Here’s the IFIXIT guide you’ll need to follow to swap out your drives: Mac mini Mid 2010 Hard Drive Replacement. At Step 21 you’ll need to take the thermal sensor off, use extreme care! As its very easy to break. Transfer it to your SSD in the same location. Do take the time to read some of the comments before you start.Īs for your choice of SSD’s: The Samsung 860 EVO line is a great drive. In truth it runs at all of the SATA speeds: SATA I (1.5 Gb/s), SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) & SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) we call these drives ‘auto sense’ as it will match up with your systems SATA Port I/O speed.
How to Upgrade Aluminum Mac mini Hard Drives or SSDs.
Not all drives do this! So you picked a winner here as your system is only SATA II (3.0 Gb/s). Regular 'Mid-2010' Aluminum 'Unibody' Mac mini models, which have optical drives, support a single 2.5-inch, 9.5 mm tall, 3 Gb/s Serial ATA (SATA Revision 2.0) hard drive or SSD (or two storage drives if you remove the. IMHO, if youre going to crack open a Mini - a complex process - replace both drives with SSDs while you have the chance. This iFixit page on replacing internal HD drives in the server model may help you determine which is which. I’m not sure I understand you listing out the different drive sizes its upto you what your needs are. The Mac mini Server (mid-2010) came equipped with 2 hard drives, with an optional SuperDrive optical drive.
Mac mini Mid 2010 Logic Board Replacement Guide ID: 3115 -Draft: 2018.
IMHO, if you're going to crack open a Mini - a complex process - replace both drives with SSDs while you have the chance. Step 14 Use the flat end of a spudger to pry both the hard drive and optical drive connectors up out of their sockets on the logic board. The Mac mini Server (mid-2010) came equipped with 2 hard drives, with an optional SuperDrive optical drive. Depending on which version of system ( 2010 Mac Mini’s (Macmini4,1) you do have a second choice. Carefully pull the wires for both hard drive thermal sensors upward to lift their connectors up and out of the sockets on the logic board. Or, if you have the server version then this kit: Mac mini Dual Drive Kit As an option you can add in a second drive using this kit: Installing Mac mini Mid 2010 Dual Drive replacing your optical drive. #Mid 2010 mac mini hard drive upgrade mac Mac mini Unibody SSD Upgrade Bundle 89.99 Buy Crucial MX500 250 GB SSD Crucial MX500 500 GB SSD Crucial MX500 1 TB SSD 500 GB 5400 RPM 2.5' Hard Drive 1 TB 5400 RPM 2. That way you can keep your current drive and then after installing your MacOS onto the SSD as well as your User accounts & Apps switch the boot drive over to your new SSD. Leaving your HD as the data drive for your stuff. I installed the Samsung 860 EVO and booted off a High Sierra USB, and the disk utility can’t even see the SSD :( That way you can reduce the size of the SSD you need. Hard drives, RAM, and small parts all tested and guaranteed with fast shipping and easy returns.
Put the original drive back in and the system booted up fine, but is still super slow and negotiated to SATA 1.0 link speed. I’ve read all the other comments from Dan about swapping SATA cables but I can only find “original” SATA cables for my SATA 2.0 capable chipset (based upon the screenshot 3Gbps link speed listed).