Hi
I want to buy a new SSD Drive to my Mac Mini ( the installed drive is dead already)
I thought about this model
what do you recommend ? do you think it will be compatible ?
Mac mini
I would suggest you use the Samsung 840 series or the Vertex 4 series. Look at the comments on Amazon to get some insight on compatibility.
Your early to late 2009 Mac Mini uses a SATA II (3Gb/s) storage controller. New Mac mini have SATA III (6Gbps) controllers. You should verify that any SATA III drive that you purchase will also fall-back to SATA II. Or, you could purchase a SATA II specific drive.
Also, verify that the manufacturer has firmware available that makes the drive Mac OS X compatible. Usually, they want to do the firmware updates via MS Windows, but some also offer an .iso you can burn to external DVD. Boots as a Linux variant and will update the firmware.
for now I am not sure if my Mac mini is 2009 model or mid 2010 I will check this out.
then I would need to know from your expirience which SSD is best for me.
ok, so I've just figured out that I have
Mac mini (Early 2009)
what do you recommend to install?
From the > About This Mac menu, share what is stated for the present OS X version, CPU and installed memory. Further, run the System Information app from /Applications/Utilities. Using the following guide, share the revision of the EFI firmware presently installed. If you have the EFI firmware v1.2 installed, your mini can support 8GB RAM instead of the 4GB Apple ceiling without this firmware release. Here is a link for memory upgrades for this machine.
You still have a SATA II 3Gbps internal storage controller. Regardless of the SSD you choose, you will need a professional video of the (advanced difficulty) installation process for older Mac minis.
The SanDisk SDSSDP-128G-G25 is a SATA III drive that can fall back to SATA I and II. SanDisk provides a version 1.0 Windows-only (.exe) SSD Toolkit firmware update utliity. The last firmware update was Oct. 2012. SanDisk did not appear to offer a bootable Linux .iso firmware update solution for Macs. This is a 9.5 mm thick drive. I would pass on this drive as no provision for Mac installed firmware updates is evident, or even manufacturer stated Mac compatibility.
I installed a 128GB OCZ Vertex 4 SSD into my 2011 Mac mini last summer. Caught a special and got it for $99, though presently $135 and higher if you can find one in stock. Newegg is out right now, but shows 506 **** reviews. This manufacture is committed to Mac and PC firmware support solutions, with copious documentation and recent (Jan/2013) firmware update. The drive is 7mm and has a 5 year warranty. This is what I would recommend because it is in constant use, fast, and flawless. Here is a review.
Whichever drive you choose, you need some assurance it will have Mac firmware update support, and not require a PC only solution. The drive height must be 9.5 mm or less for the Mac mini.
I couldn't ask for a better answer. Thanks a lot VikingOSX !
You are welcome, and thank you.
Just to be sure we are talking about 2.5" size right?
Yeah, looked like an 2.5 inch SSD / HDD to be used which is common in Laptops.
Installing SSD in Mac mini (mid 2009)
