The base should simply pull away, but may need prying with a plastic tool or even a credit card.Place your thumbs in the circular divots and twist the base anti-clockwise.
#Mac mini ram upgrade tool kit mac
Data transfer speeds will be at least four times faster, and that will make a huge difference in the day-to-day running of your Mac Mini. One of the best upgrades to make is to swap out the old mechanical hard drive for an SSD. Set aside a couple of hours, and you'll be able to bring your old Mac back to life.īetter than using your fingers, this pry tool kit is worth having in your tool kit for those hard to remove and tiny parts. None of these parts are particularly expensive, and none of the work is particularly complicated or time-consuming. You can upgrade the RAM to a maximum of 16GB you can swap out the internal hard drive for an SSD, and even add a second drive for even more storage. On more recent models, users have been able to upgrade some bits, such as the RAM in the 2018 release, but in the 2012 model, you can go ahead and get really crazy. The 2012 model remains to this day Apple's last, properly upgradeable Mac Mini. Magic cable: Mac Mini second drive kit ($15 at Amazon).Right tools: ORIA Magnetic Screwdriver set ($18 at Amazon).A second hard drive: Seagate Firecuda 1TB ($63 at Amazon).The right cable: AmazonBasics miniDP to DP ($11 at Amazon).Blowing cobwebs: Canned air ($11 at Newegg).More memory: Crucial 16GB RAM kit ($90 at Amazon).New storage: Kingston 480GB SSD ($56 at Amazon).
Here we'll walk you through breathing new life into your old Mac for not a lot of money. It remains Apple's last properly upgradeable Mac Mini, and even in 2020 can be a pretty handy little computer with the right bits inside. The whole thing should take less than five minutes.The 2012 Mac Mini held a special place in many hearts thanks to how easy it was to upgrade. All you have to do is pop open the access panel, remove the existing RAM modules, add your new modules, and then replace the panel. You can see below that upgrading the RAM in a 27” iMac is a simple job. And obviously, you won’t find guides for models that don’t let you upgrade the RAM. Each guide has links to all the components and tools you need to do the job. Head to iFixit and find the guides for your Mac model. They also sell all the tools and components you need to make the upgrade. They have detailed guides for replacing the RAM in any Mac where it is possible. Instead, I’m going to pass you over to our friends at iFixit who specialize in this sort of thing. It’s far beyond the scope of this article to talk you through every possible Mac RAM upgrade.
#Mac mini ram upgrade tool kit pro
MacBook Pro 15” with Touch Bar (All Models).MacBook Pro 15” with Retina Display (All Models).MacBook Pro 13” with Touch Bar (All Models).MacBook Pro 13” with Retina Display (All Models).You currently cannot upgrade the RAM yourself in these Mac models: Unfortunately, in the last few years Apple has taken to soldering the RAM to the motherboard of the computer-particularly on laptops.
As things stand now, you can upgrade the RAM yourself in the following Mac models: Other modelss, like the latest 21.5” iMac models, require you to remove the screen and logic board-a process that will take at least a few hours. When you know what model you have, you can find out whether you can upgrade the RAM yourself. I’ve got MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015). On the Overview tab, you’ll see your Mac’s exact model. To find out exactly what Mac you have, click the Apple logo in the top left corner of the menu bar, and then select the “About This Mac” command.
A 21.5” iMac from 2012 and a 21.5” Retina iMac from 2016 might look the same at a casual glance, but they’re totally different computers. Macs are regularly refreshed and even if newer models don’t look all that different, big changes can happen on the inside. If you’ve got an old Mac that’s out of warranty, you can take more risks than if you’re thinking about tearing open a brand new MacBook Pro. Adding more RAM can breath new life into an old Mac.Īs always, make sure you know what you’re doing before diving in. While Macs certainly aren’t as easy to upgrade as a typical PC, it’s surprisingly simple to upgrade some components like RAM-especially if you’ve got a Mac desktop or an older laptop.