horsepower under the hood, the entire PC industry, including Apple, is in deep deep trouble.

Even the handheld computer (iPhone) market is saturated now.

All they can do is hold features back as long as possible and hope they don't lose too many customers by pissing them off to much and sending them off to the hoards of chinese manufacturers that are churning out feature packed Android phones as fast as they can dig the raw materials to make them with out of the ground.

That's why we don't have 2gigs of ram in the iPhone 6. It would have cost them essentially nothing to put it in, but then they would have had have absolutely nothing to offer next year for the 6s, except maybe waterproofing.

Of course they'll keep waterproofing for the 7... or 7s...

 

[Believe58]

Torx screw

You buy the new mac mini for the torx screw. It is the smallest and lightest torx screw possible that still remains functional. Therefore it is a Jony Ive torx screw.

 

[tentales]

I last met a person who upgraded his computer four years ago:

About the last time you left the basement, lawnmower man.

 

[blahblah100]

awesome... nice work locking the dummies out while increasing margins. two birds one stone. doubling down on shares of AAPL now that they are finally making business sense.

Finally saved enough for your second share?

 

[Renzatic]

Thank you for caring dweebmoDVD, I'm proud to be a.01 percenter- I really had no idea I was so special.

You are one of the chosen few, Scott. The proud. The brave. One who realizes a Mac isn't just an overly expensive Facebook and Twitter machine.

Embrace your destiny. The ram must flow.

 

[ethanwa79]

Come on IFixIt... I have a security tool set I got at Lowes a few years back that goes down to a Torx Security T5 (yes, the one with the hole in the middle). I can't believe they were scrambling for a tool for the Security T6.

 

[Glassed Silver]

Apples new green initiative.

When the ram is insufficient, throw the whole machine away. When the mini is not powerful enough for you, buy an iMac with a monitor you don't want.

Go Green!!!

Don't forget about their new planned obsolescence strategy.
Apparently as owner of an iMac that had been around when Bluetooth 4.0 existed, just not in my model, that came a year later, I am supposed to get a new Mac instead of just adding a BT 4.0 dongle to my Mac to get Handoff.

Got to curb those Mac sales, eh?

Glassed Silver:mac

 

[billystlyes]

Let's give credit where it's due... iFixIt did the teardown. MR did what they do and wrote up a report on someone else's work.

Remember that MacRumors gave us this gem on the FRONT PAGE of this very website!

Image

I can't think of one thing they've brought me. Most rumors are just reposts from 9to5Mac. A true rumor site that's posts it's own content.

 

[maxpayne.co.uk]

Umm, I have a Torx T4 right here...

 

[doelcm82]

Yes, I'm sure that driver will be available in just a few months; glad companies like ifixit are around. I'll be passing on the new mini though. Can't give money to a company this arrogant.

Fair enough. Apple has always been perceived as arrogant, so you and Apple were probably never good match.

 

[mrwonkers]

Bean counter filth....

THIS is what you get when an accountant is CEO - Apple is a monopoly of sorts and as such without Steve to keep the new Apple regime in check this is what we can expect more and more of.... Give it a few years "Pro" apps will be dumbed down or non existent, its all about $ and not much else from here on out..... PC is starting to look more open and attractive everyday [never thought I would ever think like this....but...]


UPDATE: Just scoured the countryside and have just purchased a 2012 i7 Quad Mini & a 2011 Mini Server still in plastic both new under warranty....Phew that was close.... Oh and up yours Timmy......

 

[RipsMctits]

My first Mac Mini (my first Mac anything) is/was the late 2012 2.3Ghz i7. I got it a few months ago and I love it. I slapped 16GB of OWC RAM in it a month ago or so and I couldn't be happier, for the most part. I've had a few problems here and there. I had to take the first one back to the Apple store because it ended up being a dud. I've had a few crash and reboot events with this one a few times for no real reason (could be related to using an HDTV TV for my monitor via HDMI from what I hear?), but I enjoy the OS X experience so much that it doesn't really bother me...provided it doesn't start happening more often. At least I've got AppleCare if something really goes wrong.

That being said...this refresh is pretty disgusting. In one fell swoop, Apple has completely eliminated any interest I had in this line of Macs. Now the Mac Mini is basically useless for me. This was my conversion from the PC/Windows world. I do some pretty demanding stuff with my music production projects. I will never consider buying another Mac Mini unless they get their act together for subsequent models.

 

[mdgm]

Computers should get generally faster with each generation and why should we have to pay $200 for an 8GB memory upgrade at the time of purchase? Ridiculous.

I have a 2011 Mac Mini Server with a 2Ghz quad core CPU and 4GB RAM. It's nice to know that if it becomes unusable (or if a future version of Mac OS X that can run on it requires it) I can upgrade it to 16GB (2x8GB RAM). It already swaps a bit but for what I use it for it's running fine.

Whereas with the 2014 Mini if I buy it with the stock memory and decide in 4 years it needs a RAM upgrade I can't do it. I have to buy a whole new machine when all it needs is a RAM upgrade.

Having to pay for RAM upgrades at inflated prices increases the cost of purchase which is especially hard to swallow when there is now no quad core CPU option.

The early 2011 15" rMBP for example can take 16GB RAM even though Apple never offered that as a CTO option for it. What possible RAM upgrades will we miss out on in the future due to RAM being soldered on?

 

[HighDesert50]

There are a lot of barebone mini pc boxes to choose from if one is dissatisfied with this current mac mini generation. The barebone mini really allows one to build a system. Linux anyone?

 

[IJ Reilly]

They've also discovered that the RAM is soldered onto the machine, which was first discovered late last week.

And at the same time, providing us with an entirely new meaning for the concept of discovery.

 

[Analog Kid]

I would have accepted soldered RAM had Jony and co built a new enclosure that was 70% smaller/thinner and thus required flash disks and a tiny Logic board, but that's NOT what happened here. This is just punitive to those wanting to buy into the Mac product line for less $, and it also serves to alienate would be PC switchers that are somewhat accustomed to easy RAM upgrades, minimally.

If Apple came out and said, "hi, so this new Mac mini is truly Mini, it's the same size as a Rubicks cube or a few decks of playing cards!" Then I'd accept a sealed device with no upgradable anything, but they just got lazy and sealed what was previously a viable product.

I think your use of the word "punitive" is a good expression of how silly this has gotten...

RAM modules and other user serviceable parts are more expensive to buy, more expensive to build, and more expensive to warranty and repair. Obviously their goal was to bring down the price of the low end Mini, not boost the performance of what must be a low volume BTO high end of the low end units.

 

[crazzapple]

There are a lot of barebone mini pc boxes to choose from if one is dissatisfied with this current mac mini generation. The barebone mini really allows one to build a system. Linux anyone?

Wish I could get along with linux. Ran it for several years before switching to Mac and I'm not willing to try it again, my time and sanity is just worth too much.

 

[oldmacs]

This is Apple's way of making more money.

A) People who buy the Mac Mini, especially the 4GB ram one have no upgrade option for when OS X 10.12 comes along and cripples their Mac (4GB is allready too little) and they'll need to buy a new one.

B) More people will BTO their Mac Mini with more ram, so more money to Apple straight away.

C) Others will spend even more money and jump to an iMac (the mid range 21.5 which is still semi upgradable).

As far as I can see Apple wins with every option, they make more money and the consumer is left worse off. It seems to be all that Tim Cook wants for Apple.

 

[Analog Kid]

And at the same time, providing us with an entirely new meaning for the concept of discovery.

I read it in the traditional way, e.g. "Columbus discovered America."

 

[groovyd]

Finally saved enough for your second share?

blah blah blah... that's all i hear...

 

[flyinmac]

But, but, an Apple rep said it was user upgradable. These pics must be shopped!!

LOL... He was trying to make a sale... Don't let the cat out of the bag until it's too late.

Just imagine Apple's response... you want a 100% refund because you can't open the machine and replace the memory? Sorry, you'll have to pay the restocking fee.

I couldn't even get Apple to honor warranty repairs that other tech's at Apple had already given me a claim number for. Good luck getting them to honor a statement made by a sales rep. They don't even care what their service techs have agreed to.

 

[groovyd]

This is Apple's way of making more money.

A) People who buy the Mac Mini, especially the 4GB ram one have no upgrade option for when OS X 10.12 comes along and cripples their Mac (4GB is allready too little) and they'll need to buy a new one.

B) More people will BTO their Mac Mini with more ram, so more money to Apple straight away.

C) Others will spend even more money and jump to an iMac (the mid range 21.5 which is still semi upgradable).

As far as I can see Apple wins with every option, they make more money and the consumer is left worse off. It seems to be all that Tim Cook wants for Apple.

So let me get this right...

A. People buy something low end. Apple makes money now and more again later when they upgrade.

B. People buy something a little better. Apple also makes money, even more right away, maybe not as much tomorrow but for sure more today.

C. People buy something even better. Apple makes ever more money.

lol

 

[BoulderAdonis]

Sorry the rest of the world dares to be poor, and yet tries to keep some form of technology available for their family and children to use.

You're right, they should either suck it up, and starve their family for a year to buy some extreme piece of hardware that they don't need, or just destine their children and family to be unfamiliar with the technology so that they can never better their situation.

How dare they ever think about buying something with what little money they can spare and try to get it to last as long as possible by seeking something that can be upgraded incrementally as needed.

You're right, if you're not rich, you should just disappear and die. You do realize that you cannot even interact with the very agencies which help you find work, get food for your family, further your education to get a better job, etc. without a computer in my area.... If you don't have a computer at home, you're screwed if you need help to lift yourself out of poverty.

And, you're attitude that people should just throw stuff away and replace it frequently is short sighted, ignorant, and denies people the right to do their best to survive in a technology based world on an often very tight budget.

I can't tell you how many people I know who are in unfortunate situations because of circumstances beyond their control, and would be flat destitute right now if they didn't have a computer to interact with the agencies who can help them...

Get out of your billionaire mindset for a moment and consider that not everyone can throw things away and replace them frequently. Some need to make choices that will get them what they need, and enable them to stay current with incremental upgrades over the years. Not everyone can live the life of luxurious waste that you seem to think we should all submit to.

And the improved single core performance - at a *lower* price point will work just fine for them. *They* certainly aren't the ones on here complaining about soldered RAM, and quad core multi-threaded performance. That machine will last them for years - if all they want is information. I still have a fully functioning Mac mini core 2 duo from what must be going on 10 years ago. RAM and HDD aren't the problem - but the discontinued power cord is. The drama in your post is ridiculous. I didn't realize that Apple was suddenly OLPC.

 

[flyinmac]

Of note, the new mini now uses less power than your average LED Light Bulb, and under half of the last gen when doing the same tasks. However, the old one used so little power anyways...

That isn't in any way called for by making the system less serviceable but rather 2 years of improvements from Intel for their processors, gpus and chipsets.

Unfortunately, you'll lose your energy savings by having it take longer to perform the same tasks.

While I realize it's not a real world situation... imagine if it took 2 hours for a LED light bulb to light a room for 30 seconds drawing maximum power, and it took a regular light bulb exactly 30 seconds to do the same. Which one do you think would cost you more for the same amount of illumination time?

Obviously, a light bulb isn't the best example, but I think you get the idea.