Mac mini box

Our base model Mac Mini (A1347) cost $699 (US) and came with a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, 2GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, 8x double-layer SuperDrive, NVIDIA GeForce 320M GPU, and Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

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Mac mini in box

Lifting the top off the Mac mini box, we get our fist look at the A1347’s aluminum unibody enclosure.

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Mac mini cords, documentation, and system disc

Under the Mac mini, you’ll find the rest of the box contents.

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Mac mini box contents

Included with the Mac mini is the power cord, HDMI to DVI adapter, documentation, and OS disc.

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Mac mini - Top

The new Mac mini is significantly thinner than previous versions, and continues the line’s minimalist design. The front of the computer has only the power/activity light and disc slot.

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Mac mini - Bottom

The bottom of the Mac mini is dominated by a large, circular access plate. This plate can be removed without tools and gives the user easy access to the machine’s RAM chips.

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Mac mini - Ports

Along the back of the Mac mini, are the power button, AC power input, 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet port, Firewire 800?port, HDMI out, Mini DisplayPort four USB 2.0 ports, SD card slot, audio line in minijack, and audio line out/headphone minijack.

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Mac mini - Access plate (locked position)

The Mac mini’s access plate can be easily removed by rotating it from the locked position (shown here) to the unlocked position (indicated by the open circle on the aluminum enclosure).

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Mac mini - Access plate (unlocked position)

You unlock the Mac mini’s access plate by turning it so that the white dot on the plate aligns with the hollow black circle on the aluminum enclosure.

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Removing the Mac mini's access plate

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Mac mini access plate - Front

The Mac mini’s access plate not only allows you to open the machine’s case, but serves as a non-slip surface on which to rest the computer.

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Mac mini access plate - Back

A thin metal shield is attached to the back of the Mac mini’s access plate.

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Mac min with access plate removed

With the access plate removed, we get our fist look inside the Mac mini (A1347). The RAM chips, cooling fan, and Wi-Fi antenna are clearly visible.

The access plate is a huge improvement over previous Mac mini designs as it allows users to upgrade the machine’s RAM without having to “crack open” the case.

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Removing the access plate catch screws

To begin disassembling the Mac mini, I removed the three T8 Torx screws that serve as posts for the catches on the access plate. Two of these screws also hold the Wi-Fi antenna in place.

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Removing the Mac mini Wi-Fi antenna plate screws

There are two more T8 Torx screws holding the Wi-Fi antenna plate in place.

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Removing the Mac mini RAM chips

The Mac Mini has two memory slots. Our base model came with 2GB (two 1GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM. The two slots can support up to 8GB (two 4GB SO-DIMMs).

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Mac mini 2GB RAM

Two Samsung 1GB 1Rx8 SO-DIMMs

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Mac mini RAM chips removed

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Removing the Mac mini Wi-Fi antenna plate

With the ram remove, you can let the Wi-Fi antenna plate away from the case.

Note: There is a wire connecting the antenna to the AirPort/Bluetooth board. You’ll need to disconnect this wire before removing the plate.

Also, you may want to remove the cooling fan and black plastic cowling (which I do later), before removing the antenna plate. You can slide the plate past these two components, but it’s a tight fit.

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Mac mini with RAM chips removed

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Mac mini Wi-Fi antenna plate - Top

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Mac mini Wi-Fi antenna plate - Bottom

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Mac mini with Wi-Fi antenna plate remove

With the Wi-Fi antenna plate removed, we can see the 320GB Serial ATA hard drive (glad in black plastic).

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Removing the Mac mini cooling fan

There are two T6 Torx screws that secure the Mac mini’s cooling fan to the logic board.

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Lifting out the Mac mini cooling fan

With the screws removed, you can gently lift the cooling fan away from the Mac mini’s unibody enclosure. Before removing it completely, you’ll need to disconnect the wire that connects the fan to the main logic board.

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Mac mini cooling fan - Top

The cooling fan is a welcome addition to the redesigned Mac mini A1347.

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Mac mini cooling fan - Bottom

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Mac mini with cooling fan removed

With the fan removed, we get our first good look at Mac mini’s main logic board.

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Mac mini heat sink cowling

With the cooling fan removed, a single T6 Torx screw holds the cowling to the heat sink.

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Removing the Mac mini heat sink cowling

You may have to wiggle the cowling to pull it free from the unibody enclosure.

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Mac mini with heat sink cowling removed

With the cowling removed, you can see the heat sink beneath.

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Removing Mac mini logic board screws and standoffs

There are several screws and standoffs that hold the main logic board and hard drive in place. Before proceeding, I removed all of these. Just make sure you note where each screw/standoff goes and some are not interchangeable.

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Removing a standoff on the Mac mini logic board

One of the standoffs attached to the Mac Mini’s main logic board.

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Mac mini heat sink screw

This screw holds the Mac mini’s heat sink in place.

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Second Mac mini heat sink screw

A second screws on the Mac mini’s heat sink.

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Mac mini hard drive screw

This screw holds the Mac mini’s hard drive in place.

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Mac mini main logic board connectors

There are a series of connectors on the Mac mini’s main logic board for the optical drive, hard disk, thermal sensor, and IR senor. You will need to gently disconnect all these cables before removing the logic board from the Mac mini’s unibody enclosure.

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Mac mini hard drive and optical drive connectors

The large connectors belong to the hard drive and optical drive.

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Mac mini drive thermal sensors and IR sensor connectors

To the right of the drive connectors are two thermal sensor connectors (one for each drive) and the IR sensor connector.

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Mac mini logic board remove holes

To remove the Mac mini’s logic board, you’ll need to insert two thin, cylindrical rods into these two holes and gently pry the board and attached components out the back of the unibody enclosure.

Warning: Using any other holes to pry loose the main logic board, could damage the board.

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Use screwdrivers to pry loose the Mac mini logic board

Two small screwdrivers work well when prying loose the Mac mini’s main logic board.

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Mac mini main logic board separated from unibody enclosure

Once the main logic board as moved just past the end of the enclosure, you can remove the screwdrivers.

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Removing the Mac mini hard drive

With the main logic board shifted, we can remove the hard drive from the Mac mini.

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Mac mini 320GB hard drive

Our base model Mac mini came with a 320GB Toshiba HDD2H77 hard drive.

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Mac mini with hard drive removed

With the hard drive removed, we can the optical drive below.

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Disconnecting the Mac Mini logic board power connector

Before removing the main logic board, I disconnected the connector to the power supply. With the cable disconnected you can pull the logic board free from the unibody enclosure.

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Mac mini main logic board with heat sink, speaker, and wireless card

The heat sink, speaker and wireless card are still attached to the top of the Mac mini’s main logic board.

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Mac mini main logic board - Ports

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Mac mini heat sink (attached)

The Mac mini’s heat sink is mounted over the Intel CPU and NVIDIA GPU, and curves around to the back of the logic board where the cooling fan can move air across it.

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Mac mini internal speaker and wireless card

The Mac mini’s internal speaker and AirPort Extreme card are mounted on this small protrusion on the main logic board.

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Mac mini logic board - Bottom

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Mac mini logic board system battery

Our Mac mini came with a Panasonic 3V BR2032 system battery.

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Mac mini logic board - Back closeup

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Mac mini speaker

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Mac mini Airport Extreme card - Top

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Mac mini Airport Extreme card - Bottom

The Mac Mini A1347 has 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1. Broadcom appears to have manufactured this card or supplied most of the chips for it as “Broadcom” is clearly marked on the underside of the card.

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Removing the Mac mini heat sink

At this point, a a couple of spring-loaded T8 Torx screws hold the heat sink to the main logic board.

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Lifting away the Mac mini's heat sink

With all the screws removed, you can lift the heat sink away from the main logic board and the CPU and GPU.

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Mac mini A1347 CPU and GPU

On the right, is the Intel P8600 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo processor. A 2.66GHz CPU is also available.

On the left is the NVIDIA GeForce 320M GPU with 256MB of shared DDR3 SDRAM.

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Mac mini main logic board - Top

With nearly all the internal components removed, we can see the Mac mini’s entire logic board.

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Mac mini heat sink - Top

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Mac mini heat sink - Bottom

On the underside of the Mac mini’s heat sink we find the connector for the thermal sensor, the air channels, and the plates that physically connect the heat sink to the CPU and GPU. A think layer of thermal paste is still on the contact plates.

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Mac min with main logic board removed

The main logic board removed, all the remains within the Mac mini’s unibody enclosure are the optical drive and the power supply.

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Mac mini power supply - Top

Apple opted for an internal power supply with the Mac mini A1347. this design eliminates the need for an external power block common on laptops and game consoles.

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Mac mini power supply - Bottom

Information on the Mac mini’s power supply are located on the underside labels. This unit is a Delta Electronics Model ADP-85AF S rated for 85W of total power.

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Mac mini with power supply removed

With the power supply removed, only the optical drive remains.

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Mac mini optical drive - Top

The Mac mini’s optical drive and plastic frame are removed as a single unit. The Mac mini contains a Hitachi-LG Data Storage Super Multi DVD rewriter — Model: GA32N.

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Mac mini optical drive - Bottom

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Mac mini unibody enclosure - Front

With all the internal components removed, there’s not much left inside the Mac mini unibody enclosure.

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Mac mini unibody enclosure

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Mac Mini complete teardown

The Mac mini A1347 was significantly easier to disassemble than previous versions. The addition of the bottom access plate, and standard screws make the A1347 a very serviceable, machine.

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