What can I do with a dead '11 mini?

[davidg4781]

My 2011 mini died, pretty sure it's the AMD GPU issue. But what do I do with it? eBay sales aren't going for much. Do I offer it up here in the Marketplace? Take it to a local repair shop? Recycle it at Apple? Would Apple even give me anything for it?

And next I need to decide on what to replace it with.

 

[Amethyst1]

eBay sales aren't going for much.

I'd list it as an auction for one buck and forget about it.

Take it to a local repair shop?

Since AMD never produced fixed versions of these GPUs, even a replacement will eventually fail again. So no way to properly repair it sadly.

 

[Yebubbleman]

I'll add to @Amethyst1 's point in that the 2011 Mac mini most definitely has hit obsolete status, so your ability to find a replacement logic board is almost certainly going to be difficult, if not impossible. Put it up on eBay as-is and see what comes of it. If someone gives you $50 for it, take the deal and be thankful.

 

[davidg4781]

Since AMD never produced fixed versions of these GPUs, even a replacement will eventually fail again. So no way to properly repair it sadly.

Sorry, I meant more along the lines of letting them salvage what they can put of it.

I’ll put it back together without the SSD and RAM and sell it on eBay. Lol or are those the reason why they’re buying them?

 

[4sallypat]

Yes, sell it on eBay for parts.
Yank the SSD for privacy.

 

[Fishrrman]

Take the drive out and re-purpose it (put it in a cheap USB3 enclosure).

Then... recycle the rest or sell it for parts.

 

[Amethyst1]

Lol or are those the reason why they’re buying them?

RAM and SSD are standard off-the-shelf parts - there's absolutely no point in buying a dead 2011 Mac mini for either of these

 

[ignatius345]

Factor in the value of your time. I've spent hours resurrecting old hardware when -- if I was really thinking hard about it -- I'd be better off just recycling it and moving on.

 

[AppliedMicro]

Shouldn't the 2011 Mini fetch a couple of quid for its aluminium case alone?

You could put a Raspberry Pi in it or something.

 

[Lasrjock]

I have resurrected a 2011 Mini a couple times by pulling the logic board, removing wires and anything else not soldered on, and then placing it in the oven at 350 ºF for ~7-10 minutes. Just be sure to clean the surfaces and properly apply the heat sink compound when you are done. The tear-down instructions can be found at ifixit .