is the ssd drive on my Mac Mini late 2014 replaceable?

The Mac mini 2014 has the potential to support two types of drives.

1. A standard 2.5" SATA drive (which could be a SATA hard drive or SSD)
2. A PCI SSD. This uses the proprietary Apple connector not the standard M2 connector, it is the same type as used in the iMac and MacBook Pro circa 2015

As others have mentioned if your Mac mini only came with a SATA drive or only came with a PCI SSD drive it will only have the brackets and cables for that type of drive, if it came as a Fusion drive it will have both connections.

I have personally bought a Mac mini 2014 which only had a SATA hard drive and then bought separately as parts the bracket and cable and a genuine Apple SSD to convert it to a Fusion drive.

In theory it might be possible to buy and use an adapter card to convert from Apple's proprietary connector to a standard M2 connector such as this - http://eshop.sintech.cn/ngff-m2-pcie-ssd-card-as-2013-2014-2015-macbook-ssd-p-1139.html

It is likely such an adapter might leave the SSD only partially secured but as the Mac mini is not going to be moved and shaken (hopefully) this should not be a problem.

Won’t work, unfortunately. Ask the service center if they’ll swap existing with Apple-branded 1 TB. It’ll cost $$$ but there’s no other way. And avoid online how-tos/tear-downs etc. These guys have nothing to lose and don’t cover all the bases, especially the important ones (warranty, performance, software etc.).

Only the HDD and Fusion models come with a SATA cable and the hardware for standard shaped 2.5" drive.

The PCIe SSD models, do not come a SATA cable or the hardware to install a standard shaped 2.5" drive.

see > https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac+mini+Late+2014+Hard+Drive+Cable+Replacement/32816

You're welcome!

FWIW a 2.5" SSD is much slower than a PCIe. However, it would be OK to put that 2.5" SSD into a decent USB 3.0 enclosure and use it to house the media that is cramping up your 256GB PCIe.

John Beauchamp wrote:

Hey so I just got a Mac Mini Late 2014 2.8ghz with a 256gb Apple SSD.

I bought a terabyte SSD hoping to get it replaced, but i got the form of ssd which is square, aka the traditional size/form.

Apparently, the Mac Mini Late 2014 I have only has a chip-version SSD, and the service center told me my drive is not compatible.

But... the service center did not do a complete teardown of the mini, as all the online tutorials show me. They just opened the case, saw the Apple brand chip style SSD there, and told me my square-sized ssd drive is not compatible.

I guess my question is, even if my mini has the Apple SSD chip-style on top of it, is there still the space for the square-style ssd drive if i do the complete teardown? thank you

You can easily replace the PCI-E drive:

https://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/mac-mini-2014-pcie_ssd/

OWC in a very Mac-centric supplier and have a variety of very good

PCI-E Drives:

https://eshop.macsales.com/upgrades/mac-mini-late-2014-2.6-ghz/internal-drives

John B: Read the disclaimer at the bottom of the video before proceeding. They take zero responsibility if it doesn’t work, worse the computer itself is bricked. Best to pay the extra $ and have Apple do it.

It won’t work and may brick your computer. Avoid.