2018 Mac mini Teardown: User-Upgradeable RAM, But Soldered Down CPU and Storage

[jimothyGator]

Mac Mini + eGPU = Killer Setup

But also anything but mini in size (not to mention price). Give us, say, a 12” x 8” x 12” case (smaller than microATX), with upgradable GPU, RAM, and storage, and Apple could get the style they are are known for, with the power and expandabilty customers want.

Instead, we get the style Ive wants...and the profit margins Cook wants. Not a whole lot else.

 

[gavroche]

Someone needs to confiscate all those pesky soldering irons at Apple's manufacturing facilities.

Storage and memory need to be user-upgradable on every Mac.

As vocal as the techy type like us can be... the reality is that a very small percentage of users ever upgrade anything in their computers. They buy something that works for them, and their use case doesn't change very much in the several years they use it. This debate comes up all the time... and over the years I've seen people link to a lot of statistics about what a small percentage of people ever upgrade.
Reading the complaints here make or sound like 'everyine' wants/needs upgradeability. And for most of the people that frequent a site like this, that may be true. But us users here are the exception, not the rule.

 

[Sabelonada]

Good point. Hadn’t thought of that, although most users probably aren’t thinking of it either, and such a scenario is really unlikely. I’ve offloaded much from the internal drive, although some apps play better with documents on the same drive (iPhoto and iMovie are two) and take up huge space with even moderate-sized libraries. For that reason, like you, my new mini will probably have a 1TB drive rather than the 512 GB drive I have currently.

I realize it's very unlikely in a desktop. I am accustomed to PCs with multiple drives so it's not a big stretch or change. The biggest change is that it won't be in the tower but on or under my desk somewhere, maybe a NAS with a 10GB connection. I cannot see myself buying this without spending the $100 for the 10GB Etherenet.

I have had one PC go pop once and the separate drives and data on them were fine. If it were to happen on a Mac mini it would likely mean complete loss of all data in the soldered storage.

 

[CWallace]

It sounds like Apple did make a Mini with a socketed CPU and replaceable ssd, but instead released it with it all soldered down, I wonder if they were intending to release it that way and for some reason forced to switch it, or what the reason for that would be that they even made an upgradable model for internal use.

Is Pike an Apple employee? If so, he might have an Engineering Sample that has a custom motherboard with replaceable components to facilitate different configuration testing.

 

[bigfatipod]

I miss Power Mac G4s & Blue & White G3s. Justpull down the side, and you have full access to everything.

those were truly remarkable machines. I keep my b&w g3 in my office. great times when you could slap in a new hard drive or a stick of ram without any effort whatsoever!

 

[Quasi26]

I keep reading people complaining about the internal storage size, but it seems to me Apple is just treating this as a "server". In any real high end system, internal drives are just boot/OS drives and everything else is high end external storage (SAN/NAS/Etc). 128 GB is more than enough to run OSX alone at least for me.

 

[Juicy Box]

I also prefer swappable drive and have done so on my 2012 Mini (loving the OWC Mercury), but I don’t understand not buying a new Mini over this. Am I missing something?

On all the Mac I have owned over the years, which have been many, the number one thing to go bad in them is the storage drive. Now, with SSDs, there might be less of a chance of the drive failing, but they still do go bad.

This would be another reason to want non-soldered storage.

Another would be that Storage prices tend to go down over time, so an expensive 2TB SSD today might cost a fraction of the current price a few years from now.

 

[Boil]

...I did noticed though is that the whole busy get pretty warm ...

That's so you can keep you coffee warm, just set your cup on top of the mini...!

 

[Juicy Box]

I think it is better to have a soldered SSD than soldered RAM.

Why not just have replaceable SSD and RAM?

Also, I have never had working RAM go bad, but I had plenty of internal storage go bad.

 

[zipgs]

Is Pike an Apple employee? If so, he might have an Engineering Sample that has a custom motherboard with replaceable components to facilitate different configuration testing.

Yes he is, so yeah, you're right. I'm just sad they made what we all want, then soldered it down on release... oh well.

 

[MrGuder]

Here is the best video I’ve seen of replacing ram on the 2018 Mac mini. It doesn’t look that difficult with the right tools.

 

[baller1308]

It's kind of understandable to solder things on laptops, which I still hate, but on the Mac Mini thinness shouldn't really be considered. It should have plenty of room to make storage and ram upgradable.

 

[BillyBobBongo]

Another would be that Storage prices tend to go down over time, so an expensive 2TB SSD today might cost a fraction of the current price a few years from now.

At the current rate I think we're talking months not years. Wee... and down it goes!

Samsung 970 Evo 500GB - Price in €

Gemiddelde = Average

 

[Sabelonada]

Why not just have replaceable SSD and RAM?

Also, I have never had working RAM go bad, but I had plenty of internal storage go bad.

Boosting revenue in face of stagnant market. All other excuses aside, this is probably the number one reason.

 

[DrJohnnyN]

I hope this signifies a new shift in Apple hardware design

Don't count on it.

 

[NufSaid]

Very likely my wife's next computer. She is currently PC and has the graphics monitors so not having to pay for the monitor but getting here onto a mac is a big plus.

 

[groadyho]

Considering this is the last time the Mini will see attention until 2022 at the earliest, I suppose this will hold us over.

The more I look and learn about switching over to Mac n iPhone the more I feel like it is one big compromise and mess.

 

[Smeaton1724]

I had mine delivered yesterday, and I already had purchasd the 32gb memory upgrade, but couldn't perform it cause I had to order the special screwdrivers to take it apart, what I did noticed though is that the whole busy get pretty warm while in use, I mean this is my first Mac mini ever, so I don't know if the older ones get that hot.

I have a 'Mid Tier' 2014 - 2.6 Ghz Dual core, 8GB RAM, 500GB SSD (got rid of HDD as soon as I got it!). Sits in a drawer with little to no ventilation. It was in a vented place but because it never got 'hot', rarely even gets properly warm as the fan would spin up a bit when converting .mkv's to MV's for iTunes/Home Sharing using handbrake I moved it for convenience.

 

[Tinmania]

If you’re trying to max out your Mini, you’re potentially spending upwards of $2000. That means were talking about roughly a 10%-15% premium to have Apple upgrade your SDD. If you don’t wanna spend that, fine, but let’s not be disingenuous and suggest that this premium represents the spending elite.

It is not just a "10%-15% premium," especially when you want a TB or more in local storage. To go from the base mini's 128GB SSD to 2TB, via Apple, costs $1600, for a total of $2400 for the mini. One can buy a 2TB SSD from Amazon for $325, for a total of $1125, starting with the same base mini. That works out to a 210% increase, or in your words "premium to have Apple upgrade your SDD." Of course Apple is, in no way, upgrading your SSD: they are replacing the base SSD with a more expensive SSD. You don't get "your" old SSD back. When I upgraded my 2010 and 2012 minis, I got to keep the original drives.



Mike

 

[Sabelonada]

On all the Mac I have owned over the years, which have been many, the number one thing to go bad in them is the storage drive. Now, with SSDs, there might be less of a chance of the drive failing, but they still do go bad.

This would be another reason to want non-soldered storage.

Another would be that Storage prices tend to go down over time, so an expensive 2TB SSD today might cost a fraction of the current price a few years from now.

Were those SSD failures or spinning disk failures?

 

[MacSince1985]

Why not placing the RAM in another place of of the board more easily accessible??

I suspect RF interference forced them to move it as far away from other components, in addition to shielding it.

This teardown answers my questions. This Mac does not fit my needs. I may recommend an entry level model to someone with average computing needs. I would not recommend the higher end / more expensive models.

 

[Sabelonada]

It is not just a "10%-15% premium," especially when you want a TB or more in local storage. To go from the base mini's 128GB SSD to 2TB, via Apple, costs $1600, for a total of $2400 for the mini. One can buy a 2TB SSD from Amazon for $325, for a total of $1125, starting with the same base mini. That works out to a 210% increase, or in your words "premium to have Apple upgrade your SDD." Of course Apple is, in no way, upgrading your SSD: they are replacing the base SSD with a more expensive SSD. You don't get "your" old SSD back. When I upgraded my 2010 and 2012 minis, I got to keep the original drives.



Mike

That $325 SSD is a SATA SSD, not a NVMe drive. A comparable SSD costs about $600 ($597.99 970 EVO). But yes, Apple charges a lot for SSD.

 

[Juicy Box]

Were those SSD failures or spinning disk failures?

Almost all HDD, 1 was SSD.

 

[Sabelonada]

I suspect RF interference forced them to move it as far away from other components, in addition to shielding it.

This teardown answers my questions. This Mac does not fit my needs. I may recommend an entry level model to someone with average computing needs. I would not recommend the higher end / more expensive models.

Why not? The higher end models are compact powerhouses.

 

[Joniz]

The soldered down drive would be acceptable if they had put space to add a second drive, like they did with the 2012 and before. That way, you could make your own fusion drive for more space (and 128GB would be fine), or add a second SSD if you want.

Having an external drive attached to your Mac Mini is too much like dongling stuff off your laptop. It’s not pretty. I don’t want to pay extra to have something that looks like a kludge.