The happiest Mac Mini you will see today

[SpacemanSpiffed]

I thought I would make a very lighthearted post just for fun today (and show off my latest addition).

Meet "Jake" (my 11-year old son named it, and it makes a good network name). Jake is a 2012 Mac Mini 2.6 QC that found his way back to Apple, where he was refurbished. I purchased Jake to help me do some cross-platform software development and testing.

But Jake only came with the base configuration of RAM and Storage, 4GB and a 5400 RPM Hard Drive. He worried about being up to the task...

So off to the Amazon(s dot com) we dashed with browser and mouse. Now look at Jake...

AppleCare to 2018
16GB Crucial RAM Kit
Samsung 850 Pro SSD 1TB
Samsung 2.5" x 9.5mm 2TB HDD
iFixit Second Drive Kit
(not pictured) 30" Dell U3014 Monitor (2560x1600), via mini-displayport

That's going to be a happy Mac Mini (if such a thing could be).

I'll get Jake upgraded and setup all the software I need over this weekend.

I hope all of you have a fun and happy weekend as well... indoors at the computer, outdoors at the lake, or anywhere you may go!

 

[interfreak]

Jake does look very happy indeed! ^_^

Congrats on your purchase, and hopefully all the upgrades install OK.

 

[aajeevlin]

Jealous that you are able to find a 2012 model at the Apple store. Nice setup!!

 

[solaris]

Looks nice! I am sure Jake will be even happier after getting these new organs.

 

[tibas92013]

Installing a 3rd Party SSD may very well void your Applecare??

 

[Padaung]

Installing a 3rd Party SSD may very well void your Applecare??

This has been discussed a lot (Google is your friend for this), and has been largely shown to not be true. However, the outcome may depend on the region in which you live.

Good luck with Jake's organ replacements over the weekend. It's going to be a lovely machine once done.

 

[Adz76]

This has been discussed a lot (Google is your friend for this), and has been largely shown to not be true. However, the outcome may depend on the region in which you live.

Good luck with Jake's organ replacements over the weekend. It's going to be a lovely machine once done.

First off congrats & nice drive, been itching to get the 1TB option of that drive once I can find it in the UK for reasonable price.

Agree with above post, also if someone is half decent and can install the SSD themselves I see no reason why they can't switch it back before taking it in for any repair / warranty claims. Touching on the post above the last I also ran a modded MBP in under warranty and Apple ignored my upgrade and fixed the issue. I think in many respects warranties are voided if someone has broken something internally while updating, I'm sure there are exceptions to that.

 

[SpacemanSpiffed]

Installing a 3rd Party SSD may very well void your Applecare??

This has been discussed a lot (Google is your friend for this), and has been largely shown to not be true. However, the outcome may depend on the region in which you live.

Agree with above post, also if someone is half decent and can install the SSD themselves I see no reason why they can't switch it back before taking it in for any repair / warranty claims. Touching on the post above the last I also ran a modded MBP in under warranty and Apple ignored my upgrade and fixed the issue. I think in many respects warranties are voided if someone has broken something internally while updating, I'm sure there are exceptions to that.

I appreciate the concern and I do expect, like Adz76 does, that if I were to break something in the upgrade process - like the SATA connector - it would be on me and not AppleCare. I have done a Mac Mini SSD/HDD upgrade a couple times before and am pretty comfortable with the process (especially since the iFixit kit has the custom tool to pull the motherboard out).

A habit I got into a long time ago was to keep a separate box for every computer I have - I use Bigso Classic Stockholm Letter size storage boxes from The Container Store - and save everything relevant to that computer in it, including original parts, software boxes and keys, etc. As with my 2011 Mini i7, I'll hang on to the original hard drive, RAM, and paperwork in case I need to find it. If need be, I could undo the upgrades but I don't think it will come to that.

As a rule I get AppleCare on all my Apple devices, and for me it has paid for itself. Heck, I'm typing this reply on my late-2012 13" 2.9Ghz rMBP, which went in earlier this year for display issues and would up having the motherboard, network card and display connector all replaced at no cost to me thanks to AppleCare.

Thanks for all the nice comments - it just felt like a fun thing to do to make this post. Now if Apple would get a clue and release some Broadwell Quad Core Iris Pro Mac Minis next week... (and WTF Intel for not making any Skylake successors to the Quad Core Iris Pro chips???)

 

[scottsjack]

Looks like a wonderful mini as long as you do not need too much video performance. I have a similar one (2.3 quad, 16GB Crucial RAM, Crucial M500 SSD, OEM drive moved to upper bay. It works really great for either Yosemite or W8.1

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

What? The 1 TB SSD and only 16 GB RAM!?

I use this in my Mac mini 2012:
(2 TB 850 Pro)
http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/memory-storage/MZ-7KE2T0BW
and
(32 GB; 1.35 V; 1600 MHz SO-DIMM)
http://www.crucial.com/csrusa/en/ct2kit204864bf160b



*just kidding*

;-)

 

[SpacemanSpiffed]

Looks like a wonderful mini as long as you do not need too much video performance. I have a similar one (2.3 quad, 16GB Crucial RAM, Crucial M500 SSD, OEM drive moved to upper bay. It works really great for either Yosemite or W8.1

Fortunately, I don't need much on the GPU side. I will be using both BootCamp and VMs under OSX, so the extra storage and RAM will come in handy.

 

[SpacemanSpiffed]

I use this in my Mac mini 2012:
(2 TB 850 Pro)
http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/memory-storage/MZ-7KE2T0BW
and
(32 GB; 1.35 V; 1600 MHz SO-DIMM)
http://www.crucial.com/csrusa/en/ct2kit204864bf160b



*just kidding*

;-)

I think you're putting words in my fingers..

All things considered though, that represents why I think the Mini is a near-perfect form factor. We know we can stick a power supply, Quad Core CPU, (At least) 16GB of RAM, and now, 4TB of SSD storage into it's incredibly strong aluminum body and they'll run very cool and quiet while running the OS of your choice. Intel NUCs may be smaller**, but I have yet to see any that can match the computing power and storage capacity and be considered for serious workloads.

** smaller volume achieved much like government unemployment stats - not counting the HUGE and ugly power brick.

 

[SpacemanSpiffed]

Well, Jake just came out of the OR, and gave us a little scare on first boot up, but all is well.

It seems that on shutdown Mavericks caches the last window image for open applications, just like Safari does with the last time you visited a web page (shows the old page when you zoom in from the tab page, then replaces it when the current page loads), so when Jake first came up Disk Utility re-opened (I had used Disk Utility's Restore option to clone the HDD to the SSD) and it showed the old HDD instead of the new SSD + HDD - I just about had a heart attack upon seeing that (and a very loud "WTF???" was uttered), and then a couple seconds later it refreshed showing the new drives.

Anyway, here's how Jake is doing...

A couple of thoughts and things I noticed doing the 2nd drive install.

1) There is a rubber boot around the power plug that came off when I pulled the motherboard out. The instructions with the drive kit assumed it stays with the backplane and made no mention of it. Take note as to its orientation before removing. Put it in the backplane during the reinstall step.

2) It's not worth it to try and remove the black plastic cover from the OEM hard drive (glued on?), just take the 2 screws, SATA connector, and the tape holding the connector down for the new drive.

3) I wound up using an OWC 2nd drive kit instead of the iFixit kit. For 2012 minis, it had a piece of foil that you can install that is supposed to significantly improve Bluetooth reception when any USB 3 peripherals are in use. I did not know that there was an issue with Bluetooth and USB 3 (USB 2 doesn't cause any problems apparently) - I learn something new every day.

4) Patience is key. It can make up for losing a point off your dexterity stat when you get old.

5) Getting the *@#&@ing Airport Antenna wire connected back to the motherboard (tiny round snap connection) is the single hardest step of the upgrade. See #4 - it might take a LOT of tries (or I just have fat fingers). Be sure to verify the WiFi works when done, even if you are only going to be using Ethernet.

6) The motherboard removal tool is wonderful. I didn't have one when I put a SSD in my 2011 Mini. It really keeps you from messing up that step.

7) Replace the memory separately from the drives. That way when you first boot it, only one variable has changed. Once I had a bad RAM stick, and it took a while to figure it out as I had changed the HDD out at the same time.

Anyway, thanks for letting me share.

 

[JackieInCo]

You may want to edit your serial number out of the screen cap.

 

[rigormortis]

insert obligatory post here about running apple diagnostics in extended mode to make sure the ram is good.

insert rambling to make sure you put the temperature sensor on the new drive or apple diagnostics will fail

( apple diagnostics = apple hardware test )

i had a intel mac mini 1,1 2007 model. i hella broke it several times trying to upgrade the ram and drives
i hella broke all the tabs on the right side and i hella had to go to a local mac store to buy a new interface board
because i was clumsy and i broke it

i wanted to do that c2d upgrade where you can run lion on it, but i was worried about breaking more tabs



the new minis are easier


more rambling section. be prepared to have photocopies of the ram chips and the receipt if the ram should ever fail during its lifetime warranty.

 

[SpacemanSpiffed]

insert rambling to make sure you put the temperature sensor on the new drive or apple diagnostics will fail

To the best of my understanding, the Minis don't have external temperature sensors for the hard drives as of the 2011 models.

insert obligatory post here about running apple diagnostics in extended mode to make sure the ram is good.

( apple diagnostics = apple hardware test )

Always a good idea. Will stress test the RAM today.

i had a intel mac mini 1,1 2007 model. i hella broke it several times trying to upgrade the ram and drives
i hella broke all the tabs on the right side and i hella had to go to a local mac store to buy a new interface board
because i was clumsy and i broke it

i wanted to do that c2d upgrade where you can run lion on it, but i was worried about breaking more tabs

the new minis are easier

Sorry to hear that.

imore rambling section. be prepared to have photocopies of the ram chips and the receipt if the ram should ever fail during its lifetime warranty.

Shouldn't be a problem. I kept the boxes and everything (Original RAM & HDD) and put them in the Bigso box as mentioned above.

 

[Padaung]

not counting the HUGE and ugly power brick.

The latest Broadwell NUCs have a power supply the same size and form factor as a mobile phone. It is tiny. The Ivy Bridge NUCs did indeed have a huge, ugly power brick. I've no idea about the Haswell NUC power brick as I've not seen one.

But I agree, the Mac Mini is an incredible form factor for a powerful, elegant and reliable computer. I love the NUC form factor too, but I suspect you would be proved correct about sustained performance of a Mac Mini compared to a NUC when either unit is placed under a continuous, stressful load. I too think the Mac Mini would cope better.

 

[SpacemanSpiffed]

The latest Broadwell NUCs have a power supply the same size and form factor as a mobile phone. It is tiny. The Ivy Bridge NUCs did indeed have a huge, ugly power brick. I've no idea about the Haswell NUC power brick as I've not seen one.

But I agree, the Mac Mini is an incredible form factor for a powerful, elegant and reliable computer. I love the NUC form factor too, but I suspect you would be proved correct about sustained performance of a Mac Mini compared to a NUC when either unit is placed under a continuous, stressful load. I too think the Mac Mini would cope better.

Didn't know that Intel improved it with the Broadwell NUCs. My kids have an i3-3217 powered NUC and the power brick dwarfs the actual NUC unit.

Integrating the Power Supply was one of the most under-recognized improvements with the unibody redesign for the Minis. Really elegant, and even the Apple supplied power cords are unusually bendable and supple compared to everything else.

 

[Padaung]

The latest Broadwell NUCs have a power supply the same size and form factor as a mobile phone.

Dammit, I just noticed my own typo. It should read:

The latest Broadwell NUCs have a power supply the same size and form factor as a typical mobile phone CHARGER.

 

[WilliamG]

Didn't know that Intel improved it with the Broadwell NUCs. My kids have an i3-3217 powered NUC and the power brick dwarfs the actual NUC unit.

Integrating the Power Supply was one of the most under-recognized improvements with the unibody redesign for the Minis. Really elegant, and even the Apple supplied power cords are unusually bendable and supple compared to everything else.

I don't think integration is an improvement. It means the Mini is larger than it could be on my shelf, as well as hotter than it needs to be in the chassis. I have several Haswell NUCs and Minis. Both are great, of course, though Apple's build quality is leagues ahead.

 

[5004497]

I use this in my Mac mini 2012:
(2 TB 850 Pro)
http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/memory-storage/MZ-7KE2T0BW
and
(32 GB; 1.35 V; 1600 MHz SO-DIMM)
http://www.crucial.com/csrusa/en/ct2kit204864bf160b



*just kidding*

;-)

Hi,

I own a mac mini 2,6 GHz i7 (late 2012) with 16 GB (Crucial memory upgraded just after sale in 2013).
I recently bought the Crucial CT2KIT204864BF160B to get 32 GB RAM, but upgrade was unsuccessful (beep on startup).
EFI seems to be the latest (MM61-0106-B0A), SMC is 2.8 F0.

Do you have any advice to get success ?
Thanks,
Best regards,
BL

 

[treekram]

Hi,

I own a mac mini 2,6 GHz i7 (late 2012) with 16 GB (Crucial memory upgraded just after sale in 2013).
I recently bought the Crucial CT2KIT204864BF160B to get 32 GB RAM, but upgrade was unsuccessful (beep on startup).
EFI seems to be the latest (MM61-0106-B0A), SMC is 2.8 F0.

Do you have any advice to get success ?
Thanks,
Best regards,
BL

The Mac Mini (I have the same model) doesn't support 32GB. The Crucial site says that RAM won't work in the Mini.
EDIT: A quick search says that if the Mini had two more memory slots, 32GB would work today. Perhaps a firmware change could make current 16GB sticks work. I wouldn't count on the firmware change happening.

 

[5004497]

The Mac Mini (I have the same model) doesn't support 32GB. The Crucial site says that RAM won't work in the Mini.
EDIT: A quick search says that if the Mini had two more memory slots, 32GB would work today. Perhaps a firmware change could make current 16GB sticks work. I wouldn't count on the firmware change happening.

Thank you for your post Treekram !
I think also Apple will not upgrade mini's firmware to support 32 GB ram, as the new mini is delivered with soldered memory (a pity !). M. Retrofire's post was just a hope as he could have found a mean to make it possible.
I don't understand Apple's goal (except making cash in selling overpriced memory) to block any upgrade on its computers and making customers disappointed.
Best regards,
BL

 

[treekram]

Thank you for your post Treekram !
I think also Apple will not upgrade mini's firmware to support 32 GB ram, as the new mini is delivered with soldered memory (a pity !). M. Retrofire's post was just a hope as he could have found a mean to make it possible.
I don't understand Apple's goal (except making cash in selling overpriced memory) to block any upgrade on its computers and making customers disappointed.
Best regards,
BL

Mr. Retrofire's post was a joke. I hope you didn't buy the memory based on that.