Mm 1,1-6,2 Mac Mini Late 2012 HD Upgrade Suggestions

[TheScientist]

Hi everybody, thank you in advance for any help.

I have this machine and I am looking to upgrade the Fusion Drive to SSD 500gb or 1tb with a fresh install of OS.

Mac mini - (Late 2012)
Processor -2.3 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
Graphics - Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB

Any suggestion for new hard drives? I read someones opinion somewhere that the Crucial ones can be 10 deg hotter than some other brands.

I look forward to hearing please.

Thank you

 

[Rich B22]

Hi everybody, thank you in advance for any help.

I have this machine and I am looking to upgrade the Fusion Drive to SSD 500gb or 1tb with a fresh install of OS.

Mac mini - (Late 2012)
Processor -2.3 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
Graphics - Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB

Any suggestion for new hard drives? I read someones opinion somewhere that the Crucial ones can be 10 deg hotter than some other brands.

I look forward to hearing please.

Thank you

I've had great success in a couple of 2017 iMacs with Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB. Been using for a few years with no hiccups. May not be the latest & greatest, however, should be a big improvement over your Fusion Drive.
Good luck

 

[Forum-User]

I replaced my HDD with a Samsung EVO SSD in a similar 2012 Mac Mini model. I followed the guide from iFixIt including reviewing the user comments. Heat hasn't been an issue, and you will love the noticable speed improvement. I separately own a Crucial BX500 SSD (2000 GB) housed in a Vantec NexStar 6G enclosure, and have never noticed a heat issue even when writing lots of data over extended transfer times. If you have a Micro Center nearby, their Inland brand SSD drives provide good specs for good prices, knowing you do not need the latest/greatest since your older Mac Mini is unable to take benefit from the speed of faster/newer drives.

 

[MBAir2010]

I replaced my mini 2012 ssd several times since 2015 with no problem.
there is a way were you can avoid detached anything
and place the aluminum grate attached as well as the ram in the socket
when installing a new drive since there is wiggle room.

even fixit comments state the original post is a bit overkill.

spoiler allert:

I upgraded my 2012 Mac mini several times until I decided to install a second drive this march.
somehow the fan socket fell off the mother board.
what is did was use a usb-a fan to coll the mini until one failed while I was away and bricked the logic board July.
so be careful they are weak!

 

[Miat]

Another vote for Samsung EVOs and iFixIt guides.

Depending on how much work you want to do, consider replacing the battery, and the thermal paste on the CPU.

 

[marclondon]

I've just resurrected a 2012 i7 Mini that had a bad SSD, which I'd put in in the top position so I had to strip it down completely to get it out. This time I moved the 1TB HDD, which is chronically slow, to the top position and put in an old Crucial 256GB SSD in the much more accessible bottom slot, and it is a more than capable machine again. Even though one of the memory banks has failed and it's seeing only 8GB of 16GB.

I wouldn't spend a lot of money on an SSD - I happened to have one I took out of a dead Macbook Pro but wouldn't go for anything more than £20 for this:

Crucial BX500 240GB - SSD Ebuyer

Buy our Crucial BX500 240GB SSD now at ebuyer.com

www.ebuyer.com

 

[August West]

I put a 256 GB Samsung 840 Pro in my 2012 back when I purchased it in 2012. Ran it every day of normal light duty home PC uses for over 10 years and it never missed a beat.

 

[fricotin]

2012 original Fusion Drive 128MB SSD / 1TB HDD still pretty fast

 

[knightwrangler]

2012 original Fusion Drive 128MB SSD / 1TB HDD still pretty fast

Thinking of doing an SSD swap, i have recently acquired Samsung 2.5 drive 870 EVO 256 GB (for a possible windows pc) but I also have two mac mini's a 2012 i7 2.6 Ghz and a 2014 i5 2.8 Ghz. Both have the 1121 fusion drives. SSD wear levels are 87% and 80% respectively so would it be worthwhile to do or wait until more wear later on?

 

[fricotin]

Thinking of doing an SSD swap, i have recently acquired Samsung 2.5 drive 870 EVO 256 GB (for a possible windows pc) but I also have two mac mini's a 2012 i7 2.6 Ghz and a 2014 i5 2.8 Ghz. Both have the 1121 fusion drives. SSD wear levels are 87% and 80% respectively so would it be worthwhile to do or wait until more wear later on?

How can you tell the wear level?

 

[knightwrangler]

How can you tell the wear level?

Disk Drill App.

 

[dictoresno]

Western Digital SN850 Black or SN570 Blue. I was running the 850 Black in my 2014 mini build I sold and currently running the 570 Blue in my 2014 mini server. I still have another 2TB SN850 in a NVMe enclosure and it's indeed fast. too many issues with the Samsung's in those 2012/2014 minis.

For my mini server, I purchased the NVMe adapter and plugged in the blade 570 as the OS drive and use the 2TB SSD internal as the storage.