Upgrading/Replacing the Hard Drive in a 2011 Mac mini

[awaken77]

Do you need to shield SSD? I heard some people experienced problems with Wi-fi and Bluetooth connection on the mini , due to electronic noise coming from SSD

[OWCmacsales]

@awaken77 We haven't seen any issues regarding Wi-Fi or Bluetooth interference with the OWC line of SSDs.

[awaken77]

thanks! I ordered one today :-)

[yourpsychedelic]

Thanks, great tutorial, seems just as easy as with any "DIY PC".

[Applepwned1]

69 :)

[cweiss4619]

Lots of great vids on replacing the drive, they all end with "And turn it on" - turns out it doesn't magically work after that. Nobody goes into detail on how to install/re-install the OS.

[OWCmacsales]

@cweiss4619

Actually, in all our videos we *do* point out that your system and data needs to be transferred from the old drive, either through cloning or Installation/Migration - whichever is more appropriate for the model in question, and give a link for more instructions. This is usually done in one of the animated sequences on each end of the video. In this case, this information is given at 7:25.

[awaken77]

@cweiss4619 re-install macOS is very simple - go disk utility, format new disk, and install in one click

[cweiss4619]

@awaken77 Where do you load Disk Utility from? Remember, this is a Mac Mini server with no optical drive. We just replaced the hard disk, so there's no recovery partition to boot from.

[awaken77]

@cweiss4619 if you have no partition, you can use internet recovery. but it's better to have spare HDD with Lion installed. I have external USB HDD with Lion installation, so if something screwed up during the installation, I always can start from it and use it for system restore.

[awaken77]

@cweiss4619 I have no optical drive too, and not need it. I use usb 2.0 hdd as a boot/backup device

[omaraty008]

What is the music used in this video that starts at 0:43 ? I LOVE IT!

[OWCmacsales]

@omaraty008 The music used in our installation videos was created in-house. Glad you enjoy it.

[omaraty008]

@OWCmacsales wow! i really really like it, great job on that. by any chance, can i get my hands on that track?

[djkaneck1]

how to replace the dvd drive? my 2011 mac mini won't accept or eject dvd's.

[OWCmacsales]

@djkaneck1 The 2011 Mac mini doesn't have an optical drive.

[djkaneck1]

@djkaneck1 I said that not knowing there was a new model that came in July 2011. I bought my mini in May 2011. Now that I see that latest model has no optical drive I may just buy that one with a LaCie external dvd or blu ray drive.

[yazeed0ps3]

Can I keep my 500 GB hard drive and put a ssd on top of it ???

[Timxtrem1]

but please gently ;)

[mongomondomongo]

I was following along easily for the first couple minutes then I saw you removing the antenna gate and it was just too many screws! Why is it so much easier to upgrade the Macbook Pro hard drive? Hope they re-design the Mini to be easier.

[petsandbeyond]

The screw for the fan at the bottom right was so tight, it stripped the theads of the t6 screw. I had to use vice grips to loosen it up. DAMN!

Besides that, it was a breeze! :)

[michaelprovence]

It's not T6 torx i just bought one and it's not working :(

[OWCmacsales]

@michaelprovence There are T6 and T8 torx screws, as well as a 2mm hex used. Make sure you're using the right tool for each screw.

[michaelprovence]

@OWCmacsales Ok thanks for the answer. It so small maybe i mix the 2mm hex and the torx for the fan screws.

[faizanjoyia]

Looks pretty hard