hard drive upgrade mac mini
Looking at buying a Mac Mini Server, wondering if I buy one with a single hard drive will I be able to add one later
Mac mini, OS X Server
Yes. However, it will void the warranty. for how and for parts required:
4 replies
If one decides to take a MAC Mini to an Apple store to have the hard drive upgraded, would THAT void the warranty as well?
Apple stores typically do not to that type of work. You need to get it dones by an APple Authorized Service Provider. To find one:
I was told by the Genius at the local Apple Store they can only replace a hard drive with one of the same speed and size that was installed by the factory. Their reason is the system has not been officially tested with a different drive and therefore Apple cannot warranty either the system or their work.
However, Apple Approved Service Centers, not Apple owned stores, will often perform such upgrades for you. However, when they do that, they assume any warranty or Applecare responsibilities. There is another alternative that would not effect your warranty, which is to add an external hard drive. I just bought a NewerTech MiniStack Max from Other World Computing. It comes with a BluRay Superdrive and an SD card reader, installed a 2TB Toshiba HD and plugged it into a USB 3 port on my Mac mini. It is the same width and depth as the Mac mini but a good bit higher, is virtually silent, and so far everything works exactly as it should. Drives are available up to 4TB.
(FYI, I purchased the enclosure and drive separately because I wanted to control the make and model of the drive in the enclosure and not leave that choice up to soemone else, random chance, or low bidder. Installing the drive in the enclosure took a small phillips screwdriver and seven to ten minutes of my time.)
hard drive upgrade mac mini