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60 thoughts on “2011 Mac Mini Hard Drive Upgrade Video” Comment navigation. James says: August 15, 2011 at 10:42 am Excellent video! Thanks for posting. I can’t wait to upgrade mine. James says: August 17, 2011 at 1:24 pm I noticed the 2011 mini does not have a temp sensor taped to the hard drive. How to Install an SSD or Hard Drive in an Apple Mac mini (Mid 2011) OWC Skill Level: 'Involved' Duration: 8:14 OWC's step-by-step video of how to install an SSD or hard drive in an Apple Mac mini (Mid 2011). Interested in using these videos on your site view our video usage policy. DISCLAIMER: Although every effort is made to provide the most. Apple Mac Mini MC815LL/A Desktop (OLD VERSION)CapEx Mac Mini Core i5 2.3 GHz (Mid-2011) MC815LL/A. 8GB & 500GB HDD,OS- 10.7. Excellent working condition, some sign of previous use Monitor: Monitor not included. Apple A Grade Desktop Computer Mac mini Aluminum Unibody 2.8GHZ Dual Core i5 (Late 2014) MGEQ2LL/A 8 GB DDR3 500 GB HDD Intel Iris Graphics 5100 Sierra 10.12 Apple Desktop Computer Mac mini MGEQ2LL/A Intel Core i5 2.8 GHz 8 GB DDR3 1 TB HDD.
Upgrade or replace the hard drive in a Mac Mini. Has your Mac Mini hard drive filled to capacity or burnt out? There's no need to buy a new computer, simply swap out the old drive for a new one.
We just upgraded a 2011 Apple Mac Mini to have an SSD, a second hard drive, and new RAM.
Video
Also available on YouTube in High Definition or Standard Definition.
Also available on YouTube in High Definition or Standard Definition.
Parts List
- OCZ 120 GB Vertex 3 SATA III 6.0 Gb-s 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive VTX3-25SAT3-120G
- Western Digital 1TB Blue WD10JPVT 5400RPM, 8 MB cache, 2.5 inch, 9.5MM height hard drive
- Corsair 8 GB DDR3 Laptop Memory Kit CMSO8GX3M2A1333C9
- Apple Mac Mini Model MC816LL/A 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 dual-core processor, AMD Radeon HD 6630M graphics, 4GB RAM, 500GB hard drive
- Cable: Apple Part 922-9560, also called “Apple Mac Mini Server (Mid 2010) Bottom Hard Drive Server Flex Cable” or “Hard Drive Flex Cable Bottom”. We used part number 1009005 at welovemacs.com. This is sold as a kit from ifixit.com.
Alternate Parts List
The OCZ Vertex 3 is the fastest consumer SSD at the moment. Other SSD’s that you might consider include:
- Highest reliability SSD: Intel 510 Series 120 GB
- Best value high capacity SSD: Lexar Media Crucial 512 GB m4
The Western Digital Blue drive mentioned above is high capacity and quiet. For a faster spinning hard drive consider:
- Western Digital 750TB Black WD7500BPKT 7200RPM, 16 MB cache, 2.5 inch, 9.5MM height hard drive
The dedicated graphics in the mid-tier Mac Mini make it worth it for me. But for the cheapest Mini, consider:
- Apple Mac Mini MC815LL/A 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 dual-core processor, integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000, 2GB RAM, 500GB hard drive
UPDATE: My video shows adding two 9.5MM height drives. I just upgraded another Mac Mini with a 9.5MM SSD and a 12.5MM standard hard drive. As with my first upgrade, the hard drive goes in the bottom slot (the side closest to the top of the case when upright). This does fit. But first you need to slide the logic board out slightly. Be sure to remove the IR port adapter before sliding out the logic board. The OWC video shows how to do this. I used a cut up coat hanger to insert into the logic board holes and slide it out.
First Boot
Starting with a blank hard drive is easy on the 2011 Mac Mini. Hold down Command-R to boot into Lion Recovery which allows you to format the drives and download Lion over the Internet.
TRIM Support in Lion
Hdd For Mac Mini 2011 Download
For optimal SSD performance, enable TRIM support within OS X Lion. Grant Pannell describes the terminal commands to enable TRIM.
Photos of Upgrade
Tags: Apple, hard drive, hard drive upgrade, lion, mac, mac mini, replace, Shopping, SSD, trim, video
Best antiviruses for mac. Hey all:
Ordered the i7 Mini and can not wait to open it up, upgraded to 8G memory and, of course, the 256G SSD (Samsung).
Mac Mini A1347 Memory Upgrade
Here are few things I want to share with anyone interested in the SSD.
First, seems the TRIM support only will work on Apple's stack SSD, can not be achieved by 3rd vendor.
Even I used Samsung (which Apple usually uses) that TRIM is not supported. Although the system profile did recognize as SSD.
Second, it's SATA III (6G) per hardware indication, which I kicked myself for buying the SATA II (when it was on sale) months ago.
Third, it is way much easier then 2010 Mini to extract the hard drive. I just removed the memory, fan and side panel. Only Fan connector needs to be disconnected. There is NO hard drive sensor on the drive, just SATA cable and plastic shielding cover.
Fourth, since there is no optical drive, below the hard drive, you can see the empty space. You also can see the OTHER SATA spot next to the hard drive's SATA slot/button. Here is my question - the Mini ditched the optical drive and share the same design of the Mini Server's design.
Has anyone tried to install the second hard drive using ( part # 922-9560) flex cable?
Thanks
Sam
Mac mini, Mac OS X (10.7)
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