Mac Mini 4,1 (2010) Upgrades

[Altis]

I've been tasked with bringing a Mac Mini 4,1 (mid-2010) up to speed with an SSD and RAM upgrade. Right now it's the stock 320 GB HDD and 2 GB RAM.

Is there anything I need to consider for compatibility?

I know it needs a 2.5" SATA SSD and up to 2 x 8 GB DDR3 laptop RAM. I just want to make sure that it doesn't need something very specific for compatibility.

Thanks!

 

[philipma1957]

I did a lot of them. But not since say 2012.

Lots of extra little wires be careful.

I think it can use a sata ll. And does not do sata lll speeds.

I liked using Samsung ram in that mobo. That mobo was the pickiest mobo of all Mac mini’s from 2006 to 2012.

Back when I did the updates it could only handle two 4gb sticks for a max of 8gb. Ram was costly maybe four hundred a stick when it came out. Or maybe four hundred a pair

 

[Kamolas]

By now you should have it already updated, but back in the day it was a firmware update that would allow the use of 16 GB.

I liked using Samsung ram in that mobo. That mobo was the pickiest mobo of all Mac mini’s from 2006 to 2012.

Wasn't it because people used 1333 MHz RAM instead of 1066 MHz?
Some had problems with that while others hadn't, so you should go for 1066 MHz modules to play it safe.

 

[Altis]

Thanks for the advice. I'll see how it goes but apparently the owner went ahead and bought DDR3 laptop RAM and wants to use an existing SSD.