Teardown of the Mac mini: Apple installs two memory chips again

The new Mac mini with M4 apparently has two 128 GB memory chips again in its basic model with 256 GB memory and therefore a faster SSD overall. A buyer in Hong Kong already partially disassembled the new device on the first day of sale. Theoretically, the device could even be upgraded by the user, he posted on the social network X.

However, the video of the teardown shows that disassembling the much smaller Mac mini is still anything but child's play. Anyone venturing to the SSD first has to painstakingly open the device from below and carefully remove a number of components in the process. When dismantling the small desktop Mac, you can also see that the WLAN chip and antenna are located on the back of the lower air intake. The SSD, meanwhile, is located on its own small circuit board.

Base models upgraded again

In the predecessor model of the Mac mini with M2, Apple still relied on a single 256 GB memory chip. As a result, the read and write speeds of the basic model were worse than those of the models with more memory. Critics saw this as an attempt by Apple to motivate customers to buy more expensive upgrades. After all, Apple's memory prices are comparatively high and DIY installation is difficult or impossible. According to experts, however, the lower speeds were not noticeable at all in the everyday lives of many users. Those with higher demands on speed would usually buy devices with more memory anyway, they replied.

The situation was similar to the Mac mini M2 at times with the basic models of the MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M2 chip. Apple only installed one memory chip there too. While the 13-inch MacBook Pro was discontinued with the introduction of the M3, the MacBook Air now also has two memory chips again. The new 14-inch MacBook Pro base model no longer has an option with only 256 GB SSD.

(mki)