New Mac Mini's Storage Can Be Upgraded, But It's Not Easy

Quinn Nelson has shared a super informative teardown video for the new Mac mini on his YouTube channel Snazzy Labs, offering the most comprehensive look inside Apple's smallest computer ever that we have seen so far. Give it a watch below.

Yesterday, we reported that the new Mac mini features modular storage, and YouTube channel dosdude1 has already opened up the base model and upgraded its storage capacity from 256GB to 1TB. The steps included removing the original NAND storage chips from the board with a heat gun, preparing the new NAND chips by reballing them, soldering the new NAND chips to the board, and restoring the Mac mini in DFU Mode.

While those steps are impractical for the average customer, the video proves that storage in the new Mac mini can technically be upgraded without having to pay for Apple's overpriced storage upgrade options when ordering the computer.

Related Roundup: Mac mini
Buyer's Guide: Mac Mini (Buy Now)
Related Forum: Mac mini

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 18

Apple Announces iOS 18.2 Launching Today With These New Features

Wednesday December 11, 2024 5:23 am PST by
Apple has announced that iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2 will be released today following more than six weeks of beta testing. For the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, the update introduces additional Apple Intelligence features, including Genmoji for creating custom emoji, Image Playground and Image Wand for generating images, and ChatGPT integration for Siri. There is also ...
Generic iOS 18

Apple Seeds Second Release Candidate Versions of iOS 18.2 and More With Genmoji, Image Playground and ChatGPT Integration

Monday December 9, 2024 10:06 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS 15.2 updates to developers and public beta testers for testing purposes, a week after releasing the first RCs. The first iOS 18.2 RC had a build number of 22C150, while the second RC's build number is 22C151. Release candidates represent the final version of beta software that's expected to see a ...
iPhone SE 4 Single Camera Thumb 3

iPhone SE 4 Said to Feature 48MP Rear Lens, 12MP TrueDepth Camera

Monday December 9, 2024 4:48 am PST by
Apple's forthcoming iPhone SE 4 will feature a single 48-megapixel rear camera and a 12-megapixel TrueDepth camera on the front, according to details revealed in a new Korean supply chain report. ET News reports that Korea-based LG Innotek is the main supplier of the front and rear camera modules for the more budget-friendly ~$400 device, which is expected to launch in the first quarter of...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

MacBook Pros With OLED Displays Won't Have a Notch, Roadmap Shows

Monday December 9, 2024 7:36 am PST by
Apple plans to remove the notch from the MacBook Pro in a few years from now, according to a roadmap shared by research firm Omdia. The roadmap shows that 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models released in 2026 will have a hole-punch camera at the top of the display, instead of a notch. It is unclear if there would simply be a pinhole in the display, or if Apple would expand the iPhone's...
vipps nfc tap to pay iphone

World's First Apple Pay Alternative for iPhone Launches in Norway

Monday December 9, 2024 1:28 am PST by
Norwegian payment service Vipps has become the world's first company to launch a competing tap-to-pay solution to Apple Pay on iPhone, following Apple's agreement with European regulators to open up its NFC technology to third parties. Starting December 9, Vipps users in Norway can make contactless payments in stores using their iPhones. The service initially supports customers of SpareBank...
New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Friday December 6, 2024 4:42 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls...
Apple Watch Series 10 lineup 240909 feature

Apple Watch Could Get Blood Pressure Monitoring in 2025

Tuesday December 10, 2024 11:51 am PST by
Apple is ramping up work on a blood pressure monitoring feature for the Apple Watch and it could be ready as soon as 2025, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Blood pressure monitoring is a health addition that Apple has been working on for the last several years, and based on rumors, Apple wanted to debut it in 2024. The feature would not provide exact systolic and diastolic blood pressure...
macOS Sequoia Night Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.2 With New Apple Intelligence Features

Wednesday December 11, 2024 10:02 am PST by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.2, the second update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that was released in September. macOS Sequoia 15.2 comes over a month after the release of macOS Sequoia 15.1. Mac users can download the ‌macOS Sequoia‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. macOS Sequoia 15.2 adds Image Playground, an app that lets you create...

Top Rated Comments

adamw Avatar
5 weeks ago
Best (and cutest) Mac ever! And now expandable too, even with a Thunderbolt 3, 4, or 5 external drive as your Startup Drive. I took my base M4 Mac mini, added a 4TB SanDisk PRO-G40 External Thunderbolt 3 SSD drive, and set it up as my Startup Disk with macOS on it, and now I boot up having a 4TB SSD M4 Mac Mini for less than $1,000. The External Thunderbolt 3 SSD speed (at up to 3,200 MB/second with both read and write) is even faster than the Apple internal 256GB SSD drive. Thunderbolt 5 External SSD drives (coming out soon from OWC) should be up to twice that speed on M4 Pro Mac Minis.

Note: I recommend a Thunderbolt 3, 4 or 5 External SSD drive, and not a USB 3 or USB 4 external SSD drive for your Startup Drive, as they usually can't maintain speeds as well as a Thunderbolt SSD drive. USB drives work great for data storage, but for use as a Swap Drive for full flash RAM memory and for your macOS and Program Applications, I recommend a Thunderbolt 3/4/5 SSD drive as your primary Startup Drive on your Mac. Just make sure that you set it up per the below Apple instructions which SSD drive (Internal or External) is your Startup Drive for your Mac to boot up with, and use for reading and writing to. You will have to change your Startup Drive back in the General Settings to boot up with the 256GB Internal SSD drive, if you ever need to use it, otherwise it is good for read only use. I had to use the macOS Recovery method (by holding the power button down on boot) outlined in Apple's link below to install macOS on my external Thunderbolt 3 SSD drive, before I could set it up to be my System Startup (Boot) Drive.

Here are Apple's Instructions on how to install macOS on an external storage device (like a Thunderbolt SSD drive) and use it as a startup disk: https://support.apple.com/en-us/111336

WARNING I was not aware of previously: If you boot off an external Startup Drive with your Mac, due to Apple's New Security, you can NOT run Apple Intelligence, and likely Apple Pay, and other security related things from your external Thunderbolt or SSD drive. See this video from a guy who just discovered this limitation:

Thanks to gargetfreak98 for this potential workaround of moving your home folder to the external SSD drive:
https://appleinsider.com/inside/macos-ventura/tips/how-to-move-your-home-directory-in-macos-ventura

Here are some videos to help you Install Your Home folder on an External Drive to make Apple Intelligence, macOS, and other Apple apps work properly. This goes along with the above linked instructions about how to move your Home folder to your external drive:



Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mac Fly (film) Avatar
5 weeks ago
Guy who did the storage upgrade made a good video. None of the typical YouTuber annoyances, just plainly spoken and does the job.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GraXXoR Avatar
5 weeks ago

Guy who did the storage upgrade made a good video. None of the typical YouTuber annoyances, just plainly spoken and does the job.
That’s not just a mere a guy. That’s a dude: dosdude… And he’s number one.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tomtad Avatar
5 weeks ago
All we need is a handle to easily open it now

Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rumoresque Avatar
5 weeks ago

That’s not just a mere a guy. That’s a dude: dosdude… And he’s number one.
So! you’d need hundreds of dollars of tools and equipment, 6-8 hours of your time, high risk of destroying your equipment, but you might save $200 over Apple’s storage upgrade? Where do sign? ??
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
5 weeks ago
The EU needs to look into this and their ESG sustainability rating should automatically receive a downgrade of X points each time they release another product with glued and other restrictive elements
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)