Upgrading Mac Mini 7,1 late 2014 2.6Ghz internal SSD or Internal M.2 card?

karlreed wrote:

Thanks for that.. Very helpful.

However, can you tell me..

If I put an M.2 PCIE in an mSATA connector, so that It can replace the existing rotating HD, wil that work, AND will it be faster than just putting an SSD in? I am considering using https://www.scorptec.com.au/product/Hard-Drives-&-SSDs/Enclosures/76572-SA1021.

This connects to a standard SATA port so you will only get a maximum of 500MB/s regardless of how fast the SSD is. There is no need to use this adapter if you have a hard drive already installed. Just install a standard 2.5" SATA SSD which is commonly available.

2. If I add a PCIE (of course, the OWC version) AND leave the existing rotating HD in place, will I get the same performance as if I replaced the rotating HD with an SSD?

The OWC Aura SSD is an NVMe SSD which is at least 2x to 3x faster (maybe more) than a standard SATA SSD. If you have a 2014 Mini, then OWC sells the cable which is needed to connect to the Logic Board. See the OWC website for installation details of the Aura SSD. OWC has installation videos showing exactly how to install their SSD.

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/mac-mini/2014

https://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/mac-mini-2014/?filter=ssd

Before deciding to retain the old hard drive you may want to check its health. You may find the hard drive is failing or nearing its end of life. Run DriveDx and post the report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper. Typically if you see any "Failures" or "Warnings" listed in the DriveDx report it means the drive is failing or worn out respectively.

Be careful which SSDs you purchase since many of them on the market are low end budget economy models that may be no faster than a hard drive. If you want a reasonably priced 2.5" SATA SSD that balances price and performance consider the Crucial MX500 series. Avoid the Crucial BX500 series as it is a low end model that can be extremely slow.

Apple uses a proprietary PCIe SSD connector so your best option is to get the PCIe SSD from OWC who provides proper support for Macs. While you can use a regular standard M.2 SSD with an adapter the SSD vendor will most likely not support the SSD when used with a Mac.

The OWC Aura SSD is an NVMe SSD using Apple's proprietary SSD connector. I believe OWC also includes the necessary PCIe SSD Cable adapter as well if the Mini did not original ship with a PCIe SSD.

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/mac-mini

Before you can use a third party PCIe SSD in a Mac you must first make sure that macOS 10.13+ has been installed on the computer at some point before physically installing a third party PCIe SSD so the Mac has the proper system firmware to recognize a third party SSD. You will also be restricted to only using macOS 10.13+ since older versions of macOS don't include an NVMe driver to work with a third party PCIe SSD. Without the proper system firmware or NVMe driver macOS will not see the third party PCIe SSD at all.

I highly recommend keeping the original Apple PCIe SSD just in case it is ever needed for a later macOS upgrade or system firmware update.