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jjahshik32

macrumors 603
Original poster
Sep 4, 2006
5,366
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http://www.macworld.com/article/152061/2010/06/macmini2010handson.html

It seems much easier than the previous generation forsure! :)


Perhaps the most frequent question I’ve heard since the mini’s release has been, “How difficult is it to replace the hard drive?” So far, the answer I’ve got is, “Much more difficult than replacing the RAM.” As you can see in the photo to the right, just being able to see the hard drive requires removing six screws, pulling the fan mechanism to the side, and removing the metal screen that holds the AirPort antenna. Once we get our own Mac mini (the model pictured here is on loan from Apple), we’ll explore a bit more, including covering the process of replacing the hard drive.

On that note, Apple’s policy on upgrading the Mac mini yourself has always been that as long as you don’t break anything in the process, your warranty is still valid. I confirmed with Apple that this is, indeed, still the case with the newest Mac mini. However, the company contends that because the new mini includes at least 320GB of hard-drive space—and you can upgrade at the time of purchase to 500GB for $100—there’s less of a need to upgrade the hard drive than when the mini shipped with only 160GB.


152061-macmini2010harddrive_original.jpg
 
Doesn't look as easy as it should be.

At least, it doesn't void the warranty. That's the important.
 
It appears that the Mini has 5400 RPM drives, while the Mini Server gets a pair of 7200 RPM drives.


Thanks, OldMike. It wouldn't be necessary for me to upgrade the HD if the new mini had a 7.2K rpm drive.


Update - taken from the online store: "All Mac mini models include standard Serial ATA hard drives with data transfers up to 300 megabytes per second. All hard drives run at 5400 revolutions per minute (rpm). Your hard drive will come already formatted with the Mac OS Extended file format for efficient storage of your data."

BUMMER!!!
 
screenshot20100706at175.png


I've just updated mine with a 7200 rpm WD Scorpio Black 500GB and put 8GB of RAM in the machine. All working fine.

It's tight fit, but I can confirm that you do not have to take the logic board out.
 
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