wierd. when i took apart the clips the RAMs pretty much jumped in my face, and pushing them in took a fair amount of forceWell, yes...
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.
Broke New Mac Mini changing RAM?
- Thread starter kirkbross
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Yes, when you push the clips apart, the RAM easily falls out. Putting it in the reverse. At an angle first, and they slot in easily, and then you push them back into the clips, which requires a little force. But there is NO force in removing or inserting them into their actual pin-connecting slots.
No no, they fall into place, i meant force when pushing them back into the clips when they're already properly seated in place.
You could always bend the clips out a little as you move the RAM back into its vertical position. Either way I feel like the installation and removal of RAM is a non-issue. The whole install is really fairly simple, with the only actual worrying part being the small cable for the LED. Even then, I just popped my little plastic pry tool under it and it popped up easily.
It's such a non-issue that I have a lengthy document of quotes from this forum on the problems that people have run into doing it, including problems resulting in the need to do it over and, in some cases, damage
I'd write a post containing all these quotes, but that would no doubt result in complaints from one quarter or another.
It's such a non-issue that I have a lengthy document of quotes from this forum on the problems that people have run into doing it, including problems resulting in the need to do it over and, in some cases, damage
I'd write a post containing all these quotes, but that would no doubt result in complaints from one quarter or another.
Honestly, it's NOT hard. I even recognize that I'm above average in terms of ability to do this sort of thing, but this is NOT hard. I just remember the old Mac minis where one literally had to use a metal putty knife to open the thing, and it was impossible to do it without damaging the casing.
Oy...
The only thing I can imagine anyone damaging is that LED cable, and even then, you'd have to really, really try to break it. The simplest way to remove it is literally just shove something plastic underneath it and pop it straight up.
If people are breaking stuff it's going to be because they're clumsy, not because it's actually HARD. If you're clumsy, don't do it. If you're not clumsy, it's not hard if you have the right screw drivers (magnetic being key).
Also, the little rubber bumpers on the side of the RAM slots specifically slide into the RAM clips. Use a flash-light and it becomes really obvious how they are supposed to work when you remove them.
Again, take your time, - it's not hard. It's just following instructions. The first time took me 20 minutes because I was marveling at how beautifully-designed the internals of the Mac mini are. The second time took me... maybe 7 or 8 mins to take apart, and I wasn't even being THAT speedy about it
Wow, such violence in your words, calm down.
I don't want to turn this into a discussion, so I won't reply to you if you continue with that tone, I expressed my opinion, and I repeat, IMO it is bad design, since the Mac Mini 2012 was a brezze and felt (and was) well seated, in this Mac Mini it doesn't. I don't understand why someone can be so angry at me for pointing out that the RAM placement isn't cleary not meant for the average user, but I doubt anyone can think this RAM placement is well made.
It's not a bad design, it was designed with user-swappable RAM.
Clearly, it was designed as "officially unsupported, but unofficially if you wan't to you can still do it" since there are no warranty stickers (as on MacBook replaceable batteries of the yesteryear).
They didn't design it to be user-friendly, they designed it to be doable
Before ordering a Mac Mini I rang my local 3rd party approved Mac dealer and ask them if they would change the RAM. First the guy (the owner and main tech guy) said he wasn't sure if you could change the RAM. Then he looked online and saw that you could, but then he said if I bought him the RAM and it never worked he would have to charge me twice to remove it! He then recommended I just buy the RAM from Apple! So I had hoped to buy a 8GB machine and upgrade to 32GB. Instead I bought the Mini with 16GB of Apple memory.
I know nothing about hardware design but it doesn't take a genius to work out that Apple could have simply moved the Mini's components so the RAM was at the bottom with a user accessible slot. I think they tucked it away in the Mac Mini 2018 for two reasons, they would have been criticised for being anti-consumer and anti-environment if they soldered it on, however they wanted to make it difficult to change so most public would pay for their overpriced RAM.
I know nothing about hardware design but it doesn't take a genius to work out that Apple could have simply moved the Mini's components so the RAM was at the bottom with a user accessible slot. I think they tucked it away in the Mac Mini 2018 for two reasons, they would have been criticised for being anti-consumer and anti-environment if they soldered it on, however they wanted to make it difficult to change so most public would pay for their overpriced RAM.
RAM was soldered on the 2014 model, imo they didn't want backlash from professionals because 64GB is expensive right now (would probably be 1400 from apple)
anyway, this is how it looked like on the 2012
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac+mini+Late+2012+RAM+Replacement/11726
but the 2018 as a much larger fan and there's no room on the top.
fwiw, it was equally hard replacing HDD on the 2012.
Changed out my ram for 32gb today. Happy to report everything seems to have gone apart and together nicely. Only hitch I ran into was when I was reconnecting the antenna plate cable. That tiny screw fell off my magnetic driver and lodged under the speaker box. Had to take it all back apart to retrieve it. Had me more nervous on the second attempt than when I was disconnecting everything the first time. Lol
When I finally get around to installing RAM, I've been considering magnetising my drivers. Good tip to be circumspect about it if I do.
Thank all that is holy for this post. After replacing the ram I had no light come on. I thought I’d stuffed it but after going back in and re sitting the ram properly it works just fine. Woooo! My only contribution which has already been mentioned here is to have the right tools. I was cheap the first time and bought a cheap set of screwdrivers. The first time you undo the screws they are in there tight. I stripped the screwdriver trying to undo them. I then spent more money on the ifixit essentials set and had no problems. Thanks again to everyone who shared their experiences.