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Best SSD for Mac Mini late 2012?

So lately, I've been thinking about installing a SSD as the primary boot drive into my Mac Mini. I want to keep the original HD for storage but after installing an SSD into my Windows machine, I'm finding that my Mac is...lacking.


I've been doing some research into the process and for the most part, it doesn't seem too difficult with installing an SSD as a 2nd drive into the Mac Mini (thanks to the thousands of YouTube videos on how to do it). The part I am stuck on is WHICH SSD to install?


From what I've been able to figure out, any SSD will do but I might run into a problem with TRIM? I understand that this can play a big part in which SSD I get for my Mac Mini. So my question is this...what SSD's have others installed into their Mac Minis?


Personally, I'm looking at the Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III as that is the same one that I have installed in my Windows machine and I am in LOVE with it. Will this SSD work and do I have to worry about TRIM with this?

My Mac's specs:
Mac mini (Late 2012)

Processor: 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5

Memory: 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

OS X Yosemite 10.10.1

Mac mini, OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Nov 19, 2014 6:16 PM

Reply
24 replies

Apr 29, 2017 5:26 PM in response to Cleareye1

The Samsung, Crucial and OWC SSDs will work fine assuming you have a 2012 model which supports SATA3. If you have a 2014 Mini, it also comes with PCIe SSDs, so buy accordingly. Sierra does not radically change the requirements. If you need TRIM support on third-party SSDs, look for the command trimforce , if the SSD supports it.


sudo trimforce help

Password:

Usage: trimforce enable

trimforce disable

trimforce help

Nov 20, 2014 4:26 AM in response to jedimasterkyle88

I have a late 2012 Mini. I put in an OCZ Vertex4 512GB SSD and it ran great. Then I changed it to a Samsung EVO 840 500GB SSD. That also ran great. There was nothing wrong with the Vertex I just changed it to see if any difference. The Samsung runs a little faster per benchmarks but could not see the difference in real use. With Yosemite using any aftermarket trim app like Trim Enabler is risky (see their site) so I have no trim. I do not expect any issues in the life of my Mini using these newer SSD's.

Nov 20, 2014 11:05 AM in response to jedimasterkyle88

The Apple Service provider I used to work for recommend 2 without reservations: the two Ralph Landry mentioned above and if the user defers the decision to the tech they'll get a Crucial. My first aftermarket SSD was a Samsung because NewEgg had an incredible sale on them and I was happy. When Amazon ran a sale this summer I picked up another Samsung which has also been a good performer. I also have two from OWC.


The one thing I paid close attention to when I bought my first one was firmware updating. Many vendors are Windows centric at least in the past you needed Windows to install the firmware update. I know more vendors are supporting Macs for firmware updates but when I last looked I found a couple that still required a PC.

Nov 20, 2014 6:28 PM in response to jedimasterkyle88

I think I'm going to go with the Samsung 840 EVO SSD. I know I already have one installed in my windows machine but reading the reviews on Amazon convince me so much more to go with that. I have yet to read a bad review about it.


Now as far as formatting the SSD and re-installing Yosemite, what would be the best practice? I was thinking about just cloning the HDD information to the SSD so that it is a true copy and none of my data is lost, and then just format the HDD as a blank storage drive. My 2nd option would be to make a full time-machine backup of the HDD, install the SDD and then restore the backup onto the SSD.


Also, I am still confused on whether or not I should enable TRIM. I've read to enable TRIM but I've also read to NOT enable TRIM. I'm just confused at this point as far as why I should or should not enable TRIM.


Thoughts??

Nov 21, 2014 11:02 AM in response to jedimasterkyle88

I have used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone my original to my SSD externally and then installed. I have also made a TM backup and then used that to restore to the SSD after I installed internally. As for Trim Enabler you can use it following the supplier Web site but be very careful because if your forget to turn off when updating the OS in the future your Mac will crash on start up. I recommend not to use. The Samsung SSD Garbage Collection program will be good enough.

Nov 24, 2014 5:28 AM in response to jedimasterkyle88

jedimasterkyle88 wrote:


Now as far as formatting the SSD and re-installing Yosemite, what would be the best practice? I was thinking about just cloning the HDD information to the SSD so that it is a true copy and none of my data is lost, and then just format the HDD as a blank storage drive. My 2nd option would be to make a full time-machine backup of the HDD, install the SDD and then restore the backup onto the SSD.


Also, I am still confused on whether or not I should enable TRIM. I've read to enable TRIM but I've also read to NOT enable TRIM. I'm just confused at this point as far as why I should or should not enable TRIM.

I use Disk Utility's Restore function since it block copies both the OS/Apps/Data AND the Recovery HD. You would restart (Command+R) into your Recovery HD on your HDD, select Disk Utility, format your SSD, make your Source the Macintosh HD and the Destination the SSD. When the Restore completes you will have two Macintosh HDs (HDD and SSD). Carbon Copy Cloner works well as does SuperDuper! for cloning the OS/Apps/Data.


As tbirdvet mentioned, I wouldn't mess with TRIM and Yosemite. Let the built-in Garbage Collection handle things. I have 2 MMs each with an SSD (OWC and Crucial) and neither have TRIM enabled. The SSD stays clean.

Feb 11, 2015 7:08 PM in response to keg55

keg55, I have to format a new Samsung SSD and reinstall Yosemite. Would I need to somehow save OS from my original HDD to some external source before installing the new SSD (i will use OWCs data doubler to install both the SSD and original HDD), or can I just do all this once i've installed the SSD?

Feb 12, 2015 1:38 AM in response to houlem

Best is to clone the old OD to the new SSD if SSD is large enough in capacity while the SSD is in an external enclosure or dock. That way you can test the SSD by booting to it when it the external enclosure.

To clone:

http://nyacomputing.com/how-to-create-a-bootable-clone-of-your-mac-hard-drive/

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5044728?answerId=22041478022#22041478022

The take apart the Mini and install the SSD. It is recommended that in a 2102 Mini the SSD be in the lower bay (one nearest the bottom access cover) since some usrs have experienced problems with an SSD booting when installed in the upper bay.

Best SSD for Mac Mini late 2012?

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