The way to improve M4 Mac mini SSD

The M4 Mac mini got here with a shock – a card slot and upgradeable SSD. Here is easy methods to set up one, get it working, and what you’d anticipate by way of velocity.

The upgradeability of the Mac mini has assorted through the years. The 2012 and earlier fashions have been the gold commonplace, with each upgradeable RAM and storage. The 2014 mannequin had upgradeable storage however no RAM. The 2018 had RAM slots, however lacked upgradeable storage.

When the M1 mini shipped, nothing was upgradeable. And whereas Apple would not strictly approve SSD upgrades on the M4 Mac mini, it is no less than attainable.

We now have upgraded one among our Mac minis with an aftermarket SSD. Here is how we did it and the way it goes.

Clear plastic case with circuit board and metal tool inside, comes with a small bag with blue plastic tools on a grid background.
Concerning the expandmacmini.com replace sequence

We selected SSD expandmacmini.com. They provide a 2TB SSD drive for the core of the Mac mini that retails for $259. Up to now we have not seen something from any vendor of the M4 Professional Mac mini as a result of totally different bodily traits of the drive, however we’re certain it would come ultimately.

Disassembling the Mac mini

We’re not going to go step-by-step right here, the parents at iFixit have completed a terrific job breaking it down. Use that guide.

Nevertheless, we’ve got a number of suggestions. We don’t suggest disconnecting the ability wire from the gadget, however go away the disk subsequent to the Mac mini.

An open electronic device showing internal components such as circuit boards and cooling fans, one cover removed, all on a dark surface with a green and blue object in the background.
The fan, backside plate, and extra, unscrew to entry the Mac mini’s SSD

There’s additionally no must unscrew the Wi-Fi module. There have been numerous complaints concerning the horrible Wi-Fi within the new docks – now you understand why. The antenna is correct on the backside of the gadget.

I did not take care of the screwdriver that got here with the drive – however that is okay. Torx drivers or units are cheap and it is best to most likely get an excellent one anyway.

Even with the included screwdriver, simply ensure you use a gentle downward pressure to show the screws and you will be wonderful.

After meeting

All that is left is a DFU restore. You are able to do this by connecting your Mac mini to some form of show that has an HDMI port. Then press and maintain the ability button.

Maintain down the ability button and join the Mac mini to an influence supply. Launch the ability button when the ability indicator gentle flashes orange.

Right here is the essential half. Join the Mac mini to a different working Mac with the opposite finish of the cable within the center Thunderbolt port. The restore will fail whether it is on a port apart from the center port.

A window will open on the host Mac asking if the Mac will be linked in DFU mode. Let it join and choose “restore”.

Mac Finder window in DFU mode, software download. The sidebar lists favorites, locations and tags. The status bar shows the charging progress with 14 minutes remaining.
DFU restore in progress

The required 16 GB file obtain varies relying in your web velocity and Apple server load. After downloading, the restore course of takes about 5 minutes.

Velocity ​​testing

I have not lived with this mix very lengthy, however preliminary velocity assessments are promising. The unique drive was no slouch, with learn and write speeds of round 2.8 gigabytes per second.

Earlier than connecting the iCloud account and earlier than indexing, we achieved learn and write speeds of about 4 gigabytes per second. This is not as quick because the M4 Professional Mac mini, however it’s sooner than any exterior drive by way of Thunderbolt and considerably sooner than the inventory drive within the M4 Mac mini.

This does not actually make day-to-day efficiency appreciably smarter. If you’d like that, you most likely ought to have purchased extra RAM than you probably did if you bought the machine. However the velocity is simply nearly as good.

Inner is handy and quick, exterior will be cheaper

I joined Apple’s service for the primary time within the 80s, dabbled within the service within the 90s and continued at first of the century. Nevertheless, this has waned as Apple’s merchandise have turn into much less and fewer updatable and routinely repairable.

I’ve already been requested how a lot technical abilities it takes to do such an replace and if my upkeep background is important. None of this is so simple as updating the Home windows desktop, however it additionally would not require the background to be enabled.

The primary concern is not ability, it is utilizing one other Mac for the DFU course of, however for most individuals studying this, that will not be a lot of an impediment.

What I am saying is that it is not truthful that Apple’s gear screws are getting smaller as my eyes grow old.

A green tray with various small screws and a piece of circuit board in some parts.
An ice dice tray I’ve used for years for small screws

In any case, the cost-effectiveness of SSD upgrades is a difficult topic on the subject of the Mac mini. The 2TB SSD on the M4 Mac mini provides an $800 premium to the whole worth when bought from Apple.

This improve is far smaller, $259 shipped to your door.

However the 4TB Teamgroup M.2 PCI-E 3 SSD is offered at retail for about $205the place the USB4 case is available in and about $80. For $280, you get twice the exterior storage at a decrease velocity.

Nevertheless, the interior storage is useful. I do not assume it is $800 useful, however $289 useful as a substitute is a worth proposition finest left to the reader.

That each one stated we’re maintaining the manufacturing unit SSD. Not solely is there nothing we will do about it, however we’re holding on to it in case the Mac mini ever must be returned to Apple for restore.

It would not void the guarantee, however we’re additionally fairly certain it is the very first thing Apple blames if the pc goes down.

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