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The new Mac Mini teardown Step 22 looks awesome, thank you. I'd like to know if the mac mini can be used with car power. Is it easy to install? As the car battery uses 12 V it should be compatible, don't you think?
Thanks for your answer!
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Actually you don't need to mess with the internal power for the mini--just use one of these either plugged into the lighter socket or hardwired to the 12V auto circuit. Ralph
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That's the ticket! +
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it doesn't matter if the mini has an external power brick or not!
nightrunner is right - the mini uses 12v - that's the important part!
check the power supply unit picture from the teardown: CLICK for a HUGE picture
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with a lot of modding, if you plug the mac mini into the car directly without an inverter, it would save electricity (right?) as inverters aren't 100% efficient
The inverter thing would work, it can deliver 120w and the mini has a 85w psu (what the frog?? - this thing isn't that fast, it has no "special" hardware in it). i think the main problem is the heat. the inverter will get hot, the mini will get hot and in a car - it will get hotter sometimes - the first thing that would die is the hdd. modern apple devices can have serious heat issues - so it would be a good idea to remove the psu and put soemthing useful in there. but that would also make not much sense. i don't need a computer in my car, i even hated my dvd players bright screen at night when listening to music. BUT if i wanted a computer in my car - it would be a DFI LANPARTY MI P55-T36 based system, fast, cheap and able to run osx. i hope that apple starts to produce something innovative in the future, design isn't everything - i like computers with good design and a good usability. there is still no small mac notebook with 3g & gps. still no mini with i5/i7. i'm to old to get bedazzled by designed stuff.
I agree with the heat problems. +
Maybe buy some 120mm fans? or 140mm? if you don't mind the noise?
And I agree with the heat problems as well, imagine those hot summer days where the mac mini is toasting under the (probably) black (or any other dark color) dashboard...
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I remember a macworld article about someone that had installed a mac mini in their dash of their prius. If that can be done, I think this can be done.
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I believe it should work, since the power conserter is inside the mac
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The new Mac Mini does not have an external power brick. The input to the system is straight 110v AC (for those in the US).
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If you look at the picture that markus put up, the PSU supports 100-240 volts.
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This Post was migrated from http://meta.ifixit.com/View/378/new+Mac+....
by Kyle Wiens
+ I have certainly always wanted to install a mini in the dash of my Explorer.
by Kyle Wiens