Skip to main content

What you need

This teardown is not a repair guide. To repair your Mac mini Mid 2011, use our service manual.

  1. Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown, Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 1, image 1 of 1
    • 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.

  2. Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 2, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 2, image 2 of 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

  3. Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 3, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 3, image 2 of 2
    • 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...

  4. Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 4, image 1 of 3 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 4, image 2 of 3 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 4, image 3 of 3
    • 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.

  5. Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 5, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 5, image 2 of 2
    • 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.

  6. Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 6, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 6, image 2 of 2
    • 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?

  7. Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 7, image 1 of 3 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 7, image 2 of 3 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 7, image 3 of 3
    Tool used on this step:
    iFixit 6 Inch Metal Ruler
    $1.99
    Buy
    • 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.

  8. Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 8, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 8, image 2 of 2
    Tool used on this step:
    Mac mini Logic Board Removal Tool
    $4.99
    Buy
    • 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.

  9. Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 9, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 9, image 2 of 2
    • Two T6 Torx screws hold the speaker in its place on the logic board.

    • With the speaker removed, this Mac mini can no longer bump fat bass beep at you.

  10. Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 10, image 1 of 3 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 10, image 2 of 3 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 10, image 3 of 3
    Tool used on this step:
    Spudger
    $3.99
    Buy
    • Our trusty spudger makes quick work of the Wi-Fi board's cables.

    • More T6 screws hinder our path, but we will not be deterred.

    • 802.11n connectivity is possible thanks to a Broadcom BCM4331 "single-chip wireless solution."

    • The Broadcom BCM20702 Single-Chip Bluetooth 4.0 Processor with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) support is identical to the chip found in the 13" MacBook Air we just took apart.

  11. Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 11, image 1 of 3 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 11, image 2 of 3 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 11, image 3 of 3
    • Just like in the previous Mac mini, the heat sink is held in place by a bunch of spring-loaded T8 screws.

    • Some of the screws were a little different, though. We found T6 screws that were screwed into the top of T8 screws. A screw within a screw . . .

  12. Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 12, image 1 of 3 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 12, image 2 of 3 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 12, image 3 of 3
    • After de-routing a couple cables and unscrewing a few #00 Phillips screws, we were able to remove two antennas and the I/O wall from the logic board.

    • The antennas are attached to the plastic I/O wall since wireless signals don't transmit well through metal.

    • Ah ha, we meet again L-block.

  13. Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 13, image 1 of 1
    • Main ICs on the underside of the logic board:

    • Intel BD82HM65 Platform Controller Hub

    • Intel V116A068 2.3 GHz Dual-Core i5

    • Intersil ISL6364 Dual PWM Controller

    • Parade PS8171 HDMI/DVI Level Shifter

    • SMSC USB2513B USB 2.0 Hub Controller

    • DELTA 8904C-F Filter

    • SMSC 1428-7 System Management Bus temperature sensor

  14. Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 14, image 1 of 1
    • Big players on the top side of the logic board include:

    • Intel L116IA35 Thunderbolt port controller IC, similar to that found on the Early 2011 21.5" iMac

    • Broadcom BCM57765 gigabit ethernet and memory card controller

    • Texas Instruments XIO2211 FireWire Controller

    • Cirrus Logic 4206B Audio Controller

  15. Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 15, image 1 of 3 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 15, image 2 of 3 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 15, image 3 of 3
    • One T6 screw holds the power supply in place.

    • After removing a small metal bracket and twisting the AC power-in port, the power supply slides right out through the mini's empty front.

    • Look familiar to you, too? Good, then it's not just us.

  16. Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 16, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 16, image 2 of 2
    • One more T6 screw and we can pull the IR sensor/receiver from the optical drive-- what? No optical drive? To make room for the additional hard drive option, Apple has removed the optical drive from this year's mini and replaced it with some good old-fashioned emptiness.

    • The IR sensor stares straight into the depths of our souls. Sorry buddy, you won't find your lost optical drive here.

  17. Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 17, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Mid 2011 Teardown: step 17, image 2 of 2
    • Mac mini Mid 2011 Repairability: 8 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair).

    • No proprietary screws are found within the device.

    • You can easily upgrade your RAM and hard drive, as well as add a secondary drive.

    • There's no glue anywhere inside that needs to be removed while disassembling the mini.

    • The CPU is soldered to the logic board and not user-upgradeable.

    • While not difficult to do, you still have to remove almost all the internals in order to replace the power supply.

Jake Devincenzi

Member since: 04/18/11

117,207 Reputation

57 Guides authored

33 Comments

What is the empty socket located about an inch above the CPU and GPU on the motherboard (same side as the SATA sockets)?

Edge - Reply

Maybe it has something to do with the Radeon 6630m model? I ordered the Core i7/6630m model, I'll check when I get it and report anything different I see.

Francois -

The same socket exists on the 6630M version (I put an SSD in my i5/2.5/500 prior to this take apart.)

Edge -

What sort of cable is recommended for adding a second drive? I would like to buy a bare bones man mini, install a second ssd drive, and then install Lion on the ssd drive and use that as the boot drive.

rmiller67 - Reply

As we say in Step 7, you'll need an Apple proprietary SATA cable. Maybe someone will get their hands on a server version of the new Mac Mini and reverse engineer both of the cables so that they can start manufacturing ones that will fit perfectly.

David Hodson -

Add Comment

View Statistics:

Past 24 Hours: 16

Past 7 Days: 94

Past 30 Days: 474

All Time: 765,186