Mac Mini Mid 2011

Released on July 21, 2011. Core i5 or Core i7 Processor. Thunderbolt.

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Mac Mini Mid 2011 Teardown

Teardown

Teardowns provide a look inside a device and should not be used as disassembly instructions.

We find ourselves in possession of a brand new Mac Mini with promise of "2x faster everything" and the new Thunderbolt I/O. Naturally, we had to take a look inside, just like we did with the new MacBook Air earlier today.

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Edit Step 1 — Mac Mini Mid 2011 Teardown ¶

We received some big promises with the introduction of this new Mac Mini. The most exciting included:
- Core i5 & i7 Processors
- 500 & 750 GB HDD or 250 GB SSD
- 2GB or 4GB DDR3 SDRAM
- AMD Radeon HD graphics processor with 256MB of GDDR5 memory (2.5 GHz models only)
- Thunderbolt and HDMI ports
- SDXC card slot
Apple removed the optical drive from this Mini, but would characteristically love to sell you one for an additional $79.

Edit Step 2 ¶

Model Number A1347... This feels a little bit like déjà vu.
The Mini's port layout seems only slightly different from last year's Mini:
- Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet
- FireWire 800
- HDMI
- Thunderbolt
- Four USB 2.0 Ports
- SDXC card slot

Edit Step 3 ¶

After a few finger pushups and a firm twist, we get our first glimpse of the innards.
They look rather identical to the previous model...

Edit Step 4 ¶

The first thing out the hole? The fan.
No surprises here. The new Mini has the same fan as the old Mini, and even the older Mini.
- Sticking with the brushless, high blade density blower, this single fan is quiet and effective.

Edit Step 5 ¶

Four T8 Torx screws hold the Wi-Fi antenna plate in place, an easy victory for iFixit's 54 Piece Bit Driver Kit.
With a little wiggle this-a-way and a little wiggle that-a-way, we remove the antenna plate.
- WOW! Look at that-- the plate is identical to the one from last year. We like to imagine what else you could do with a grill like that.

Edit Step 6 ¶

A couple screws and a connector and the hard drive is out, revealing a whole lot of, well, nothing.
- But wait-- was that an empty hard drive cable port next to it?

Edit Step 7 ¶

The big question with this unibody Mac Mini: "Can I install a second hard drive myself?" The centimeter and a half of extra space seem to imply so.
There is definitely plenty of room for a second hard drive underneath the first. The only deterrent is the availability of a second, longer SATA hard drive-to-logic board cable.
- Update: We include that cable in our Mac Mini Mid 2011 Dual Hard Drive Kit.
Let's get the logic board out so we can get a better look.

Edit Step 8 ¶

The release of the new Mac Mini means the return of our favorite tool: the Mac Mini Logic Board Removal Tool! Luckily, we have come prepared this time.
No longer forced to use two screwdrivers, we insert our Mac Mini Logic Board Removal tool, and it does the trick. The logic board assembly slides right out of the aluminum unibody.
With the logic board removed, we see how a second hard drive could be installed.