Apparently, the new M4 Mini's drive is upgradeable and reasonably easy to do.
The issue as I see it is finding a suitable SSD as (I think) the controller is
needed - it's not an off the shelf part. They are starting to appear on Aliexpress etc, and there's this:
https://expandmacmini.com/product/ssd-m4-2tb/
Any views on the process or part?
RJH <[email protected]> wrote:
Apparently, the new M4 Mini's drive is upgradeable and reasonably easy to do.
The issue as I see it is finding a suitable SSD as (I think) the controller is
needed - it's not an off the shelf part. They are starting to appear on
Aliexpress etc, and there's this:
https://expandmacmini.com/product/ssd-m4-2tb/
Any views on the process or part?
I've only seen this video, no experience myself: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eLtE2kMTVOQ
You'd need another Mac (Arm or recent-ish Intel) to do the DFU process.
On 6 Feb 2025 at 10:56:13 GMT, Theo wrote:
RJH <[email protected]> wrote:
Apparently, the new M4 Mini's drive is upgradeable and reasonably easy to do.
The issue as I see it is finding a suitable SSD as (I think) the controller is
needed - it's not an off the shelf part. They are starting to appear on
Aliexpress etc, and there's this:
https://expandmacmini.com/product/ssd-m4-2tb/
Any views on the process or part?
I've only seen this video, no experience myself: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eLtE2kMTVOQ
You'd need another Mac (Arm or recent-ish Intel) to do the DFU process.
Looks good, thanks. Some reassurance there that the supplier is genuine.
Apparently, the new M4 Mini's drive is upgradeable and reasonably easy to do.
The issue as I see it is finding a suitable SSD as (I think) the controller is
needed - it's not an off the shelf part. They are starting to appear on Aliexpress etc, and there's this:
https://expandmacmini.com/product/ssd-m4-2tb/
Any views on the process or part?
Bought one of these S/H on ebay:
https://store.m4-ssd.com/products/1tb-drive-for-mac-mini-m4
All went well. The case is easier to open than it looks - Apple use a sort of press stud to secure the base, rather than the usual glue or brittle plastic clip. The initialising is a bit of a chore but worked, and it was all done including a TM restore in under an hour. Using the Blackmagic disk speed test the read and write speeds are approaching double the original 256GB disk - 4000/3000 read/write MB/s.
RJH <[email protected]> wrote:
Bought one of these S/H on ebay:
https://store.m4-ssd.com/products/1tb-drive-for-mac-mini-m4
All went well. The case is easier to open than it looks - Apple use a sort of
press stud to secure the base, rather than the usual glue or brittle plastic >> clip. The initialising is a bit of a chore but worked, and it was all done >> including a TM restore in under an hour. Using the Blackmagic disk speed test
the read and write speeds are approaching double the original 256GB disk - >> 4000/3000 read/write MB/s.
That's great to hear. It really opens up the Mini as a Proper Upgradeable Computer, especially for the Mini's price.
Now it would be great as a server, if only they'd get Linux running well on it...
On Mar 29, 2025 at 5:13:31 AM EDT, "Theo" <[email protected]>
wrote:
RJH <[email protected]> wrote:
Bought one of these S/H on ebay:
https://store.m4-ssd.com/products/1tb-drive-for-mac-mini-m4
All went well. The case is easier to open than it looks - Apple use a sort of
press stud to secure the base, rather than the usual glue or brittle plastic
clip. The initialising is a bit of a chore but worked, and it was all done >>> including a TM restore in under an hour. Using the Blackmagic disk speed test
the read and write speeds are approaching double the original 256GB disk - >>> 4000/3000 read/write MB/s.
That's great to hear. It really opens up the Mini as a Proper Upgradeable
Computer, especially for the Mini's price.
Now it would be great as a server, if only they'd get Linux running well on >> it...
Why does it need Linux? It is already running Unix.
In fact, Apple used to sell MacOS servers. I guarantee you that Apple has rack mounted Minis (or some custom configuration, whatever) running their internal networks. All running MacOS. No need for Linux.
On 29/03/2025 13:10, Tyrone wrote:
On Mar 29, 2025 at 5:13:31 AM EDT, "Theo" <[email protected]>
wrote:
RJH <[email protected]> wrote:
Bought one of these S/H on ebay:
https://store.m4-ssd.com/products/1tb-drive-for-mac-mini-m4
All went well. The case is easier to open than it looks - Apple use a sort of
press stud to secure the base, rather than the usual glue or brittle plastic
clip. The initialising is a bit of a chore but worked, and it was all done >>>> including a TM restore in under an hour. Using the Blackmagic disk speed test
the read and write speeds are approaching double the original 256GB disk - >>>> 4000/3000 read/write MB/s.
That's great to hear. It really opens up the Mini as a Proper Upgradeable >>> Computer, especially for the Mini's price.
Now it would be great as a server, if only they'd get Linux running well on >>> it...
Why does it need Linux? It is already running Unix.
In fact, Apple used to sell MacOS servers. I guarantee you that Apple has >> rack mounted Minis (or some custom configuration, whatever) running their
internal networks. All running MacOS. No need for Linux.
Guarantee, eh?
I know they've got Linux boxes in prod providing core services across
the company and running on Xeon Gold CPUs.
I'm fairly sure their foray into macOS server software and hardware is
done and dusted. There's little point them even running it internally.
I've still got a 2008 XServe using up a slot in the rack if anyone would
like a piece of history :)
| Sysop: | Keyop |
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