Just did this yesterday, installed 8 GB RAM, and installed an SSD. My 2010 Mini is running great now! The only snag was one of the heat sensor cable leads pulled out of the snap connector, used loupes to place back in, and got it back together. No issues. I am a scratch PC builder with a lot of experience. This is not a newbie project!
Thank you very much for this video. But would you mind to consider to turn this background music off? It's really hard to focus on the important stuff while some Holiday-Inn-Elevator-Background Sound is blurring out of the speakers.
As stated below, this video SHOULD WARN (but does not) how fragile the thermal sensor sockets are. The power connector socket (infrared sensor connector) is also very fragile. ANY OF THESE SOCKETS CAN EASILY SNAP OFF THE LOGIC BOARD even while being very careful and using a plastic spudger/pry tool.
Yep! I broke most probably that self same connector from the logic board, was shortly after acquiring the mid-2010 version. The manager at the Apple store was kind to replace the logic board for me free of charge and installed the ssd for me for a fee. I may have them do it again now that I read your comment, and the other reply to it. Not paying more than $60, however.
Going to try and replace my drive with a SSD today. Fingers crossed. A similar video shows heat being applied to the heat sensor that is glued to the hard drive with a hair dryer. This is to loosen the glue as the heat sensor is very brittle and prone to breaking.
For anyone looking at newest comments first: heed Mark's advice below: half these steps are unnecessary. I followed his advice and did this job in half the time and with MUCH less work. See my reply to his comment here: Mark, you are COMPLETELY right on this. As a word of warning to repeat Mark's words above: half these steps are unnecessary. In fact, I didn't even need to remove the fan connector, I simply set it aside while I worked. I didn't remove the RAM. I was able to pull and twist the hard drive upwards without moving the logic board. I simply swapped the thermal sensor and the mounting screws onto the new SSD and then levered it back into place, then reseated the SATA pad. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. No broken connectors, no max-RPM fans, no extra work. My only regret is that I didn't make a video of the job (didn't think of it until I was halfway done).
If you end up installing a 7mm SSHD to replace a 9.5mm standard drive and you'll want to put a piece of foam tape or some other type of spacer (I used adhesive velcro) to help the drive sit flat and make it easer to screw in the top screws. They also sell spacers or risers do help deal with this.
I’ve done this job twice very carefully without issue but this last time the two wire power lead for the SATA connector popped right off the logic board still in its socket! (Lump in my stomach) With nothing to lose at this point I sharpened the tip of my smallest soldering pencil to a needle point and with a magnifying headset lightly tapped the two socket leads at the connection points and they resoldered right up. Finished rebuild and test ran perfectly! I think from now on I will hold down the sockets to the logic board with one tool while popping off the connectors with another tool in the other hand.
Followed the video, had serious issues moving the logic board using the two screw driver method. Now it would appear that the board is stressed/damaged around the screw holes - there doesn't seem to be any circuitry directly around the screw hole so maybe it will power on . I was very careful not apply to much force. The only way I could get the board to move was to use a flat head screw driver and prise it away against the hard drive. I've not put the thing back together yet but my motherboard didn't move anywhere nearly as freely as the one in the video.
Be very careful when removing the temperature sensor from the old drive. Mine broke in half. The device will still work with it not working, but the fans will be maxed out when it doesn't recognize a working temp sensor.
Used the advertised tool kit, and the upgrade worked. Unfortunately those thermal sensors aren't at all resilient, and I snapped one in half attempting to remove it from the hard drive. Now my fan runs flat out, but everything otherwise works!
Huge Thanks OWC. Worth reading the comments and watching a few other videos on the subject but followed this guide and it worked out fine with no real dramas. Some of it is small and fiddly but the iFixit tool kit is perfect and I can see how some have had issues. Now have new 500GB Seagate Momentus installed (22GBP direct from Shenzhen May20) and just watching the MacOS Sierra reinstall from a Cmd-R boot. Did have to GUID partition the drive from a external boot disk before this worked. Top marks OWC. Right to Repair!
what about a dual drive setup - with the optical bay & drive bay? I would think an SSD for boot/speed and a large ( ~ 1TB) for size would be a good combo. This setup would be better for performance than a hybrid drive or drives.
Tried this today and I broke two sensors off one is a heat sensor don’t know the other, they were so brittle they just broke off the logic board even when being super careful and they are so tiny but it still boots but gets hot. It was so slow before with the original 5400 rpm hard drive so I really wanted to put in a ssd but when I originally watched this I thought its just too tough and risky. Then I got a new ssd to replace a smaller one in my wifes macbook pro which is a easy install so I thought screw it I’ll try installing the smaller one into the mac mini via this video. Well she boots in 10.8.5 but not sure how long it will last, cloning a system into the ssd, hope it doesn’t catch fire🤔🔥. As computers get older the plastic parts get more brittle from the heat I guess. But man those connectors are small, so this was a last ditch effort to keep the mini alive. I know I broke a heat senso that connects to the drive, when I removed it it broke in half, so it seams the fan just doesn't work any more. It boots under MT LION and runs but gets to 100 c and feels really hot. I tried an old fan utility and nothing. I guess I will pull out the SSD and send the mini off to be recycled. I think the best thing would have been to put the SSD ina firewire 800 case and boot it from there, not as fast but it was just going to be a music server for the house. Long story short I tried, I failed.
This is harder than it looks. I am successfully installing Mojave on my new SSD as I write this. But I also tore the HDD power connector socket and all three temp sensor connectors sockets right off of the circuit board when I disconnected the wires to get at the HD. They are VERY fragile and weakly soldered onto the main electronics board. I also ended up with five screws I couldn't get back into place because everything has got to be lined up just right - very precise tolerances. It was no picnic getting the old drive out and the new drive in, either. Fortunately the power connector isn't used on a SSD and the fan is very quiet for something that is gonna run continuously since there are now no sensors to ever tell it to turn off. I got lucky. With this experience, I could do better the second time around. But my recommendation is that if you have a functioning HDD, forget about a SSD install and just be patient when you're using your Mac Mini.
I accidentally ripped off the sensor for the fan as have other people but I just installed fan control and it was fine in the end but it's better to NOT rip off those connections because it will be a pain in the butt to have it ripped off
Hi, I have installed SSD Samsung EVO 860 250 gb to my Mac mini 2010 and also installed 7200 rpm drive to optibay, and got an issue: SSD works only on SATA I speed. After some investigation, I swapped them: SSD connected to optibay, and HDD - to hdd interface. VOILA! 3 Gbs both. Hope, it will help to some body. Old native 5400 HDD gave 40 mbs speed, new 7200 HDD gave 140 mbs speed and SDD gave 260 mbs speed.
I am curious what are the limits in terms of ssd maximum capacity (1-2 Tb) for both hard drive slot and optibay? And what is maximum speed for optical drive replecement (with ssd such as Crucial BX500 2TB 3D NAND SATA 2.5-Inch Internal SSD - CT2000BX500SSD1)?
Hi! During the process of removing all the connectors from the logic board i broke the whole power connector from it. The connector of the cable and the connector that was on the board are stuck together... What do i do?
Hi. What do you do with the thermal heat sensor from 4:42 when you are installing a SSD? Do you attach it in the same place but on the SSD? My mac mini fan will not stop running and don't know what to do. Thanks.
***** Ok so you want to put the thermal sensor on the solid state drive in the same place it was on the original non solid state drive? I did that but the fan wouldn't stop running on my mac mini 2010 model - I had to install software to manage the fans - is that what you would have suggested to stop the fan from running constantly?
Ok i´m a newbee so please don´t hang me down. I have a Mac mini server 4.1/mid 2010) that i´m trying to put together again, I just upgraded the ram to 16 GB instead of 8 GB because the supplier didn´t had two 4 GB´s in stock. My problem is that the connectors for the harddrives doesen´t look the same as shown in the video. The top drive´s connector is fit between the connectors on the motherboard and the lower one has a different cable then shown in the video. So i´m a bit confused how to get my old mini back in action. Never commeted in YT before so I´ll try to find a way to post a picture for clearity.
gua percaya gue bisa lakuin ini sendiri, gue yakin gue bisa !!! hanya butuh beli ssdnya aja dan obeng dan duit buat beli itu smua, dan terakhir siap mental kalau ada yg salah colok >_
Ripped the optical drive thermal sensor right off my motherboard using THE TOOLS advertised here and applying gentle pressure. Now my DVD drive won't work. Never again, thumbs way down
No help whatsoever. My mac mini had different screw sizes and configuration, I had to use some T7 and T9. Everything whic could go wrong went wrong and now I have an expensive paperweight. I do not reccomend doing what this tutorial tells you. If you want to swap HD, I suggest you hire a professional to do the job. The money you'll spent will save you a lot of heartache...
Hi, I have installed SSD Samsung EVO 860 250 gb to my Mac mini 2010 and also installed 7200 rpm drive to optibay, and got an issue: SSD works only on SATA I speed. After some investigation, I swapped them: SSD connected to optibay, and HDD - to hdd interface. VOILA! 3 Gbs both. Hope, it will help to some body. Old native 5400 HDD gave 40 mbs speed, new 7200 HDD gave 140 mbs speed and SDD gave 260 mbs speed.
Just did this yesterday, installed 8 GB RAM, and installed an SSD. My 2010 Mini is running great now! The only snag was one of the heat sensor cable leads pulled out of the snap connector, used loupes to place back in, and got it back together. No issues. I am a scratch PC builder with a lot of experience. This is not a newbie project!
Thank you very much for this video. But would you mind to consider to turn this background music off? It's really hard to focus on the important stuff while some Holiday-Inn-Elevator-Background Sound is blurring out of the speakers.
As stated below, this video SHOULD WARN (but does not) how fragile the thermal sensor sockets are. The power connector socket (infrared sensor connector) is also very fragile. ANY OF THESE SOCKETS CAN EASILY SNAP OFF THE LOGIC BOARD even while being very careful and using a plastic spudger/pry tool.
Listen to this guy. I've a dead Mac mini after the whole socket snapped off the logic board, despite taking care.
Yep! I broke most probably that self same connector from the logic board, was shortly after acquiring the mid-2010 version. The manager at the Apple store was kind to replace the logic board for me free of charge and installed the ssd for me for a fee. I may have them do it again now that I read your comment, and the other reply to it. Not paying more than $60, however.
Going to try and replace my drive with a SSD today. Fingers crossed. A similar video shows heat being applied to the heat sensor that is glued to the hard drive with a hair dryer. This is to loosen the glue as the heat sensor is very brittle and prone to breaking.
4.44 High Risk step!!!
The sensor on some drives is glued on tight. The sensor can easily bend in half or break in two.
For anyone looking at newest comments first: heed Mark's advice below: half these steps are unnecessary. I followed his advice and did this job in half the time and with MUCH less work. See my reply to his comment here:
Mark, you are COMPLETELY right on this. As a word of warning to repeat Mark's words above: half these steps are unnecessary. In fact, I didn't even need to remove the fan connector, I simply set it aside while I worked. I didn't remove the RAM. I was able to pull and twist the hard drive upwards without moving the logic board. I simply swapped the thermal sensor and the mounting screws onto the new SSD and then levered it back into place, then reseated the SATA pad. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. No broken connectors, no max-RPM fans, no extra work. My only regret is that I didn't make a video of the job (didn't think of it until I was halfway done).
The drive mounting screws are T8s.
If you end up installing a 7mm SSHD to replace a 9.5mm standard drive and you'll want to put a piece of foam tape or some other type of spacer (I used adhesive velcro) to help the drive sit flat and make it easer to screw in the top screws. They also sell spacers or risers do help deal with this.
Just done this with mine, restored the drive using disk utilities (cloned). Gone from 55sec cold boot times to 20secs. Happy chap
I’ve done this job twice very carefully without issue but this last time the two wire power lead for the SATA connector popped right off the logic board still in its socket! (Lump in my stomach) With nothing to lose at this point I sharpened the tip of my smallest soldering pencil to a needle point and with a magnifying headset lightly tapped the two socket leads at the connection points and they resoldered right up. Finished rebuild and test ran perfectly! I think from now on I will hold down the sockets to the logic board with one tool while popping off the connectors with another tool in the other hand.
Followed the video, had serious issues moving the logic board using the two screw driver method. Now it would appear that the board is stressed/damaged around the screw holes - there doesn't seem to be any circuitry directly around the screw hole so maybe it will power on . I was very careful not apply to much force. The only way I could get the board to move was to use a flat head screw driver and prise it away against the hard drive. I've not put the thing back together yet but my motherboard didn't move anywhere nearly as freely as the one in the video.
Thanks! Almost perfect instructions. Just walked me through my SSD install!
Be very careful when removing the temperature sensor from the old drive. Mine broke in half. The device will still work with it not working, but the fans will be maxed out when it doesn't recognize a working temp sensor.
Worked great for me. Had a bit of trouble getting the Wi-Fi antenna thing back in. Had to experiment with some gentle bending but got it back in.
Thank you very much for this video. The instructions are clear, the image is crystal-clear (and the soundtrack is very pleasant!).
Nicely done! Instructions are easy to follow. Need to be delicate and patient in a couple areas.
Hi Nathan! Thank you for the compliment! With any older Mac, wires and connectors can get a little brittle, so caution is advised.
Thank you for this video. Worked like a champ, and now my Mac mini is quick as can be!
Used the advertised tool kit, and the upgrade worked. Unfortunately those thermal sensors aren't at all resilient, and I snapped one in half attempting to remove it from the hard drive. Now my fan runs flat out, but everything otherwise works!
Fantastic tutorial! It worked for me even by just using Allen keys
Huge Thanks OWC. Worth reading the comments and watching a few other videos on the subject but followed this guide and it worked out fine with no real dramas. Some of it is small and fiddly but the iFixit tool kit is perfect and I can see how some have had issues. Now have new 500GB Seagate Momentus installed (22GBP direct from Shenzhen May20) and just watching the MacOS Sierra reinstall from a Cmd-R boot. Did have to GUID partition the drive from a external boot disk before this worked. Top marks OWC. Right to Repair!
Glad it was helpful for you!
You should put a warning about ripping the heat sensors off!! I just did it...
mine was soldered to the hard drive so there was NO WAY it could just "come off" as easy as it says in this video
what about a dual drive setup - with the optical bay & drive bay?
I would think an SSD for boot/speed and a large ( ~ 1TB) for size would be a good combo. This setup would be better for performance than a hybrid drive or drives.
Tried this today and I broke two sensors off one is a heat sensor don’t know the other, they were so brittle they just broke off the logic board even when being super careful and they are so tiny but it still boots but gets hot. It was so slow before with the original 5400 rpm hard drive so I really wanted to put in a ssd but when I originally watched this I thought its just too tough and risky. Then I got a new ssd to replace a smaller one in my wifes macbook pro which is a easy install so I thought screw it I’ll try installing the smaller one into the mac mini via this video. Well she boots in 10.8.5 but not sure how long it will last, cloning a system into the ssd, hope it doesn’t catch fire🤔🔥. As computers get older the plastic parts get more brittle from the heat I guess. But man those connectors are small, so this was a last ditch effort to keep the mini alive. I know I broke a heat senso that connects to the drive, when I removed it it broke in half, so it seams the fan just doesn't work any more. It boots under MT LION and runs but gets to 100 c and feels really hot. I tried an old fan utility and nothing. I guess I will pull out the SSD and send the mini off to be recycled. I think the best thing would have been to put the SSD ina firewire 800 case and boot it from there, not as fast but it was just going to be a music server for the house. Long story short I tried, I failed.
This is harder than it looks. I am successfully installing Mojave on my new SSD as I write this. But I also tore the HDD power connector socket and all three temp sensor connectors sockets right off of the circuit board when I disconnected the wires to get at the HD. They are VERY fragile and weakly soldered onto the main electronics board. I also ended up with five screws I couldn't get back into place because everything has got to be lined up just right - very precise tolerances. It was no picnic getting the old drive out and the new drive in, either. Fortunately the power connector isn't used on a SSD and the fan is very quiet for something that is gonna run continuously since there are now no sensors to ever tell it to turn off. I got lucky. With this experience, I could do better the second time around. But my recommendation is that if you have a functioning HDD, forget about a SSD install and just be patient when you're using your Mac Mini.
I accidentally ripped off the sensor for the fan as have other people but I just installed fan control and it was fine in the end but it's better to NOT rip off those connections because it will be a pain in the butt to have it ripped off
Hi, I have installed SSD Samsung EVO 860 250 gb to my Mac mini 2010 and
also installed 7200 rpm drive to optibay, and got an issue: SSD works
only on SATA I speed.
After some investigation, I swapped them:
SSD connected to optibay, and HDD - to hdd interface. VOILA! 3 Gbs both.
Hope, it will help to some body.
Old native 5400 HDD gave 40 mbs speed, new 7200 HDD gave 140 mbs speed and SDD gave 260 mbs speed.
One of the best videos!!! Thank you!!! Short and ultra clear! :) 🙏💛💛💛
I am curious what are the limits in terms of ssd maximum capacity (1-2 Tb) for both hard drive slot and optibay? And what is maximum speed for optical drive replecement (with ssd such as Crucial BX500 2TB 3D NAND SATA 2.5-Inch Internal SSD - CT2000BX500SSD1)?
Hi!
During the process of removing all the connectors from the logic board i broke the whole power connector from it. The connector of the cable and the connector that was on the board are stuck together... What do i do?
Thanks! Very helpful.
Happy to help :)
Upgraded my Mac Mini to SSD using your instructions. Worked fine for me. It did take me nearly two hours (I was extra cautious).
IS All MAC MINI MODEL RAM AND HARD DRIVE SAME ??????I MEAN ALL PORT SIZE SAME ??????PLS TELL ME ..
Why is audio only right at the start?
I thought my headphones were broken!!
Hi. What do you do with the thermal heat sensor from 4:42 when you are installing a SSD? Do you attach it in the same place but on the SSD? My mac mini fan will not stop running and don't know what to do. Thanks.
***** Ok so you want to put the thermal sensor on the solid state drive in the same place it was on the original non solid state drive? I did that but the fan wouldn't stop running on my mac mini 2010 model - I had to install software to manage the fans - is that what you would have suggested to stop the fan from running constantly?
beautiful video, very nice production. Thank you.
Ok i´m a newbee so please don´t hang me down. I have a Mac mini server 4.1/mid 2010) that i´m trying to put together again, I just upgraded the ram to 16 GB instead of 8 GB because the supplier didn´t had two 4 GB´s in stock. My problem is that the connectors for the harddrives doesen´t look the same as shown in the video. The top drive´s connector is fit between the connectors on the motherboard and the lower one has a different cable then shown in the video. So i´m a bit confused how to get my old mini back in action. Never commeted in YT before so I´ll try to find a way to post a picture for clearity.
What hard drive did you use in the video?
Very helpful. Spot on. Thanks
Success and DONE! Thanks A Lot!
Your video is wonderful , thank you.
Anyone installed a ssd 1Tb or higher. ? And does it make sense to put 16gb of ram if Apple says up max is up to 8gb ??
Excellent !! thank you so much
Nice-job very detail !!
Theres onnly one cable you need to remobve
Thank you
can you fit a thick 4t hard drive in ?
Unfortunately, the 4TB drive won't fit in the Mac as it's 9mm thick, and the Mac only accepts drives up to 7.5mm thick.
gua percaya gue bisa lakuin ini sendiri, gue yakin gue bisa !!!
hanya butuh beli ssdnya aja dan obeng dan duit buat beli itu smua, dan terakhir siap mental kalau ada yg salah colok >_
I honestly followed every step, got all the tools, and now my Mac makes a beeping sound and won't turn on.
+MacSales. com it is in, still making the beeping sound
old reply but you likely have to reset various memory etc holding specic key combinayions on boot...
perfect.
ONLY APPLE WOULD DESIGN SOMETHING LIKE THIS...
but what about the OS ? how do you boot from a blank drive?
Alt + CMD + R on startup, it will boot into internet recovery and you can install the O.S. from there.
How sure are you about that. If the Macmini has an old OS it may not be able to... Using Timemachine is probably the safest bet.
Well my attempt broke off a wire oh well lesson learned. It's time for a new one anyway.
In other words, do not enter.
busywl69 My thoughts exactly LOL
Cheers guys, one broken Mac mini. Read comments below
Exactly as mark Tosa said! I pulled the connectors off.
Turn that damn music off! It's louder than the instructor.
Ripped the optical drive thermal sensor right off my motherboard using THE TOOLS advertised here and applying gentle pressure. Now my DVD drive won't work. Never again, thumbs way down
No help whatsoever. My mac mini had different screw sizes and configuration, I had to use some T7 and T9. Everything whic could go wrong went wrong and now I have an expensive paperweight.
I do not reccomend doing what this tutorial tells you. If you want to swap HD, I suggest you hire a professional to do the job. The money you'll spent will save you a lot of heartache...
WTF WITH THE VOICE! :D
Hi, I have installed SSD Samsung EVO 860 250 gb to my Mac mini 2010 and
also installed 7200 rpm drive to optibay, and got an issue: SSD works
only on SATA I speed.
After some investigation, I swapped them:
SSD connected to optibay, and HDD - to hdd interface. VOILA! 3 Gbs both.
Hope, it will help to some body.
Old native 5400 HDD gave 40 mbs speed, new 7200 HDD gave 140 mbs speed and SDD gave 260 mbs speed.