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Announced on October 16, 2014, identifiable by the model number A1347 and EMC 2840.

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Upgrade HD to SSD

My question is very simple: according the Apple store my Mac mini Late of 2014 does not have the memory cards welded. I want to upgrade to a SSD, but I am unsafe to open it and find the memories welded. Is this true? Can I follow with the idea to upgrade HDD to SDD?

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Hi Dan, thanks for your post. I will only replace original HD for a ssd. My Mac Mini has 500 gigabytes storage that I am thinking to use as external drive for back-up. All I need now is the correct tools. Thanks.

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Why did you get the HD model in the first place? The SSD model has a faster I/O SSD (granted its custom and presently not available). If speed it the reason you are swapping out the HD for a SSD then how about going with a SSHD (hybrid drive) instead. Here you get the speed of a SSD as a deep cache but you still hang onto the storage space of a HD. Seagate makes a nice one which we have quite a few in the field with great success in MacBook Pro's. After the first of the year we plan to get a few new Mac mini's to test out. Given what we know we plan to get the HD model and swap out the HD with SSHD's our selves as a low end desktop replacing our older iMac's.

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Hi there,

I just replaced the 1TB hdd with spare 500GB Samsung Evo SSD which now works great (1TB 5400rpm drive was so SLOW and I was after performance rather than storage capacity). Also given I had this spare drive I decided to go for the cheaper option by buying the default order (8th RAM/1TB hdd) with te intention of upgrading myself.

Although the teardown did not cover every step in great detail it was still pretty easy and straightforward to do (with the right tools)

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Thanks for the confirmation - I am planning on doing the same - can u list the tools n any other suggestions / instructions you think will be useful. Thanks

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Hi Umar,

iFixit now have a detailed procedure on replacing your 2.5" HDD with a 2.5" SSD drive. Listed are all the tools you need too. Good luck!

Mac mini Late 2014 Hard Drive Replacement

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Great, this is the way, But Torx TR6 security is out of stock since begin of December. I would appreciate to know when it will be available.

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Great, this is the way, But Torx 6 security is out of stock since begin of December. I would appreciate to know when it will be available.

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Hi there. Not sure where you are based but you should be able to get a tamperproof torx set from a local hardware store. This is what I purchased...

https://www.kincrome.com.au/product/K504...

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OK lets make sure we are talking about the same thing here.

First the RAM is soldered (welded) in this new model so you can't upgrade it. Sorry ;-{

As to the SSD or HD:

Depending on which system you bought will have a free mounting location for one or the other that was not present.

So if you bought a HD model then the location for the Apple custom SSD unit is vacant. But, you will need the cable connector and the custom SSD unit Apple has designed for these systems. Presently Apple is the only source so you will need to see if you can buy a spare unit from an authorized Apple service center as Apple won't sell you the parts directly.

If by chance you got the SSD model you will need to get the Mac mini HD SATA cable and you then can install a 2.5" 9.5mm high HD unit in the vacant location. Basically a standard laptop drive is workable here.

If you got a Fusion drive config'ed unit you could break the Fusion drive set and then install a larger HD unit and then re-establish a Fusion disk with it. Warning! make sure you break the fusion drive before you remove the HD otherwise you will have problems!

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To open the system you'll need this tool: Mac Mini Logic Board Removal Tool

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