Can Mac mini (2018) use wired accessories with disconnected Airport antenna?
Can the 2018 Mac mini still be used with wired accessories while the Airport antenna is disconnected?
Mac mini, macOS 26.1
The Apple Support Community will permanently close on November 20, 2026. Starting today, the site will no longer accept new posts and is available in a read-only state.
You can continue to find trusted guidance and support on the official Apple Support site.
We want to thank the community members who have contributed their time and expertise to help others with their Apple products.
The Apple Support Community will permanently close on November 20, 2026. Starting today, the site will no longer accept new posts and is available in a read-only state.
You can continue to find trusted guidance and support on the official Apple Support site.
We want to thank the community members who have contributed their time and expertise to help others with their Apple products.
Can the 2018 Mac mini still be used with wired accessories while the Airport antenna is disconnected?
Mac mini, macOS 26.1
The Wireless card supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices.
The USB ports will still work for USB devices and the Ethernet port will still work for a wired network connection.
The Wireless card supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices.
The USB ports will still work for USB devices and the Ethernet port will still work for a wired network connection.
Thank you kindly sir....! You would not believe how hard it was for me to get just a straight forward and exact answer like the one that you just gave me! Thanks again and you rock brother, I really appreciate your help! When I came across the disconnected wire logic told me that if I am not using any wireless features or functions, then I should still be able to run my brand new Mac mini that I have had sitting in the box Apple shipped it in! Thanks again and I can't wait to get this thing rolling now!! Well what happened was, I bought it with 4GBs of RAM and bought 16GBs from Crucial and I was absolutely furious with what Tim Cook did to ruin the whole idea that Jobs had in mind, to build the Macs so that you could work on them and upgrade and update the RAM, Storage, Video Card, etc.! Because I have had a couple minis in the past and what a beautiful thing it was to do a half turn on the bottom cover of the mini, place the cover off to the side and the RAM is basically staring you right in the face...! It used to take me longer to open up the package that the RAM shipped in! And when I saw what they did to the inside of my new mini made me not be able to stand Cook and his fat head..! And they didn't just make it a little inconvenient... They basically made it pretty much impossible unless you have the right tools and the patience to deal with taking ALL the little screws out and then having to try and jockey around with the RAM cage while that stupid metal chassis flops around on you when you're trying to hold 5 items with one hand and your knee just so you can get the next handful of screws out of the RAM cage, which by the way was absolutely pointless and I know they did that nonsense on purpose because not one of my other minis came even close to being so impossible to upgrade! They rearranged the entire guts of the mini which was completely unnecessary and was only done to spite all of us longtime Mac users!! It was done because Cook wanted everyone to pay for the overpriced Apple RAM..! Anyway... thank you again for your help and I appreciate your time!
-Ace
You're welcome.
Over the years I upgraded more than a dozen 2010, 2011 & 2012 Mac mini's with SSDs & RAM for friends and family.
Told friends & family, not to buy a 2014 Mac mini because the RAM was not upgradable.
Upgraded the RAM in a few of the more difficult 2018 Mac mini's.
We use a 2012 Mac mini with dual 1T PNY 2.5" SSD's and 16GB of RAM as a media server.
Our 2018 Mac mini has been running 20GB of RAM for over 6 years.
1 OWC 16GB module and 1 Stock Apple 4GB module.
FWIW iMac's and Mac mini's were never built to be user upgradeable.
Sadly these days, only build-your-own PC towers are upgradable.
Enthuziast wrote:
I was absolutely furious with what Tim Cook did to ruin the whole idea that Jobs had in mind, to build the Macs so that you could work on them and upgrade and update the RAM, Storage, Video Card, etc.!
That was not the idea that Steve Jobs had in mind. His vision for the first Mac was a that of a sealed appliance. The 128K Mac had an external hatch allowing easy access to the clock battery – and that was it. There were no internal RAM slots, no internal expansion slots, no internal drives other than a 3.5" 400K floppy drive.
Well obviously I am uninformed about stuff like that and you definitely seem to know a lot more about computers than I probably ever will...! I just remember seeing a documentary on Jobs and Apple and thought that I remembered him talking about how he wasn't looking to create a computer that you would have to trade in or get rid of in order to stay up to date with everything and said something about how he liked the idea of the consumer being able to upgrade and make tweaks to their own computers instead of having to buy another new computer every year or however often they design something new..!? I watched this program so long ago that I really can't be overly certain about anything from that long ago..!
Anyway, I am DEFINITELY letting you go now! Lol Thanks once more for your help and have a great night and rest of your weekend..! ✌🏼
You're welcome.
Sadly the market trend for Mac's and PC's, is to just replace the computer every few years.
Can Mac mini (2018) use wired accessories with disconnected Airport antenna?