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Author Topic: Mac Mini refurb  (Read 4231 times)

sevenlayermuddle

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Mac Mini refurb
« on: April 23, 2015, 10:19:53 PM »

I know we are not all Apple fans so apologies, this is not meant to inflame old rivalries...  But this week, it was time to rejuvenate my 2009 Mac Mini, which was struggling a bit with latest OS X and Apps, especially the XCode development IDE.

It originally shipped with 1GB Ram, and a firmware max limit of 4GB.   I had already upgraded it to 4GB, but meanwhile Apple had quietly and generously shipped a firmware upgrade raising the limit to 8GB.   I wanted a bigger disk too, so I could multi boot different versions of OS X.   So armed with 8GB of DDR3, a new 500GB disk, and (for completeness)  a 2032 battery, I dug out my old wallpaper scraper official case opening tool  and gently prised it open.

Inside, I won't compare it with a Swiss watch, but maybe a well designed carriage clock.   Every cubic centimetre has been carefully planned, not just a generic motherboard and off the shelf PSU and fan.  Really quite fun to work on, just be careful to figure out how things come off, and not to tug any wires, as you remove the bits.   The HDD for example has a extra temperature sensor stuck on (with soft and removable glue) that could catch the unwary.

And result?   My six year old system, now running latest OS X Yosemite now perfectly responsive again.  :graduate:

Nice one Apple, for a six year old box :)
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burakkucat

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Re: Mac Mini refurb
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2015, 11:24:33 PM »

A good result for you. :clap:

However, without a shadow of a doubt, Apple would have preferred that you purchased a new system!  ;)
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sevenlayermuddle

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Re: Mac Mini refurb
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2015, 11:30:33 PM »

A good result for you. :clap:

However, without a shadow of a doubt, Apple would have preferred that you purchased a new system!  ;)

I nearly did, til finding to my dismay that current Mac Minis have Ram that is not upgradeable at all apparently, directly soldered to the main board.    :o

Still cute boxes though, I won't promise I'm not tempted eventually.   :blush:
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