So, I ask you, does this issue you have holds true for everybody else......guess not, but I do feel for you, sorry you had this problem.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
2018 Mac mini Teardown: User-Upgradeable RAM, But Soldered Down CPU and Storage
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
So, I ask you, does this issue you have holds true for everybody else......guess not, but I do feel for you, sorry you had this problem.
Sigh... and its not like the Mini was hurting for space. A socketed CPU and SSD totally had available space (what happens when you don't make your machines anorexic).
I guess we'll just have to treat the built in SSD as nothing more than an expensive recovery partition, and run most files, programs, and even the OS from an external Drive. Which really defeats the point of seating the SSD behind the T2 security chip.
At least we know what Apple would be willing to sell just an Apple Approved Motherboard for. About 1000 USD, with no PCIe expansion slots. Just shared Thunderbolt3 pipes. I'd be tempted to strip the Mini fully out of its recycle shell and mount its guts in a more roomy chassis, and pretend like a 3rd party Thunderbolt3 Hub is a set of PCIe expansion slots.
It would defiantly be a place to up your DYI Repair game. Although I think if you're careful you don't have detach the wire at all.
I guess we'll just have to treat the built in SSD as nothing more than an expensive recovery partition, and run most files, programs, and even the OS from an external Drive. Which really defeats the point of seating the SSD behind the T2 security chip.
At least we know what Apple would be willing to sell just an Apple Approved Motherboard for. About 1000 USD, with no PCIe expansion slots. Just shared Thunderbolt3 pipes. I'd be tempted to strip the Mini fully out of its recycle shell and mount its guts in a more roomy chassis, and pretend like a 3rd party Thunderbolt3 Hub is a set of PCIe expansion slots.
It would defiantly be a place to up your DYI Repair game. Although I think if you're careful you don't have detach the wire at all.
Last edited:
That wasn't Apple's message. Upgradable yes, because of SO-DIMMs, but that was it.
It's non-proprietary because I can buy a T6 security screwdriver from anyone, not just Apple.
For example I can buy my own monitor and (finally) not have a reflective screen any more.
I don’t understand why.
In my opinion the size of the internal storage for a desktop computer is almost irrelevant.
I need so much storage that one or more external storage devices are unavoidable, and the speed of the communication ports is so fast nowadays that it really doesn’t matter.
Obviously it is a different issue for laptops where you might not want to use external drives when you are out and about.
Soldered parts not only reduce costs they are more reliable, both very good reasons to use them. I'm sure those are the main reasons for Apple. Any obsolescence effect is just a bonus from Apple's point of view, not the main reason.
notice how instead of putting a 8GB ram stick Tim put 2 x 4GB sticks ?
furthermore soldered SSD on a desktop to prevent you from upgrading
Apple is a spiteful company
furthermore soldered SSD on a desktop to prevent you from upgrading
Apple is a spiteful company
Mac Mini + eGPU = Far too expensive for what it is.
[doublepost=1541795092][/doublepost]
It's also far less elegant, with far too any cable everywhere.
What's going to happen when Metal 3.0 is released and they kill support for Intel graphics devices? Presumably, with the coming switch to ARM (A-series processors) they are going to also switch to their own custom GPU that's already integrated into the A-series processors. Once that happens I would expect them to do a dick move and drop support for all other GPUs. Planned obsolescence is the name of their game.
At least with my Mac Pro 2102 I can swap out the GPU for a Metal 2.0 supported device. Also the latency and bandwidth on a Thunderbolt 3 port is bad when compared to an internal PCIe slot. Thunderbolt 3 is equivalent to a PCIe 3.0 x4 slot, which is only 4GB/s. Presumably the Mac mini only has two Thunderbolt controllers, so two ports have to share that bandwidth too. With my Mac Pro 2012 I have a dedicated PCIe 2.0 x16 slot for 8GB/s. Latency is also much better with a real PCIe slot, with Thunderbolt you have additional latency because of the Thunderbolt controller itself, protocol encapsulation, and long cables. I'll be a lot happier once Thunderbolt 4.0 is release, but for now I'm sticking with my Mac Pro 2012, which by the way has 128GB of memory. The absolute max memory on the new Mac mini is 64GB, that's a hard limitation of the CPU per the Intel ARK specification.
It's too bad the new Mac mini didn't come with Intel Optane storage. If it had Optane you could use the internal drive for swap space and an external NVMe for data.
At least with my Mac Pro 2102 I can swap out the GPU for a Metal 2.0 supported device. Also the latency and bandwidth on a Thunderbolt 3 port is bad when compared to an internal PCIe slot. Thunderbolt 3 is equivalent to a PCIe 3.0 x4 slot, which is only 4GB/s. Presumably the Mac mini only has two Thunderbolt controllers, so two ports have to share that bandwidth too. With my Mac Pro 2012 I have a dedicated PCIe 2.0 x16 slot for 8GB/s. Latency is also much better with a real PCIe slot, with Thunderbolt you have additional latency because of the Thunderbolt controller itself, protocol encapsulation, and long cables. I'll be a lot happier once Thunderbolt 4.0 is release, but for now I'm sticking with my Mac Pro 2012, which by the way has 128GB of memory. The absolute max memory on the new Mac mini is 64GB, that's a hard limitation of the CPU per the Intel ARK specification.
It's too bad the new Mac mini didn't come with Intel Optane storage. If it had Optane you could use the internal drive for swap space and an external NVMe for data.
2 slots and they have to be matched pairs.
[doublepost=1541795320][/doublepost]
You're arguing for an overpriced desktop computer that has a soldered SSD. Talk about the Cult of Mac...
The RAM is paired for performance / efficiency reasons. It's been the case for several generations that interleaving or multi-channel (or matched banks) of RAM are preferred, if not required.
It also (IMHO) would be worse if only a single slot was offered, while conversely if there were 4; this would probably require all 4 to be matched.
No, you're not, becaseu you can add an eGPU to the iMac!
[doublepost=1541795447][/doublepost]
How any people know how to do that? Even people that can build a computer don't tend to have experience soldering...
[doublepost=1541795514][/doublepost]
You're not sure why the only 16:9 27" 5K monitor on the market is expensive?? #NotSureIfSerious
You keep the Apple RAM in case there’s any issues with the Mini. Part of your troubleshooting would be to put back the factory RAM anyway.
The math has already been done elsewhere: it's worth getting a base iMac Pro vs a comparable Mac mini + eGPU + LG 5K monitor + mouse and keyboard.
I run 3 OS's (Mac, Windows, and iOS) across multiple devices. I don't have antivirus on any of them and never have. If you need antivirus in 2018 you're clueless at using computers safely. Don't click on links you don't know what it is and don't download files from sketch websites and you really have no need for some clunky 3rd party antivirus software.
A positive for us Logic or Final Cut Pro users, is that while we are unquestionably being overcharged for SSD and RAM prices, we don’t have to pay to upgrade those applications.....ever again.
That was a big selling point for me going with Logic. Protools and other such programs charge over and over for upgrades.
That was a big selling point for me going with Logic. Protools and other such programs charge over and over for upgrades.
OT
What a ffing non sense, I have been using Macs forever, never had an malware on my Mac, but I do run other apps like Firewalls.
But still, there is still no virus since OS X/macOS was released over a decade and a half ago.
And no, I will never install a virus scanner just to please the ones I send mail to and use Windows, that's their problem.
I leave it here at this, going off topic.
Probably gonna get myself the 6 core, after selling both my 2012 MBP 13" and 2012 Mac Mini, should get quite a lot for them both, both have Samsung Pro SSD's and 16 GB RAM.
Last edited:
It totally triggers my OCD when the family members don’t neatly wrap up all cables after use. Even cables I can’t normally see must be neatly rolled up and tucked away. It seems most are not bothered by a mess of cables all over the place with external everything. Guess I’m the problem and not Apple lol.
Is that possible? I thought the bluetooth wire was connected to the mobo at one end, and the bottom cap on the other. One can't slide out the mobo to swap ram with that wire still attached, AFAIK
[doublepost=1541797323][/doublepost]
Or that tiny eGPU puck by Sonnet:
They even mount it to the back of monitors. Neat:
Soldered SSD stinks
[doublepost=1541797503][/doublepost]Only if you buy the $4,000 version.
[doublepost=1541797503][/doublepost]Only if you buy the $4,000 version.