Networking is supported with 10100 ethernet and 56k v. According to everything i read, the mid2011 mini is sata3. Mac mini 2018 and later mac mini late 2014 more mac compatibility less mac. Replacing a macs 500gb or 1tb hard drive with a samesized ssd required at least. Reviewed july 26, 2011 by lisa gade, editor in chief twitter. However for the secondary drive, it will not allow me to mount, erase, first aid or restore the drive. Tier 1 nand flash storage for sata 3 6g apple mac computers. I unfortunately purchased a macbook pro inch, 2017, two thunderbolt 3 ports121gb storage. The highend standard late 2012 model the mac mini core i7 2. Owc mount pro ssd bundle for mac pro 20092012, 250gb 2. Mac pro 8 core mac pro early 2008 mac pro early 2009 mac pro late 20 mac pro mid 2010 mac pro mid 2012 mac pro server mid 2010 mac pro server mid 2012 macbook.
Add a solid state drive ssd to your macbook pro for a huge increase in performance and capacity. Owc ssds turn the 2011 mac mini into a powerhouse macrumors. How to give your 2012 or 2014 mac mini a performance boost by. Mac mini mid 2011 crucial us dram, solid state drive. The mac minis polycarbonate plastic exterior encases a hard drive, dualcore i5 or i7 processor, intel iris graphics, and several input ports. Starting with mavericks, the mini would eventually bog down after a number of days.
My first assumption was that the hdd was failing until. Protect your files from the elements with this gdrive mobile solidstate drive. How to install a second drive in a 20112012 mac mini with owcs data doubler. The computer features multiple ports and connectivity options, including wifi, bluetooth, ethernet, firewire, hdmi, an sdxc memory card slot, two thunderbolt ports, and four usb 3. Apple can supply the unit with up to 2tb of solid state drive. Its 500gb of storage space lets you travel with essential documents, and its 560mbsec.
Ask different is a question and answer site for power users of apple hardware and software. Works great to add a secondary drive to a mac mini. These upgrades are guaranteed compatible when you order from. How to install a second drive in a 20112012 mac mini with owcs. Owcs stepbystep video of how to install a hard drive in the apple mac mini 2011 with model id. Discover the world of external hard drives for mac. Sata ssds are compatible with almost all models of desktop or laptops, even older systems. Its starting to get sluggish i have 480gb free on a 1tb drive 3.
Can someone please guide me through what external solid state drive i should get for my mid2011 27inch imac. Mac compatible solidstate ssd drive recommendations. Very fast, impossibly thin, strong metal build, comes with mac os x lion. Sata is a standard internal connection interface for connecting a hard drive to the rest of the computer system. In short, sata just wasnt made for solid state drives. High performance line of ssds excellent for everyday use, and up to 89x faster than your original drive. The speed boost an ssd provides over a hard drive is certainly worth the. The move to a pcie solid state drive ssd for storage doesnt just make the mac mini faster. Mac mini mid 2011 hard drivessd installation video youtube. How to add a fast new ssd to your old mac or macbook for.
However, the ssd itself, while much faster than the stock drive, is still. Hey guys, i want to install an ssd into my mac mini. Fusion is really composed of two hard drives in the mac mini, a traditional 1tb 5,400rpm mechanical hard drive, and a 128gb flashmemorybased solidstate drive ssd, but. Store raw camera footage on this portable 1tb g drive solid state drive. The mac mini doesnt use a hard drive, or even a fusion drive. If youre quick, and you really want a mac mini with an optical drive, you might still find one on apples refurbished products site if youre willing to forgo a thunderbolt port and the discrete graphics performance. Unable to use secondary drive solid state drive mac. While the 2010 mac mini limits you to firewire 800 or usb 2.
Regular mid2010 aluminum unibody mac mini models, which have optical drives, support a single 2. Apple mac mini intel core i3 8gb memory 128gb solidstate. This gdrive mobile solidstate drive is resistant to water and dust, making it suitable to take outdoors. Differences between mid2011 and late 2012 mac mini models. The 2018 mac mini includes four thunderbolt 3 ports, which are relatively rare on. Lacie mobile drive 5tb external hard drive usbc usb 3. How to upgrade aluminum mac mini hard drives or ssds. One is to use a readily available drive trayadapter to convert an off the shelf sata ssd to 3. Ssd only ssd with upgrade kit 120gb owc mercury electra 6gbs 2. The 2011 mac mini has a second sata socket on its logic board and plenty of room to install a second 2. Rocket yard blog diy install videos join our affiliate network covid19 response. The aluminum mac pro towers offer two solidstate drive upgrade options. This g drive solid state drive is resistant to water and dust, which makes it ideal for travel. Ssds are the key to truly fast daytoday navigation of an operating system.
I want to keep the 500gb it came with and install an ssd externally. All aluminum mac mini models can be precisely identified by the model. Late 2014 was the first mac mini to support apples blade solid state. The system contains a builtin speaker and an analog. Thunderbolt 3 and usb typec are the latest innovations in the external storage market, but before we get to them, we need to address a. What type of hard drives or ssds do they each support. Owc mercury extreme 6g ssds work with the new 2011 mac mini and. The tools worked to take everything apart and get access to the bracket to install my ssd in the upper position. Compare portable, usb and external hard drive models for office and home and shop online. Despite its small size, the mac mini is capable of supporting several processorintensive programs. Use an external ssd to make an old mac feel new without cracking. In my case it was a mac mini late 2012 model, with the original drive being in the lower position ie. The best external hard drives for mac in 2020 pcmag.
It is much more powerful, and as a result, it is no longer all that cheap. For example, one thunderbolt 3 port could provide video data to a 4k display along with a drive, or even be used with multiple drives. If you configure your imac with both the solidstate drive and a serial ata hard drive, it will come preformatted with mac os x and all your applications on the solidstate drive. Mac mini late 2014 late 2014 was the first mac mini to support apples blade solid state drives, but its extremely limited internal space required a. Instead, apple uses solidstate drives ssds to provide fast performance. By installing a second drive you can greatly expand your storage capabilities or even install a solid state drive for lightning fast boot times. How to add a fast new ssd to your old mac or macbook for only. Mac mini server mid 2011 late 2012 hard drivessd installation. There seems to be so much conflicting articles on what ssd works and what doesnt. Another option is the use of a pcie ssd card in one of the slots which can typicially support either 1 or 2 2. The ultimate guide to apples proprietary solid state drives. Wrapping up we found the mid2011 mac mini, at least in 2. I want to reinstall osx mavericks as well as my current mavericks install is becoming very sluggish.
Best performing mac compatible ssd drive upgrades for apple macbook, imac and mac mini computers in 2020. Apple now offers a solidstate drive ssd option on all imacs except for the 2. All these ports are kept at the back of the mac mini for a minimalist. The new apple mac mini mid2011 features the intel sandy bridge dualcore i5 and i7, plus a super fast quadcore i7. Crucial memory and ssd upgrades 100% compatibility guaranteed for apple mac mini mid 2011 free us delivery. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or instore pickup.
How to upgrade aluminum mac mini hard drives or ssds everymac. Drive thats on the top when the mini is turned upside down to open it. Assuming the ports are pointed towards you, on the bottom left is a single. Optical to sata drive converter bracket solution add up to 2. The best thunderbolt 3 ssd and hard drives for your. Solid state drives come in a variety of internal and external form factors. Switching to an ssd could give a mac mini a new lease of life, but at the. Shop apple mac mini intel core i3 8gb memory 128gb solidstate drive space gray at best buy. The next two paragraphs are from the profile of the previous version of the macbook pro. Configuretoorder options include up to 8 gbs of memory, a faster 7200 rpm hard drive and a 256gb solid state drive.
Mac mini mid 2011 mac mini server late 2012 mac mini server mid 2010 mac mini server mid 2011 mac mini late 2018 mac pro. All three models offer an optional fusion drive or solidstate drive that you can choose as part of your personal configuration choices. However, users should be mindful of overheating if the mac mini does not have enough airflow. Previously two hard drives but secondary drive was swapped with a ssd. The company says that the ssds are four times faster than. Adaptors are also available for vga, svideo, and composite video.