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Mac Mini Teardown Reveals User-Upgradable RAM, But Soldered Down CPU and Storage (macrumors.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the what's-inside dept.

iFixit has released their teardown of the new Mac mini, providing a look inside the portable desktop computer. Some of the notable findings include user-upgradable RAM and soldered CPU and SSD. Mac Rumors reports: While the RAM in the previous-gen Mac mini from 2014 was soldered to the logic board, the new Mac mini has user-upgradeable RAM, as discovered earlier this week. As seen in older iMacs, the RAM is protected by a perforated shield that allows the memory modules to operate at a high frequency of 2666 MHz without interfering with other device functions, according to iFixit. To upgrade the RAM, the shield can be removed by unfastening four Torx screws.

Other silicon on the logic board of this particular Mac mini includes the Apple T2 security chip, a 3.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i3 processor, Intel UHD Graphics 630, 128GB of flash storage from Toshiba, an Intel JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 controller, and a Gigabit Ethernet controller from Broadcom. Despite the good news about the RAM, the CPU and SSD are soldered to the logic board, as are many ports, so this isn't a truly modular Mac mini. iFixit awarded the new Mac mini a repairability score of 6/10, with 10 being the easiest to repair, topping the latest MacBook Air, MacBook, MacBook Pro, iMac, and iMac Pro, and trailing only the 2013 Mac Pro.

6 of 242 comments (clear)

  1. Soldered CPU? by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There might be a point to be made regarding the SSD; but aren't we getting a bit ridiculous, expecting a socketed CPU in a computer the size of a ham sandwich?

    1. Re:Soldered CPU? by sittingnut · · Score: 1, Insightful

      aren't we getting a bit ridiculous, expecting a socketed CPU in a computer the size of a ham sandwich?

      no.
      there are other computers, "the size of a ham sandwich", costing much less with much better specifications btw, which can be upgraded.

    2. Re:Soldered CPU? by Selur · · Score: 5, Insightful

      both cpu and ssd soldering have only one goal: to make money
      simply look at what premium prices apple charges for ssds and ram,...

  2. non-rotating rust by epine · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's not like SSDs naturally degrade during their service life by sticking their thumb into a high voltage socket every time you press the "erase" button.

    And it's not like the mysterious T2 security chip couldn't prevent you from booting into a future macOS from external media if Apple decides the obsolescence message isn't penetrating your thick skull.

    Trust, but keep replacement parts close to hand in a desk drawer.

  3. Dear Moron Apple designer by thogard · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Non-removable storage is a deal killer. I don't know what gets stored on local computers so it MUST to be wiped before it goes off site for repair.

    This means I'm not going to be buying any of these. We have been waiting for years to replace some of the older minis and now I have to figure out what I'm going to do for a replacement. For now banning new Apple stuff from the company will be the policy.

    Don't you have to comply with any sort of security polices at Apple?

    1. Re:Dear Moron Apple designer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That doesn't mean Apple can't decode the data anyway. Every government in the world is trying to make it a legal requirement to do so and building a new chip without that feature could be a billion dollar mistake. I suspect there is already a way to backdoor in the thing.

      Until someone pulls the chips off and shows what is on them, I'm not convinced.

      A simple M.2 port would have fixed this problem.