M4 Mac mini Teardown - UPGRADABLE Storage, Powerful, and TINY

Apple’s Mac Mini has had a redesign from the ground up and holy guacamole this thing is small!

This thing looks just like a tiny version of a Mac Studio, and while that signature Apple aluminum finish is nice to look at, it is a fingerprint magnet. Some folks feel that Apple’s obsession with aesthetics might have gone too far. Let’s see what we can find inside!

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Chapters:
00:00 Apple Mac mini 2024 unboxing
00:20 Apple Mac mini 2024 CT scan & x-ray
00:37 The Mac mini 2024 power button is hidden! Here’s a clever fix
00:53 Apple Mac mini 2024 teardown: How to get inside
02:03 Big fans and bigger heatsinks, the Mac mini 2024 has impressive thermals!
02:38 Upgrading the Mac mini 2024’s storage. Here’s what you can and can’t do
03:28 How to remove the Apple Mac mini 2024 Logic Board
04:49 A closer look at the M4 System on Chip
04:56 Apple Mac mini 2024 repairability assessment and score

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[hrznn]

As others have said, the SSDs aren't sold separately, BUT people are already soldering larger NANDs onto them, so I expect Aliexpress to sell cheap high capacity SSDs in the near future, as well as local repair shops maybe offering similar services. And harvesting these modules from broken Mac Minis will be a big business as well.

[jackmcslay]

I don't care if you can swap the SSD, if you can only use a proprietary SSD which Apple themselves does not sell separately, it cannot seriously be considered upgradeable

[PaoYong]

Upgradeability aside the engineering of this thing is pretty beautiful. Not a little bit of space wasted.

[pixels]

Theoretically upgradable, if Apple desides to sell those storage units separately.

[Gaspar]

It wouldn’t take long for third parties to sell SSD upgrades. Sweet!

[rdyt]

With the Mac mini, you're basically paying for RAMs and SSD, the rest are complimentary.

[Kattakam]

Yes, agree- mac mini looks sweet but true that you must make sure you get the ram amounts while buying it

[bmiller]

Thanks for showing the ease of changing the CMOS battery. The other items are above my paygrade and I will pay someone else to swap out.

[NiGHTSaturn]

I have a little feeling that OWC might want to work on a replacement SSD. They’ve already done a lot of great upgrade parts for older Mac models.

[D.u.d.e.r]

Beautifully teared down, thx iFixit👍Apple should make these M.2-like modular storage modules swappable and widely accessible for the future upgrade and also not crazy expensive! SoC and RAM r soldered in and very little can be done with that due to performance benefits, however SSD storage should be fully upgradeable.

[thecanmanification]

So many people not understanding why the ssd change is a genuine improvement for repairability. The fact that it’s not soldered directly to the board and the memory controller is now on its own daughterboard means that if either component breaks it’s a much cheaper/easier repair than it was before.

[RealWorldReview]

Are there any plans to check the M4 iMac to see if it got the same SSD treatment?

[TH-ludu]

Storage is probably meant to be replaced for Certified Apple Refurbished program, not for the user to evade Apple's spec upgrade charge. That's for external storage

[akhilraj.]

I replaced my BN mac mini M4. With chineese sandisk ssd 2TB. Works very good and all soldering while compared with original, 3rd party seems good.

[MidnightToker]

I hope Timetec makes a comeback. Their proprietary apple ssd replacements were awesome for the older MacBooks.

[JeanBaptisteChabi]

Everyone on YouTube talk about 3d printing solving problem as if a 3d printer is something you found on avery backyard 😂

[TheGamersRace]

The storage being replaceable is a standard bar to meet. That being said, the ports being replaceable deserves recognition. Way to go, Apple.

[AngeAlexiel]

Apple's internal are always so perfect ... it's kind of crazy .. it is so cool that finally the storage can be upgraded witt little work.. at least Apple is moving to the right direction since a while now...

[RobertValdez-zn]

Great video! I am glad I watched it! Also, if I need any upgrades done, I will pay a certified Mac repair guy to do them.

[nakleh]

I *love* my Pro Tech Toolkit! I use it almost every day. I just used it to dismantle a few old hard drives before discarding them.