Mac mini M4: SSD is upgradeable – with re-soldering
Apple puts its Mac mini SSD on a daughter card. As with the Mac Studio, the built-in NAND modules can be desoldered and replaced – not an easy job.
Removing a NAND module from the Mac mini M4: soldering professionals required.
(Image: Screenshot YouTube / dosdude1)
As part of its repair manual for the Mac mini M4, Apple has confirmed that the SSD in the new compact Mac can be replaced. According to the images, there are two variants of the storage medium, each of which sits on a different sized daughterboard – for the Mac mini M4 and the Mac mini M4 Pro.
However, Apple is only likely to sell customers modules for self-repair via its Self Service Repair Store that were originally installed in the Mac mini M4. At least this is how the company had previously handled the Mac Studio, which is apparently the model for this design. Apple also charges high prices for the replacement SSD.
Tinkering for less money
The well-known hobbyist @dosdude1 showed on YouTube at the weekend that there is another way: In a half-hour video, he demonstrated that it is possible to solder new NAND modules onto Apple's daughter card. However, the job is not recommended for beginners, as there is a lot of soldering work involved. And even experienced makers make mistakes. For example, it initially turned out that the NAND modules purchased from China were defective and smaller ones had to be replaced.
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externes YouTube-Video (Google Ireland Limited) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (Google Ireland Limited) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
One of the problems is that the NAND chips are surrounded by so-called underfill, which must first be removed with heat and a scalpel before desoldering – This requires good manual skills. The NAND chips themselves must be completely empty (blank) in order to be able to integrate them into the system later – The prices in China are significantly lower than what Apple charges. @dosdude1 finally managed to turn the basic Mac mini M4 model with 256 GB into a machine with 1 TByte.
Videos by heise
Will suppliers step into the breach?
It is conceivable that a provider will later be found who will sell the necessary modules separately – There was already a corresponding Kickstarter project for the Mac Studio. This would allow the existing SSD module to be easily replaced, whereby the fan and other components would have to be removed in order to access it.
After re-soldering, the Mac mini M4 must first be switched to DFU mode. This is only possible with another Mac with macOS 15.1 Sequoia. A firmware restore is then carried out via this, although not all of the ports on the compact Mac are suitable for this. As part of the firmware restore, the fresh (empty) NAND modules are then sealed with the M4 SoC so that they can be used for macOS.
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externer Preisvergleich (heise Preisvergleich) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (heise Preisvergleich) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
(bsc)
