Mac mini (Early 2009) Hard Drive Upgrade
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Other people have put in a 7200rpm hard drive, so in general I have a feeling there shouldn't be a problem. It sounds like the extra heat is minimal and doesn't matter.
2 years ago 3
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SOOOOO MANY LONG COMMENTS!
All Comments (89)
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I need to do this with mine. Looks like a big job
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Apple made doing this much easier with Mac mini 2011 and 2010
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Watch video and skip music, go to 1:53
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what do you format the drive as? mac os extended journaled?
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Best tech video Thanks.
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Awesome video! Thanks!!!
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On reassembly one of the black case screws was very difficult to replace. I managed to get it in eventually by laying the mac mini on its side, placing the screw in the plastic half cylinder passage that surrounded the screw and pushing it into place supported by the cylinder and gravity! May be pretty obvious to some people but then again, might save some time for others.
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Very easy to follow video, every possible step explained. Just added a 640GB drive and it's working perfectly. Thanks!
My experience: the four corner screws definitely need a magnetic screwdriver to go in and out. And when prising the lid off it helps if you have something to wedge the first edge open, otherwise I found that moving to the next side it just popped back in again, although perhaps I didn't prise it open far enough. But excellent video, will be back when I upgrade the RAM!
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Nice vid. I've used it a couple of times now. Thanks.
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Ok, I managed to install the new (500 Gb) drive, but MacOS doesnt recognize it. Do I need to format it before? And also I noticed that my new 2.5inch drive has a power connector that is different from the apple hard drive. Are all 2.5inch drives compatible for this upgrade? Do I have the wrong drive of do I need to format the drive?
xubuntu2 8 months ago
@xubuntu2 Yes, the drive needs to be formatted in order to install OS X, or alternatively, you can transfer the data from your old drive to the new as noted at 0:50 in the video.
OWCmacsales 8 months ago
How would I know if I have all the necessary parts? I recently bought an old mini, sans a few parts (basically everything removable/re-sellable on ebay, sigh) as a first build project for myself.
I was all set to plop in my old iBook drive but It doesn't look like it will seat properly.
I'm wondering if I need a particular module for the drive and a mini? Should there be one in my device and the original owner just hosed me? Just need to put this drive in and I'll be set.
- cheers.
SpliffyDLicious 10 months ago
@SpliffyDLicious Mac mini models since the Early 2006 models when Apple moved to the Intel chipsets utilize a 2.5" SATA drive. The iBook models all used a 2.5" IDE/ATA drive. They are not interchangeable. While adapters can sometimes be found to convert an IDE connection to a SATA connection, there simply isn't room in the Mac mini's small form factor to allow the usage of such adapters. Your best bet is to purchase a 2.5" SATA hard drive to install in your new Mac mini.
OWCmacsales 10 months ago
Guys, I'm hoping to upgrade my MacMini HDD next week to 750GB which seems the biggest 9.5mm HDD I can source, but would a 12.5mm HDD fit in? I've read comments by XBOX users who managed to shoe horn the physically larger drive in, but would a MacMini take the larger drive thus allowing me to fit a 1TB? Thanks
MYK1200LT 11 months ago
@MYK1200LT The Mac mini is designed to take a drive with a maximum physical thickness of 9.5mm. We do not recommend exceeding this requirement as damage can occur to the drive, the machine or both.
OWCmacsales 11 months ago