Mac mini M4 teardown: praise from iFixIt – and the question of upgrading
Now the well-known repair service provider has also taken a look at the new Mac mini – and likes its design. However, repairs are not extremely easy.
Removing the SSD card in the Mac mini M4: Now we just need a replacement – cheap.
(Image: iFixIt)
What the inside of the Mac mini M4 looks like has already been reported several times – in connection with the (laboriously) upgradeable SSD and Apple's early publication of a repair manual. Now an important part of the "Right to Repair" movement has also taken a look inside the shrunken compact Mac: the repair service provider and accessory supplier iFixIt. In its teardown video, the company also gives the new machine a provisional repairability score.
Documentation from Apple very useful
The score is 7 out of a possible 10 points –, which is similar to the iPhone 16 models. Among other things, there was praise for the ease of removing components, the ability to remove the SSD and Apple's detailed repair manual, which left few questions unanswered and even anticipated a teardown.
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This makes it possible to use the Mac mini M4 for "at least a decade". However, there is criticism of the non-upgradeable RAM (due to the Apple Silicon SoC) and the general complexity of the repair, which is likely to be difficult for beginners – therefore no 10 out of 10 points.
Cheaper upgrades from third-party providers hoped for
iFixIt also found that Apple relied on ideas from the HomePod, among other things, when shrinking the Mac mini. For example, the power supply is similarly installed in the upper part of the housing –, which has been reduced in size. The fan technology, which is designed to reach all areas of the machine, also appears to be a clever solution. The Mac mini M4 Pro has a larger copper heatsink.
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The only question that remains is whether external providers will offer affordable SSD upgrades. At the moment, Apple's daughterboard, on which the SSD sits, is required to solder in new NAND modules – This is only for professionals. Suitable modules will soon be available for the Mac Studio. iFixIt also showed that SSDs can be exchanged between devices, for example a 512 GB module was transferred from a Mac mini to one with only 256 GB. However, this requires the machine to be completely restored and put into DFU mode, which is possible with Apple Configurator and IPSW file as well as directly in macOS from Sonoma –. A second Mac is needed to which the Mac mini is connected.
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