Install ssd in mac mini how to#
Install ssd in mac mini for mac#
Install ssd in mac mini Pc#
Install ssd in mac mini free#
Install ssd in mac mini windows#

If you aren't sure which drive to use, you can eject the new drive, and run the previous command again to see which one disappeared.

If you don't choose wisely, you might accidentally format the wrong disk, and lose your data, your OS, or maybe your will to live.

Install ssd in mac mini for mac#

Pcie Ssd Installation Kit For Mac Mini Late 2014 Specs You should see something like the following. First, you need to find out the disk number of the new drive. Say yes, then click yes and Diskpart will open in a new window. In the command prompt enter:Ī dialog will pop up asking if you want this program to make changes to your computer. To open Diskpart, first, open a command prompt by pressing Windows+R.

Install ssd in mac mini windows#

There are several Windows apps out there that can format drives to an Apple file system, but I prefer to use the all-powerful and automatically installed Diskpart. After you have found a way to connect the drive to a PC, you can follow the Windows instructions below or jump to instructions for Linux.

Install ssd in mac mini Pc#

All you need is a PC with a real operating system and an empty M.2 slot or an external M.2 enclosure. If you don't see the drive, as it was in my case, don't give up hope! Formatting the drive might get your Mini to see the new disk. If you see your new drive, congratulations! Your hard drive was probably one of the ones that are fully compatible with macOS.

Then click the view button in the upper-left-hand corner, and click devices. To see the new hard drive, click the Launchpad icon in your dock, and look for Disk Utility in the Other folder. With the new hard drive firmly stuck in place, it's time to put the covers back on and take it for a test drive! This was so easy! Pcie Ssd Installation Kit For Mac Mini Late 2014 Specifications Disk Utility doesn't see the new drive Luckily, the foam on the bottom of my adapter included adhesive (green arrow). Looking at the blue arrows, there is a hole to screw the SSD adapter to the case, but the hole in my adapter didn't line up with it without some bending. Inside the case, you will see the PCIe plug as pointed out in the photo below by red arrows. Carefully lift the edge of the metal cover that is furthest away from the WIFI antennae away from the case (the antennae wire is still attached). Installing the SSD assembly in the Mini is as simple as popping off the round black plastic bottom and removing six Torx screws. This is what it looks like after I installed the hard drive that I chose based on its read/write speed vs price ratio (Crucial P1):Ĭompaq altec lansing laptop drivers. The model number of my Mini is A1347, and it say right there 'this adapter only fit 2014 A1347…'. I started out with this adapter that I found on my local version of eBay: Adding an M.2, on the other hand, was accomplished in just a few steps. One of the reasons I chose to add an M.2 drive instead of replacing the spinny 2.5″ disk with an SSD, is that doing the latter seemed like a real pain on this model of Mini. The first sign that I was going to run into trouble was how smooth the hardware installation went. But if you have found yourself in possession of some components that aren't playing nice together, read on. If your planning on doing a project like this but haven't bought any hardware yet, please skip to my rant at the end of the article for some shopping advice. Note that had I done a little more research before starting this adventure, I could have avoided a bunch of headaches.

So started a long, misguided journey to carry out one of the few upgrades available for this particular model of the Mini - adding a PCIe SSD. Unfortunately, after upgrading it to the latest version of macOS, it was almost too sluggish to use. Recently, I found out some of my web pages didn't look so great on Apple devices, so I picked up a late 2014 Mac Mini so I could have a device running Safari natively. Interested in using these videos on your site view our video usage policy.

Install ssd in mac mini how to#

OWC's step-by-step video of how to upgrade or install a PCIe SSD in a 27-inch Apple iMac with Retina 5K Display (Late 2014 - Mid 2015). Prior to the 2014 model, there was a kit you could buy which let you fit two 2.5' drives so that would have allowed keeping the hard disk and adding an 2.5' SSD drive as well.

Install ssd in mac mini free#

Crucial Memory and SSD upgrades - 100% Compatibility Guaranteed for apple Mac mini (Late 2014) - FREE US Delivery.