Replace HDD of Mac Mini 2017

I'm thinking of replacing my late 2011 Mac Mini Server 2GHz i7 with the latest 3Ghz i7 model from 2017.

The latest (currently) Mac mini is a Late 2014 model. You can compare it against the 2011 version (there is no Late 2011 model; however, there was a Mid 2011 mini Server) using Apple Support - Specifications.

I do not have the Mid 2011 mini Server, but do have both a Mid 2011 non-server mini and a Late 2014 mini and I can attest a significant performance improvement with the newer model overall.

My 2014 mini is equipped as follows:

• 3 GHz Intel Core i7 processor
• 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM
• 2 TB Fusion drive

My 2011 mini is equipped as follows:

• 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7 processor
• 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 RAM
• 750 GB (7200 rpm) hard drive

I still use the 2011 mini as a file and media server and it currently is running OS X El Capitan Server.

If it is, I want to replace the HDD with an SSD (Samsung EVO 850).

I was adviced to go for the model with the default 1TB 5400rpm HDD, buy the upgrade to the 3.0Ghz i7 and then replace that HDD with the SSD from my current Mac Mini.

Is that a good advice?

It will really depend on a number of things:

• Do you plan on keeping both Macs?
• If so, do you need them both to perform as servers or just one?
• As a server what do you want it to do? File server, email server, VPN server, media server, etc.?

Yes that SSD should fit as long as your Mac mini has the cabling and therefore an existing Apple PCIe SSD.

No, based on Apple behaviour for older Mac minis if you get an SSD only model it will not come with the SATA cable, however it might be easier to get a SATA cable than the PCIe SSD cable.

As an example the 2011 Mac mini when bought with one hard drive only came with one SATA cable, you could however buy third-party kits which contained a cable and screws to allow you to fit a second hard drive. See https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/DIDIMM11D2/

I have seen nothing to indicate the Mac mini has been changed so yes it is still the 2014 model. It could be the price has been reduced.

Apple do not offer a 2TB SSD option or even a 2TB hard drive option, as you spotted the nearest option is a 2TB Fusion configuration.

In order to have all the required screws, cables and/or brackets so you can have your own SSD and hard drive fitted you do need to buy a Fusion configuration. Third party companies may start selling PCIe SSD upgrade kits for the Mac mini but I have struggled to find one already available.

The PCIe SSD in the Mac mini 2014 is the same as the MacBook Pro 2013/2015 and that means it uses a proprietary Apple connector and not the standard M2 connector. SSD drives with this proprietary connector can now be bought from third-parties, however the biggest I have seen is only 1TB the same as Apple's.

You could get a 2TB SATA III SSD but as I pointed out this is only a third of the speed of a PCIe SSD. If you are happy to only have a 2TB SATA III SSD i.e. the Samsung 850 Evo, then you could get this configuration https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-mini?product=MGEN2LL/A&step=config with just the 1TB hard drive, then replace that hard drive with your 2TB Samsung 850 Evo.

The 2011 Mac mini only has the choice of using SATA III drives and this applies whether you use traditional hard drives or SSD drives.

The 2014 Mac mini i.e. the same one you can buy today has the choice of again a traditional SATA III hard drives but the SSD choice is different. In this case the SSD choice is for a PCIe style SSD drive. The PCIe style SSD can achieve nearly 1500MBps whereas a SATA III SSD can only achieve about 500MBps.

Yes you could move a SATA III SSD from a 2011 Mac mini and fit it in a 2014 Mac mini but it would be no faster since it would remain a SATA III SSD. So you could move your Samsung 850 to the new Mac mini but it would be slower than a new SSD in the new Mac mini. You could consider using it as a second drive so you have both the Samsung SSD and an Apple SSD in the new Mac mini.

The 2014 Mac mini has a single 2.5" SATA III bay, and a single PCIe SSD slot for Apple proprietary style SSD connectors. The Mac mini 2014 Fusion drive configuration consists of a 2.5" SATA III hard drive plus a 128GB PCIe SSD drive and therefore includes all the cables, screws and brackets needed for both.

As you are probably aware the 2011 Mac mini instead has just two 2.5" SATA III bays.

A hard drive only configuration will apparently not have all the screws etc. needed to fit a PCIe SSD as well and vice versa.

See https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/214853/What+type+of+SSD+for+Mac+mini+2014+M. 2

The problem is getting a PCIe SSD cable/mount if your Mac mini has not already got one. As I mentioned I am sure people like OWC MacSales will eventually offer a suitable kit but the safer, easier, quicker option is to get the cheapest Fusion drive configuration. You can then replace the hard drive with your Samsung Evo, and replace the 128GB Apple SSD with a 1TB one as long as it has the same Apple style connector.

I too run Parallels on my 2014 mini. I have VMs for WinXP, Win7, Win8, & Win10 on the Microsoft side and OS X Lion & up on the Apple side. I do so, to help answer questions here at the ASC. I, currently, do not have a performance issue doing so with my 2 TB Fusion drive even when running a number of other CPU intensive apps.

However, I don't use this particular mini for simultaneously rendering video files or performing a recording session with Logic Pro while using Parallels to say, whether or not, it would bog down. It's only a mini and you can only ask so much of it. If I was going to do that type of activity, I would have gotten either an iMac or a Mac Pro ... actually I do have an earlier Mac Pro for just that purpose.

Not much CPU performance improvement in quad core i7 CPU's since 3rd gen Ivy bridge.

They benchmark twice that of a dual core i5 or i7 CPU.

A dual core i5 or i7 CPU will benchmark score about 6000

A quad core i5 or i7 CPU will benchmark score about 12000+

You best performance improvement to make are to upgrade the rotational hard-drive for an SSD.

60gb. absolute minimum.

120gb. will allow for most apps and OSX and leave you about 30gb. FREE.

256gb. minimum for apps and storage. ( recommended )

512gb. if you want to run boot camp , dual boot OSX and MS-Windows ( Best purchase value )

1tb. if you have allot of files to store like music, videos, photos, etc..

A 256gb. SSD is warranted to endure ( last ) up to 100 years at 5gb. writes per day.

A 512gb. SSD will last twice that of a 256gb. SSD.

A 1tb. SSD will last twice that of a 512gb. SSD in terms of read/writes to the SSD.

And so on and so on.....

So endurance doubles as the gigabyte size of the SSD increases.

Your best value and intelligent purchase to to buy and SSD that is supported in OSX.

This will allow for firmware updates and built in garbage collection "trim" support.

And "OWC SSD" or "Crucial MX300" is your best SSD purchase.

Also

In terms of memory

OSX will run on 2gb. of ram absolute minimum

4gb. is okay, minimum recommended.

8gb. recommended, good performance.

16gb. Best performance.

There is no Mac Mini 2017. The latest and current model of the Mac Mini is the Mac Mini Late 2014. The year is for when the model was introduced, not necessarily the year that you buy it.

Would the Mac Mini be faster with a fusion part and SSD part compared to just an SSD?

Just a SSD, would always be faster than a Fusion drive. Ordering the Mac Mini with an Apple installed SSD would be probably be faster than whatever SSD (unknown make and model, it helps to provide as much specific information as possible) you may currently have in your older Mac Mini.