Can You Upgrade the 2018 Apple Mac mini?! - RAM Upgrade Tutorial and Teardown

[@snazzy]

Get stoked for this next week of videos! On Monday, I have an "Ultimate MacBook Showdown" in between the 13" MacBook Pro, 13" MacBook Air, and 12" MacBook. Which one is best for you? Find out soon. Then, get excited for Mac mini benchmarking (hackintosh comparison perhaps 😏) and my thoughts on iPad Pro! Thanks for your continued support. You are all hyper SNAZZY!

[@woodroemitchell2848]

yeahhhh, stay snazzy everyone.

[@mintgardener]

could you do a tutorial on how to make a Hackintosh?

[@rcredred88888]

Snazzy Labs hi, have you find coil whine on new Mac mini ssd?

[@patrickmonkman8151]

Hackintoshhhhh

[@andljoy]

I remember when macs where black and white and ordered CPUs from Acron :P

[@jpotter124]

We all forgetting that Snazzy predicted the Pro Display...

[@PasnThrou]

So did every tech guy who looked in that mini's booklet.

[@chowandrew2458]

It’s not the pro display The stand is iMac like and FREE😂

[@jpotter124]

Chow Andrew yo that’s true😂

[@sriramsundar8388]

@@jpotter124 Or is that, the artwork of the upcoming Apple silicon iMac? The display also looks like a 16:10 aspect ratio display.

[@jpotter124]

V. Sriram Sundar i think it could be, they love to hide Easter eggs in the instruction manuals and on the website, but I hope they make the display larger and hopefully without giant bezels

[@realroyale6991]

Me: I wish I had a snazzy labs video to watch Five minutes later this video comes out

[@snazzy]

Ask and ye shall receive!

[@jedwardoo]

Same here.

[@IOwnThisHandle]

What a fucking suck up.

[@TechXtreme1]

@@snazzy Thanks for using Hiberno-English!

[@mrwriter86]

I figured Apple would make it extremely difficult to replace the RAM, given it would be less than half the price to upgrade to the max RAM by doing it yourself compared with upgrading at the Apple online checkout.

[@snazzy]

You'll definitely save money if you plan on upgrading beyond 16GB of RAM. So long as you're willing to open the computer up!

[@mrwriter86]

Snazzy Labs I heard it was about £400-600 saving on the top 🐏 (

[@farhanjamli3676]

I was expecting them to do cuz it's their nature Some fan boy might say it's to cool the ram even to its just 4gb modules only each

[@emilygrae]

It might be difficult for some people, but you'd need to be pretty inept for this upgrade to be referred to as extremely difficult. Pain in the butt, sure, takes less than 60 seconds to change out ram in my 2012 mini, but this looks like it's merely time consuming to anybody that knows how to properly use a screwdriver, and not difficult.

[@mastrorj68]

I've taken Mac minis apart to replace hard drives and RAM this actually does seem a little bit easier until I realized oh there's no hard drive replacement there's no need to go any further so yeah this is not terribly hard but very inconvenient All Things Considered

[@Travel_ID]

1:52 Watching it after WWDC. It does look like an Apple XDR Pro Display 😜

[@prashantmehta2478]

I was going to say the same thing. Also ready to pay 1,000... for a monitor stand!

[@prashantmehta2478]

meliohe Ok fine. How about Minecraft Earth? Seriously it looks great

[@swagchief98]

@@meliohe5080 geez, who pissed in your cereal?

[@brandon_nope]

@@swagchief98 It's already justified

[@janehoyken]

Yeah but the foot looks quite different. More like a standard iMac foot

[@Flandersned08]

Can we take a moment on admiring how beautiful the internal components are? Those grill holes that forms a circle around the Wi-Fi antenna is art. Also that snail shell fan in the middle

[@zollotech]

Well done. I like the amount of detail you share in the video.

[@snazzy]

Thanks, Aaron!

[@decafjava8565]

Oh wow two of my favourite tech reviewers!!!

[@Chilupiano]

This is what happens when you are a Mac and PC guy. You tinker with what isn’t supposed to be tinkered with. Love it!

[@Eian_Anderson]

Who says its not supposed to be tinkered with?

[@bokismokitoki]

Northfold Incorrect. Apple warranty says you can upgrade it and it will still be under warranty unless you break something major on it

[@Eian_Anderson]

Just cause apple said so means i shouldn't?

[@markhaus]

Very little about its construction seems to suggest they want people to do anything but fill landfills with them and buy a new one when you need more RAM or storage.

[@dwarf365]

T2 chip makes sure the RAM is the only thing that you can do with it. Bye bye Linux.

[@casperes0912]

The speaker is for saying "BONG!" on bootup

[@Charlesb88]

Casper S� That’s just what I was going to say. The speaker is for startup sound and alert/system sounds for anyone not hooking up their Mini to external speakers. I have a 1st Gen. PPC Mac Mini 2005 and a 1st gen. Intel-based Mac Mini from 2006, both which have a single mono speaker with awful sound but which was likely include partly so you had a means of hearing the boot up and system alert sounds.

[@sebolio]

but macs don't have an startup sound anymore, do they?

[@Charlesb88]

Sebolio there are still system sounds/alerts you’d need a speaker for even if the current Mac Mini no longer has a startup sound. Besides, I think many buyers of this system would expect at least some sort of built-in speaker even if it’s just a crappy one. All other Macs outside of the Mac Pro have one and PC desktop tower systems generally include external speakers, if one is not built-in. The Mac Mini being a BYODKM system (bring your own display, keyboard, and mouse), it makes sense to have even a crappy speaker built-in with users wanting/needing better sound can bring their own speakers too.

[@maxismusikstudio5268]

Charles Bunnell You Chan bring the Startup Sound back with a command.

[@Heckerschee]

Started watching this channel couple of weeks ago but just realised this is the same channel I used to love to watch AGES ago and then he went to Bolivia and was gone for a while. Amazing that you're still at it Quinn. Keep up the amazing work dude!!

[@LightTheUnicorn]

I think the speaker was originally there so they could chime and sound error beeps at boot. The old PowerMac towers even had one, they sounded equally as bad, but better than nothing I guess! This is nice, shame about non-replaceable storage, but otherwise it's definitely better than the 2014 ones. Great teardown!

[@Errcyco]

Yeah it’s like a cmos battery.. just there for board d level diagnostics.

[@SlafJabuka]

To us tech enthusiasts, a video like this one is like a really good thriller movie 😎.

[@TheSwaroopB]

Emotional and thriller, I'd say! 😁

[@conorallen100]

What kind of cringe is this

[@goku445]

Douchebag.

[@skipad4306]

yeeeee

[@kkmingming]

I would say it's a Victoria Secret's show

[@anchorbait6662]

That's why the ram cage is there. Because the rubber ram "clips" could just fall off... Yesh? Maybe? Anyway, great video as always. Thanks

[@snazzy]

RAM clips aren't rubber. RAM is held in with standard metal clips but covered in rubber which is there for the sole purpose of helping the heatshield/faraday cage/whatever-the-heck-it-is stay in place.

[@anchorbait6662]

@@snazzy haha ahh ok, gotcha. :)

[@ErikWooldridge]

I looks like shielding, but I'm not sure why they'd feel the need to include it.

[@Traclfeen]

DDR4 Ram gets hot like anything else, It more than likely some type of heat Shielding, especially due to part of the heat sync being directly under the RAM

[@evwatch]

Probably aesthetics ? Cause the whole logic board and all the hardware is mainly black and silver ?

[@abaracskai]

My disappointment is that the Mac Mini’s didn’t come with the Intel “Skull Canyon” CPU’s that had Vega GPU’s. The would have been better than the on board GPU and that speaker.

[@wangkevin3431]

I think you meant apus;p

[@OskarBravo]

I was hoping for this too!

[@wangkevin3431]

@@TopolinoPipulino oh thanks for the info. I though they were caused they just seemed like what Intel did back in the day by gluing 2 single cores together and calling it a dual core :p

[@loonieDMighty]

Actually, the Intel CPU AMD GPU combo is codenamed Kabylake G and is used in the "HADES Canyon" NUC.

[@BrawndoQC]

The speaker is probably there for convenience, not as a permanent solution. When setting the thing up. Blind people use Mac as well.

[@DocNo27]

Still have a G4 mini - was an amazing machine for it’s time!

[@justforwatchingthingsonline]

The Mac Mini was the only Mac I'd ever looked at to buy. I got to use one at my old work and I loved it, so I'm really happy about this.

[@LBP2Saperoth]

@snazzy labs you are the only Apple/mac KZbinr I can watch. You have a very good view of what computers should be and know that Apple could do more for there users. keep up the good work!

[@CheapBastard1988]

I can recommend Peter Paul Chato. He's a funny character that really likes MacOS but isn't a blind fanboy and expresses his critcisms (so of course he does hackintoshing). His video's aren't as slick as the ones Snazzy makes but they are unique in their own way and quite entertaining.

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

CheapBastard1988 Sadly some of us have to stay legal and buy Apple hardware whenever we want to run mac-only software

[@awesomeferret]

EverthingApplePro is pretty objective too, especially for an Apple-centered channel.

[@19thHour]

Louis Rossmann liked this video 3000 times.

[@RafaelHEscobar]

Lol! That's the first name that came to my mind when the lad from the video started to disassemble the computer.

[@stopdropandgame9506]

No

[@chasethomas5491]

I have never seen Louis do a video on the Mac Mini.

[@PhonedarshanVideos]

It looked like a very professional tear down. Unplugging of components were shown very clearly. Thank you for your efforts. Could you please also run a read and write speed test of the new SSD in mac mini ?

[@theSUBVERSIVE]

it should be on par with the MacBooks, so pretty fast SSD. Just extremely pricey to upgrade.

[@wizbang68]

Nice teardown video of the Mac Mini! Appreciate the time you took explaining AND demonstrating how you remove the different components to access them.

[@ruralsquirrel5158]

I still have the Mac Mini PPC I bought in 2005. It still runs great. I gave it to my young son as his first computer and to give him his first exposure to Macs.

[@avocademy]

*Please build a hackmini that is cheaper and has better performance.*

[@snazzy]

Coming the first week of December!

[@Malc180s]

It's impossible. The mac mini is a bargain, and all the computer 99% of families will ever need.

[@TixiaoShan]

@@snazzy Looking forward to that!!!!!!!!!

[@gfjfjufidi2880]

Malc180s 99% of families do nothing but Facebook lol. You can do that on a 2012 netbook.

[@CheapBastard1988]

@@gfjfjufidi2880 My 2014 netbook has a touchscreen other than some expensive laptops. It can also read and delete error codes in the ECU of my car.

[@techismycologne]

Apple was legitimately like "Oh yeah guys! You can technically upgrade the RAM again!" but of course...the SSD is soldered on. Way to go apple - way to go.

[@philippdrflr]

Came to hear this. So, basically the last well-priced, upgradable product (SSD) is now unusable as well unless you shove all your money up their a$$es! My old mac mini is the Apple device I still own/use. Had everything (PowerMac G5, MacBook Pro, several iPhones, Mac Mini, iPad) and Apple lost me. Every product has become mediocre to bad (except iPad Pro - so far) and ridiculously overpriced (especially, if you don't use the insulting low-spec base models). I feel betrayed by Tim Cook! It's so clear he only cares for one thing. And it's not the u$er. Can you gue$$?

[@junits15]

yeah I was about to say that, its great that the ram is upgradeable I guess, but its a bit pointless if the SSD is soldered on,

[@pdjames1729]

I can't watch the stage show. Corp-celebration makes me feel like puking. Woooh a fucking box... wow.

[@HCkev]

The motherboard is dead? Good bye, data!

[@JasperJanssen]

Well, yes, of course it is. Non-soldered SSDs are way slower. Even x4 nvme drives - which are pretty expensive - are nowhere near as fast as Apple’s T2 mediated SSDs. If you want to add slow SSD space, just put it on the USB3.1 gen 2/thunderbolt 3 ports.

[@sethalton205]

That metal cage that sits above the RAM acts as a Faraday cage to prevent interference.

[@theretroman3862]

If I may ask the following questions: - How much RAM can you add? 16, 32, 64 GB? - What RAM exactly? Max frequency? Model? Much appreciated.

[@luckywetland]

Snazzy simply predicted the Pro Display

[@rb6725]

The whole point of the Mac Mini was that it was affordable, but not anymore. Another marketing money grab by Apple led by Tim Cook.

[@thedungeondelver]

He's an Auburn alum, what do you expect? RTR

[@CoWinkKeyDinkInc]

I'm not sure if you noticed, but Apple is trying to move the Mac Mini into being another professional platform for people who need more compactness than what can be found on the Mac Pro.

[@HCkev]

@Swift Boiz You can get something like a Gigabyte Brix and pop a M.2 NVMe SSD in.

[@jonc4403]

The first Intel Mac mini base model was $599 in 2006. That's $774.25 with inflation. So the current base model is only $25 more. I'm never happy when Apple pulls a money grab stunt (like the ridiculous price of SSD upgrades for this mini, or the insanity of soldering the SSD when a standard for NVMe sockets exists) but the base price of this mini ain't it.

[@WestForMiles]

It was launched when the average computer user still used desktops. Nowadays that market has gone to smartphones and cheap laptops. The real users of the Mac mini are now mainly the pro market. I bet at least 50% go straight to racks.

[@MichielHaisma]

My 2 cents: I think the being RAM SO-DIMMS is done to make more efficient usage of the available space. The overall internal design doesn't seem to be made _to obstruct_ repairs, it seems to be designed in complete _disregard_ of it. The results for the average Joe are the same, but the intention is different. The cage around the RAM is probably there to shield against certain EM waves.

[@ZeroQuotient]

I'm in almost complete agreement with you on that. However, the only thing that doesn't make sense is why they bothered to put a round access hole, especially because before it was used to facilitate the twist-off design, which is no longer relevant. Plus since its the bottom of the machine, making it a square footprint would make accessibility and assembly so much easier.

[@deepinmind83]

Yes. The high frequency (2666MHz) RAM creates interference EM noise that can interfere with the other computer components. I’m sure it can also receive interference, so hence the grounded Faraday Cage around the RAM cards.

[@monkeymind3067]

But we are not caring this thing around it is gonna sit at desk

[@adamsiekierski3133]

I was waiting for that. But I’m too poor to afford it with eGPU. I can build the same Hackintosh for almost half a price.

[@TheAeyque]

I know I am never gonna buy a Mac but I still watched this video till the end. Your videos are so satisfying. Keep it up, bro!

[@Th3W1zz4RD]

I watch a lot of tear down videos, and you're camera shots/clips/editing are superb! Another sub for you!

[@thesuperstar4470]

Ryan Weber but it’s dark

[@HiFiInsider]

I learned from this video that I should buy the RAM upfront and enjoy my new mini out of the box. lol... Thanks for another great video.

[@CryptoJackk]

Sad but true :(

[@Tron_BR]

Our I can buy a good computer.

[@Zyxlian]

A kit of 32GB DDR4 SoDimm that is faster than the memory Apple offers (3200 MHz vs 2666 MHz), costs about $320. The upgrade that Apple offers is $600 for 32GB. For 64GB, you are able to find kits for about $800 - again, half the cost of their upgrade. I'm not really sure why anyone would want 64GB in a Mac Mini, but if you wanted anything more than 16GB Ram, I would definitely open it up and upgrade it myself. Plus, you can sell the 8GB set that comes with it as "Official Mac Mini RAM", and people on Ebay will eat it up.

[@kael13]

Really not that big of a job to replace it, as long as you have the tools.

[@carlosr5918.]

I love my 2012 mac mini but after upgrading ram and running it 24/7 for 6 years as a media server and my personal desktop, i think its time to upgrade. for me its been a flawless machine.

[@theshadowman1398]

Same here, but I hate the fact that storage is soldered.

[@carlosr5918.]

The Shadow Man thats not really an issue for me. I kept all my media on an external anyway to keep the computer storage light. Best way to go I think

[@runabout76]

Same here! This is the upgrade I've been waiting for. I'll be going with the 6 core i7, leave the RAM at base, because I can upgrade it when I feel it necessary, and I'll bump it to 512GB SSD and keep going with my array of externals that are in use already.

[@taylor6855]

Carlos Ramirez is that 2012 mini still good enough for everyday use such as KZbin? Emails? Some light video editing?(not 4K)

[@carlosr5918.]

@@taylor6855 it is. i watch all my tv shows and movies on it unless im in the living room and i run most of my business dealings off of it as well. I even have over 500 hours of rimworld gameplay using the mac mini solely.

[@thoughtsauce7225]

The attention to detail to the inside of the computer is a pleasant view. Look at the color coordinated parts.

[@ionizerusa]

Worked on those mini units for Capital Computers. People really loved their Mac Minis big time back then.

[@somethingsinlife5600]

The T2 chip is designed to make you completely locked in and dependant on Apple.

[@Slenderman63323]

Not like you could really replace anything in there without some expensive equipment anyway.

[@somethingsinlife5600]

Epsilon It's meant to hold your data at ransom as well. Your data is encrypted whether you like it or not.

[@mikeward1701]

Some Things In Life Not true, the encryption and secure boot can be disabled, infect if you want to install Linux, you have to.

[@somethingsinlife5600]

mikeward1701 I don't think the next gen T2 chips are designed to allow you to do much of anything in the name of "Security". On the old chips it was possible. These new chips will be different. Just wait and see.

[@cunnyman]

The security really is good. They excrypt your data so it's significantly better than just having Facebook, Microsoft and Google spy on you 24/7.

[@DogsBAwesome]

I think the main problem as with this and MacBooks is the soldered storage, sure it makes it more secure but SSD chips have a lifespan and will eventually fail. As you can't change the chips even if you have mad soldering skills (due to the t2 chip) the mac mini like MacBooks is now a limited life disposable item. I'm not sure if Apple even uses overprovisioning.

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

brian whittle Also, you have to securely destroy the entire motherboard according to your used storage opsec procedures. Don't want the recycling guys or the genius bar reading your online banking security codes when you hand in the machine for a broken USB socket issue. With a removable SSD you can swap it out when handing the machine in for service or recycling.

[@DogsBAwesome]

@@johnfrancisdoe1563 The annoying thing is the Mac mini clearly has room for an m.2 ssd instead of the soldered storage. It's just a cash grab by apple like using propriety SSD's in the iMac.

[@zeus1117]

That is their strategy to keep the customers buying new products every 1-2 years !!

[@JasperJanssen]

brian whittle m2 SSDs are slow as molasses compared to the T2 drives.

[@TalesOfWar]

By the time the chips in these things die the machine will be practically useless in terms of the rest of its specs any way, plus you can always boot from an external drive. It's pretty trivial with Macs, especially ones with Thunderbolt.

[@BobMcCoy]

*Apple puts Apple Cores in their Computers*

[@farhanjamli3676]

_Bob McCoy “Think Different”

[@terrry9709]

honestly probably would be better than intel sleeping

[@Dave102693]

A-series Apple Cortex chipsets?

[@JoeyLindsay]

Then apple will prevent hackintosh by using proprietary CPUs...

[@Mr.Quinlan888]

Thanks for showing the teardown. I was planning to rip it apart myself and after watching your vid, I'm much more confident that I can with no issues.

[@kaillerasrv]

Jeez, the most awesome disassembly shot in premium quality, and without any shitty talk to it, all just perfect!!!!

[@fergusyoung6782]

Wanna know a joke... ...upgrading a mac

[@SketchTurnerZero]

I really affraid that in the future more products will be like Apple. I mean, look, we have less and less products that we can upgrade, that we own. Even soft. Its goes to clouds, and we dont own it. We SUBSCRIBE to that soft. Creepy "1984" world.

[@dannnnnny]

Wanna hear another joke? Ok read the next line out loud JOKE Haha I’m so funny! 😏

[@waverazor]

Mac products are generally a joke

[@linhuaien]

go search mac pro 2009~2012 and you’ll know it’s not a joke

[@leecason9468]

@le Hoarderz Al-Shekelsteins who buys a surface? They're some of the worst windows laptops ironically. Dell XPS is easy to upgrade ram, wifi card, change battery, upgrade NvME drive, etc. Or build a PC and it's completely upgradeable. No windows fans talk up the surface but reviewers. Don't pull that shit here, no one claims that.

[@markusfuller]

A beautiful looking circuit board but when the SSD dies it cannot be replaced. could that be classed as planned obsolescence ?.

[@jojodroid31]

@Sally Smith Totally depends on the SSD and on the usage. SSDs won't break from shock, but from too much written cycles.

[@SilvaDreams]

Apple is ALL about the planned obsolescence. Even back in the 90's when they soldered everything in the iMacs ....... Of course if you had a friend who knows how to use a soldering iron on boards, then upgrading it was't an issue. Luckily my friend had me to do upgrades instead of shelling out 400$ or more for more ram or hard drive space (or a new graphics card)

[@HuntersMoon78]

Yep that's CrApple for you.

[@TalesOfWar]

By the time the SSD dies on this (unless its a defective part) the rest of the machine will be completely useless anyway. SSD's last MUCH longer than spinning drives. You can also boot from external drives if you want to. Hell, you can boot from an SD card if you wanted to with a Mac. It'll be slow as dicks but it's trivial to do it.

[@sparky191]

@@TalesOfWar An external isn't going to be pretty. Its just dumb decision from a consumer pointn of view.

[@dav3yb]

they could have easily put an m.2 where that flash storage is... and 800 for 128gb on the base model is a complete joke.

[@tdrewman]

They don't want you upgrading, because everyone will buy the base model and go buy a cheap 1TB for $139 or a cheap 2TB for $329. Mac charges $300 more to go from 128 to 256..

[@drewcarr7286]

I really don't understand how you people have never heard of the T2 chip before. Jesus christ.

[@somhrsh]

Bruh there's t2 for that and that proprietary storage is through pcie lane that means it's as fast as m.2

[@aidanjt]

@@somhrsh But nowhere near as serviceable as an M.2 slot. Also, if your computer dies, M.2 means data can be recovered. It's actually amazing that a company can hate their user's data so much.

[@tdrewman]

@@aidanjt They want you to use the cloud.. The one that was hacked and took them months to tell the public.

[@billx4266]

I still have this thing, put 32 gig ram in it from the beginning and its still doing its job very good, im using it now....

[@posenyang9549]

Thank you so much for this video.!The cost of upgrading the RAM was insane. Glad I can replace it way cheaper.

[@tomboard]

Just upgraded my 2018 Mac Mini (i7 chip) to 32Gb, very happy. BUT a watchout when buying memory upgrade kits from Crucial Memory. Their website lists two sets of kits for the 2018 Mac Mini: one set of upgrades promise 2667 SODIMM (ie speed) the other 3200 SODIMM (and we all know faster is better!). The faster cards have a big red ** NEW ** label on them, and are 25% more expensive. So I bought one. I installed it and it works, but the Mac tells me my speed is 2667. I call Crucial sales support, who tell me that it is technically "compatible" with the Mac Mini but that not all motherboards support the higher speed. And they suggested I should know if my motherboard will support this card, despite it being listed as suitable for the 2018 Mac Mini as "Guaranteed" to work. They said they can't check every motherboard of every product. So I have a higher spec RAM kit that my 2018 Mac Mini can't take advantage of, and I've paid 25% more for the privelege. Thanks Crucial. So beware: Crucial listings for your computer do not mean that the product performance specs will be achieved on your computer.

[@JohnSmith-yl9en]

Thanks for caring to pass on the info.

[@Nanakuri]

I honestly really liked my second gen mac mini. Upgraded the CPU in it and packed it with as much ram as it could take. Sadly, it's no longer with us, especially after my mishap with liquid metal. (>.>) That original CPU that I pulled out is still in my desk drawer.

[@snazzy]

rip O.G. Mac mini. I loved mine. It was my first dedicated editing computer I upgraded to for my KZbin videos back in 2009!

[@bamdadkhan]

yay apple left the ram upgradable. but the storage is soldered to the board. : ( this is ridiculous.

[@tf2koalafruit]

just get external harddrive, they’re only 80 bucks on amazon

[@bamdadkhan]

@@tf2koalafruit you're missing my point. i'm talking about serviceability not upgradability.

[@tf2koalafruit]

oh... well then yeah. Apple just wants to suck up everyone’s money

[@miloraddjurdjic1695]

@@tf2koalafruit no external harddrive can match the speed of m.2 ssd (not sata)

[@tf2koalafruit]

yeah i understood it later on.

[@sphinxgames7787]

Never been a fan of apple, but no matter your stance on their products, you can't deny the unparalelled build quality. It truly is incredible how well built this thing is.

[@itstristansnyder]

The speaker is helpful for people who use Voiceover. This is the first Mac Mini that did not require a monitor to be hooked up to keep VO from freaking out. The speaker is great if all you need to use it for is the screen reader.

[@JE-zl6uy]

If I may, that metal Cage around the RAM is likely a heat sheild. The RAM sits directly on top of the CPU, so that metal helps to absorb and dissipate some of the radiant heat away from the RAM.

[@snazzy]

This seems the most likely explanation I've guessed so far. I'd hazard a guess you're probably right.

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

Snazzy Labs Still looks more like an EMI shield to me. Remember those RAM signals are probably the fastest off-chip signals in the entire machine, frequency is so high there are official limits on how far from the CPU pins the sockets can be, measured along the wires, just to keep the travel delays at light speed low enough.

[@JE-zl6uy]

@@johnfrancisdoe1563 thats... not how RAM works... XD

[@rif42]

@Jordan Eilbert; no. The cage does not touch the RAM chips so they cannot dissipate RAM waste heat to the cage.

[@era7928]

@@rif42 It is a heat "shield". Not a heat spreader.

[@MrMoxes]

"Any Apple fans remember when the Mac Mini was first introduced"? ...Pepperidge Farm remembers LoL. I do remember Quin, it was certain a different time. :-) BTW, love the Omega!

[@cornspring5842]

Good teardown. I give double like

[@FocusFilmsCo]

You have the best Mac teardowns hands down

[@hiker64]

FYI: As of April, 2024 - This 2018 model with 3ghz 6 cores , 8GB Ram, and 256gb SSD runs used for around $250

[@JetVeam]

It's so weird they made the RAM upgrade hard even though they advertised the SO-DIMMs in the keynote.

[@snazzy]

That's good 'ol Apple!

[@messitupmike8061]

JetVeam I think they also made a certain comment that folks that were a certain extent of computer savvy would be able to do this themselves, the level is just higher then we all expected. Doable for sure, but most users won’t want to. The $200 upgrade isn’t so bad considering the ram itself is around $150 and the amount of work it would be to replace, not to mention buying the screw drivers if you don’t have it. Probably most worth it for folks looking to go 32 gigs and higher.

[@sergeyrozenblat7849]

You don't even need a special tool to pry board out. It's nowhere hard. Think about how to make thermals work better first, because thermals have to work 100% of the time. And think about RAM upgrade last because it's only 10 minutes once or twice in this computer lifetime.

[@JohnChan]

@@sergeyrozenblat7849 This. Long term structural integrity and performance is much more important than a casual modification.

[@DEMENTO01]

But can you upgrade the ram without fearing that the t2 chip would block your computer?

[@infernaldaedra]

@Sally Smith Name one example if shady merchants that do this? There are none. By shady merchants you mean repair shops and refurbishers.

[@infernaldaedra]

My life would have been better if I never read that comment. Every sentence could be disregard as false. Processor companies have intellectual property that they will defend. Swapping a logic board is not done to be malicious. Let's say you have 2 laptops one has a cracked screen, dead battery or other issues. Let's say you have another perfectly good machine with just a bad MB you take the perfectly good board replace the bad one now instead of having to useless machines you have one perfectly good one. Also the "shadyness" described is a power management issue that is typically caused by low battery voltage hence why the issue went away when the MacBook is plugged in. If only there was a way to fix that without it being malicious and making it a counterfeit? If only there was something you could do besides throwing away a MacBook Pro that. Is perfectly fine except for the battery, one of the lowest cost parts in the machine. Or paying apple an exorbitant fee to install a battery. Also to this date their is no reason you should not be able to replace touch ID, or Camera sensors in a iPhone. the facial recognition and Touch images are stored in a chip on the logic board not in those components. Also regarding Intel in the 386 and 486 days the companies Cyrix and AMD both had liscences to produce X86 instruction based processors. They had a legal liscence to those designs and Marketed their processors and Compatible or Equivalent. Intel has an equally abismal track record of consumer friendliness when they fought hard to maintain full control of the market.

[@DarthAwar]

Yes the T2 basically guards the integrated CPU & GPU (Which it has a limited number of approved parts that it will allow not too dissimilar to Mac OS but each T2 is encoded for each device it goes into!) and any external connected device which it will scan for threats and drivers!

[@DarthAwar]

The RAM is not T2 protected just make sure when you buy RAM it says it works in MAC or at the very least uses the same connection type!

[@monkeymind3067]

Tim Cook : That is a good idea, people should buy ram from apple not third party

[@oscarmuffin4322]

*Buys anything from Apple* "So, we're going to check out the user serviceability." "This is excellent, I only need 5 different proprietary security screwdriver bits costing $25 each to remove the cover."

[@soundguydon]

I bought an iFixit set years ago and it's served me well for many electronics 'projects' -- and those sets aren't very expensive really. But I get what you're saying ;-)

[@CarlosSanchez-en6mr]

Lol, their like $1 online from china

[@kaanosphere]

@@CarlosSanchez-en6mr they are

[@harshnemesis]

@@soundguydon Or you know how about just using normal fucking screws that a user can buy a tool for in a hardware store, rather than having to order it from china and wait 3 weeks...

[@8654ZuluFoxtrot]

I think it's 1 special one and 2 regular ones that come in any iFixit kit. It took me all of 15 mins to upgrade my RAM......pretty easy stuff.

[@fleonard4]

lol, you questioned why there's a speaker so many times. Glad Apple put one in. They're very necessary for boot chimes and diagnostic tones.

[@niueanninja]

Dude. This is the first video of yours that I've watched - you make tear down look SO easy! Amazingly simple .SUBSCRIBED.

[@gearbang8580]

Great, so when the SSD eventually wears out, you will have to buy a whole new motherboard to replace it, by which time you will only be able to find used ones with similarly worn embedded SSDs....

[@devotee]

^- THIS That is the sole reason I wouldn't buy this Mac Mini. I don't understand why people don't get that when the soldered SSD dies (and it will die, don't fool yourselves), there's no way you're going to fix it. Well, at least Apple takes care to make it 100% recyclable... If they had used a replaceable SSD, I'd have seriously considered replacing my Late 2012 Mac Mini (it's fully upgraded with custom memory and two internal SSD drives). Now I'm considering building a Hackintosh with more power and for a fraction of the base model price (800€ here in UE), so I'm eagerly waiting for that video Snazzy promises of a Hackmini build! Maybe Apple will get it right next time. Who knows?

[@kael13]

@@devotee The modern SSD chips will last at least 10 years with normal use, easily.

[@TheMasterOfSafari]

Kael who are you kidding with that nonsense? Go check out any SSD.. ANY.. and tell me if you find one that lasts over 5 years for a CONSUMER one..

[@snazzy]

​@@TheMasterOfSafari To be fair, Apple's SSDs are incredible and I've never had one fail on me-even with heavy write/re-writes for video editing. I've been using their SSDs since 2011 across many computers.

[@musguelha14]

It wont wear out. Even the 128GB one can probably do 70TBW for endurance. Even if you wrote 5GB every single day, that's over 35 years of endurance. If you double the capacity, the endurance doubles as well.

[@nomadben]

1:28 - Just gonna take a LITTLE GUESS here before I watch the rest of the video: Practically not at all? Edit: Bingo! Fucking soldered-on SSD, that's ridiculous in a desktop machine. They easily could've fit an M.2 drive in there. I can't believe they even offer a 128GB option either, it seems that 256GB is the new "minimum" for PCs. However, absolutely excellent video man! Great camera work, editing, and narration. It was enjoyable to watch.

[@QuickQuips]

No kidding. I can't believe a m2 ssd or even msata would be impossible to fit. And getting an external drive defeats the whole point of this compact device. Meanwhile I got a 8300 Elite and a cheap 256 Intel SSD for a hackintosh.

[@Darieee]

All well and good but ... that soldered on ssd ... nnnnope ...

[@RomboutVersluijs]

PS you did make stunning shots of this machine... Holy smokes all the soft panning and proper pro light setup! Great work Mister

[@conspiracyoftruth6770]

Yes it is currently done to intimidate lower end technical users like me! Because I remember removing the bottom circular mount and taking out the RAM right away and replacing everything in about 15 minutes max.

[@allansh828]

The whole purpose of the RAM shield seems to be making it harder to replace RAM.

[@uss_04]

Allan Sh Looks to be RF shielding, that WiFi module seems to be really close.

[@1stfloorguy59]

@@uss_04 my lap top ram is pretty close to.

[@Phoenix_of_Sun]

Yeah sure is tough to unscrew those 4 tiny screws and slide the thing off.

[@IanGacek]

It's definitely to hold those rubber retention clips in, especially during shipping and moving the unit around.

[@allansh828]

PhoenixofSun maybe you don’t need to pull out the logic board if the shield isn’t there?

[@gej36138]

Anyone here after M1 Mac Mini?

[@lalitsharma3137]

I'm here right before the M4 Mac Mini🎉😊

[@bertrahm3104]

Im actually still using the last 2014 version

[@UserMum7512]

How’s it holding up?

[@makuikui]

2009 here... early 2009

[@n74jw]

Yes. I can remember when they were introduced. I still have it and it still runs.

[@ruriaisingioro1698]

A sophisticated introduction! I give my subscription without hesitation!

[@LeBeautiful]

Ima just download more RAM, tyvm. /s

[@prestonferry]

2:37 he’s a DJ!

[@visheshl]

This is absolutely aweful, they took this amazing computer design and completely fucked it up just because they don't want users to upgrade stuff on their own... Not done, the old mini used to be so much better, just pop the lid open and the ram is right there, just remove and replace the sticks and close the lid... Done... It was a well made computer... This... Is horrible

[@goku445]

capitalism at its best

[@TalesOfWar]

People who upgrade their machines are in the absolute minority of users. The most the vast majority will do is add more storage and with 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports on this thing you can easily do so with extremely fast external storage. Very few will ever upgrade the RAM.

[@visheshl]

@@TalesOfWar what are you smoking, most mac mini customers want a machine which can be easily upgraded, mac mini customers are not the same people as imac or macbook customers, mac minis are used in a lot of different environments like music studios, video editing suites, server rooms etc.... Stop fanboying you dont know what you're talking about.

[@jacobsmithone]

@@TalesOfWar Even if not many people upgrade the RAM, there is still no need to try and prevent the people who do want to upgrade the RAM from doing so.

[@aidanjt]

@@jacobsmithone There's a need for Apple: $$$$$ The number of units they're shipping has dropped off, they're giving users every incentive they can think of to keep forking stupid money over to them, or at least in their own minds they are.

[@michaelwright1602]

I just bought a NIB 2018 Mac Mini i3 3.6 ghz for $549 from OWC, 16GB memory and 128GB SSD... Free shipping! I have an external HD, so not worried, but there are upgrades available for both memory and the SSD... Get them while they last if you are looking for one.

[@AlwaysBolttheBird]

When the first Mac Mini came out it blew my mind out of my skull. It really was such a cool small computer. I have the 2018 one because I work on apps and need to push to devices and I like it but it’s just lost something. I’m very glad that with some work I can upgrade the RAM at least

[@iphonepunker]

From my days of working with Apple as a technician, I kinda figured out why they went soldered over socketed. you would not believe the amount of Mac Mini's and Macbook Pro's that would come in with broken or worn RAM slots ( RAM Beeping or not detecting one stick) the Mac Mini was the most frequent because it was the easiest to change the RAM. Basically long story short there is a lot of people out there who watch KZbin tutorials and think they are experts but instead would break the retention clips by mistake or if the machine was coming up to a 4 or more years-old the RAM retention slots would become brittle and small bits of plastic would fall away from the RAM slots causing them to fail and no longer seat the RAM fully. I believe Apple removed these Slots because it removes a perishable part on an expensive Logic-board, don't get me wrong money was also a factor but from experience, I doubt it was the only factor. Also, trust me this Mac Mini is going to have RAM issues in the future when that rubber retention starts to lose its elasticity and/or fusses itself to the Metal grate, the constant drastic heating and cooling of these components in such a small place causes a lot of this perishing and this is not just an Apple issue this can be a factor on all small factor computers.

[@Straightforward-iPhone-Tips]

I have a 2010 Mac Mini with 16GB RAM. Easiest RAM upgrade I have ever done. No small bits of plastic, no failing RAM slots, this is literally the first I am hearing of this and I have been repairing small form factor computers and smart phones for 5 years now. If you break it, that is due to unnecessary force. Forcing any computer components in wrong will obviously break the connectors.

[@Drummer52895]

Quinn I know that power cable bit at 8:44 is a reverse clip of you putting it in. I'm on to you 👀

[@mikka1986]

8:42 I was wondering like how did you do that magic sticky finger connector removal, ok it's reversed.

[@tdcattech]

It's like Big Clive has gone all fancy. Some lovely camera work here.

[@Jam-cv8he]

That was a pretty satisfying *snap* at 3:10 in my opinion.

[@sbragaglia]

Looking forward to a video of yours about building a HackMini, possibly retaining the same form factor... possible? 🤔

[@retrox684]

Stefano Bragaglia no. At least not with decedent power

[@QuickQuips]

There are sfx builds but honestly an Intel Nuc does most of this already. With the short versions you get the form factor yet you get upgradable m2 ssd and easy to upgrade ram. And I think it has Thunderbolt.

[@adnans3127]

I think the speaker is for errors, it may beep a certain times for different errors which involve hardware

[@LoganDark4357]

Nope, Macs don't do that. Macs either display a useless icon on the screen or shut off.

[@gillsgills]

Actually this is accurate, it's useful to have system sounds (like alert beeps, file drop sounds, etc.) output separately from monitor-grade speakers, eg. when doing audio production & recording, metering, etc.

[@LoganDark4357]

Exactly!

[@jcistudios6183]

In the old Mac mini it was used for the startup sound.

[@RyanMichaelButton]

1:38 Turns out yes it was the new Apple Pro Display.

[@akewl]

Ryan Button well well well look who predicted the future eh?

[@DaveWestMedia]

Good grief, check out those views. Thanks for making such interesting videos Quinn - always informative but fun too 👍 Keep up the good work dude 👊

[@ImMisterEric]

I do remember the unveiling of the Mac Mini and bought it shortly after. Have had much fun with those machines over the years. My 'main' desktop is still a Mini, the last updated version before this year. I look forward to checking out the newest Mini. It's no surprise that Apple makes it more and more difficult to repair our own machines, its the nature of the beast really. I've been working on their equipment (and everyone else's) since the 80s and at least appreciate no sharp metal edges! lol :)

[@Wren6991]

11 minutes into teardown: "and the DIMMs just come out, super easy!"

[@MarshallNemesis]

Nice Apple Pro XDR Display Predict :3

[@lancelotxavier9084]

Soldered on SSD. Deal killer. Usually the first thing to go bad. Cant be fixed or upgraded.

[@TalesOfWar]

I've been using SSD's for over a decade and have never had one fail on me. Ever. Now, if it were a spinning disk then I'd agree, but it isn't. Modern SSD's and especially the ones used by Apple are extremely reliable. By the time it goes bad (unless faulty) the machine would be useless anyway.

[@backupplan6058]

TalesOfWar, and what happens if your motherboard fails, is that data lost forever rather that just putting it straight into another machine.

[@shortdom107]

Never had one go bad

[@backupplan6058]

Dominick Ray so that means none go bad ever. Don’t worry everyone, Apple never goes wrong, Dominick has told us it’s all perfectly fine. Better tell those at the “Genius” bar they are no longer required.

[@backupplan6058]

Sally Smith, why does it have to be mission critical. Many have personal data, family photos or videos that never get any form of backup because ether, they don’t want to pay for the cloud storage, don’t know how, just can’t be bothered or don’t attach the external drive to run backup (I say attach as why go and get a small form factor mini only then to leave an external drive out). The vast percentage of the population have no form of backup, while people like you and me do as we are very computer literate, the majority are not. To insult those that don’t is childish. In the past 2 years I have updated 7 Macs from early OS versions such as Lion for customers to High Sierra. Only one used cloud storage and one used Time machine but had not run it for 2 years.

[@mrtacoguy4863]

Do a video of the inside of the new Mac mini

[@dillons6721]

Kudos to you on this video, very in depth, hell, you make a better customer support than all of apple! thanks for this big time!!

[@icarus3229]

It's still upgradeable you just need to pry it open take out 500 different screws each with different heads take out the motherboard bend out the the flimsy plastic ram holder shit and put it back together and it just take 60 months to do. EZ

[@Kekeripo]

I still don't get why no other company can't do what apple does for certain products. For instance: This iMac mini has an integrated PSU, but other big names like zotac still use those awefull large external laptop bricks. or the itrashcan pro: lot's of power, internal PSU, awesome thermals and super quiet. The closest to that was the awefull hot and loud MSI Vortex...

[@snazzy]

Custom boards. The entire Mac mini is smaller than a mini-ITX board. Because Apple fabs everything, they can jam everything into a non-standard size as tightly as possible. Apple also typically underclocks many of their CPUs when under load so that's another thing. You win some, you lose some.

[@Slenderman63323]

They can do it because they price their products at a steep premium.

[@pkroliko1]

More components inside means more heat. Some people value performance over looks.

[@alaeriia01]

Form follows function. I'll take an EVGA 1000W PSU and plop it into a Corsair 750D case. Add a proper NVMe drive for booting, two mechanical HDDs for storage, a Threadripper 2950X, a GTX 1080ti (price drop!) and 32-64GB of DDR4 (budget permitting) for that quad-channel goodness.

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

Alex Snitzer But that's like 3 to 5 U for a single machine. Fine for an upright midi tower station I guess though.

[@dannywong2720]

I remember my first computer, THE MAC MINI!!!!

[@thedungeondelver]

What are you, eight years old?

[@dannywong2720]

I am 22

[@katsukino]

The Mac Mini is still one of my favorite pieces of hardware ever!

[@xidropkillzx3246]

I immediately noticed that snazzy iMac display in the manual artwork. I had to get a slim bezeless monitor for mine

[@bonrind]

to be fair I dont think they design it to purposely discourage people, they just dont consider people doing it when they design it.

[@1stfloorguy59]

Why there are shit tones of reviews and articles about the exact thing.

[@olli2591]

They even explicitly mentioned the RAM being SO-DIMMs and that many users like the Mac mini for that reason, implying that it's as easily user-upgradable as anyone is used to, so they did clearly consider it. And now it turns out it's not, just another shitty move in the era of Tim Cook. They did consider it

[@bonrind]

@@olli2591 they obviously considered it enough to make it possible for server users. But its not really influencing the design greatly.

[@achintyabhavaraju]

HE PREDICTED THE APPLE PRO XDR DISPLAY! 1:40

[@ajhare2]

It was the old Thunderbolt display they discontinued in 2016 lol

[@abcmole]

So if the SSD fails you have to replace the motherboard and CPU. Bad engineering, bad design.

[@dtkywtan]

Good for Apple to make greedy profits from future repairs or selling replacement products by wasting otherwise reusable parts.

[@cliff8675]

I'm guessing there is some way it could be done. The real questions are, where is the video showing the steps? Aaaaannnd do you trust yourself with a soldering iron?

[@theshadowman1398]

Clifford J. Summers Sr. Yeah not going to happen no matter how good you are with the soldering iron. That shitty soldered SSD is linked to the T2 chip.

[@rossgoosen7269]

I see your point, but it isn’t “bad engineering” - It’s a method to increase profits.

[@Roughrideyy45]

Ross Goosen to be honest that’s a pretty sketchy profit technique

[@michaeltraxler3379]

Your video was very helpful in a decision that RAM can be upgraded in these Mac Mini's.. thank you

[@compl1cated780]

Why is this video so oddly satisfying?