Mac Mini Upgrade Saves You Some Cash

When you buy a mini from the Apple store you have some mac mini upgrade options. You can add more RAM, bigger hard drive and thats about it in most cases.

What you may not realize is that Apple charges you good for these upgrades. Often you can get away cheaper if you buy the cheapest stock model and add more RAM and more hard drive space yourself.

Exactly what you can save will depend on what parts you buy, of course. There are several types of hard drives available, and also RAM. Different sizes too. What I am going to do is to chose the best upgrade you can get from Apple. Then I will compare the prices if you buy the parts and do the mac mini upgrade yourself.

Mac Mini 2.0 GHz (2009)	4GB DDR3 SDRAM	320GB 5400rpm HD	Total Cost
Upgrade from Apple:	$150	$150	$899
Upgrade Yourself:	$73	$57	$729

As you can see you will save about $170 just replacing the RAM and hard drive yourself. The prices listed in the table above will change with time. But they still give you a good example of what you can save.

Unfortunately you cant replace the CPU inside your Mac Mini. Its soldered on the mainboard so you will have to replace the entire mainboard if you would like to do that.

The parts I have selected for this upgrade are the following:

RAM: Crucial CT2KIT25664BC1067 4GB 204-PIN PC3-8500 SODIMM DDR3 Memory KIT (2GBx2)

Hard Drive: Western Digital 320GB Scorpio Blue SATAII 5400RPM 2.5IN 8MB Bulk/OEM Hard Drive WD3200BEVT

The parts above will work fine with the Mac Mini released in 2009. Personally I might have chosen a bigger hard drive, better get as much space as possible when you are going to open up the mini anyway. You can also put a 7200rpm drive in there if you want to.

How To Replace the Mac Mini RAM

The Mac Mini uses 1066MHz DDR3 SODIMM, as you can see at the link above. You have two slots available supporting a total of 4GB. Often the two slots are already filled up with memory, but it seems to vary somewhat. The stock Mac mini might come with one 1GB stick installed or two 512MB, there is no way to say for sure until you actually crack open the computer. I would buy the kit anyway, then try to sell the other RAM sticks oneBay or something. Saving you even more money!

So how do we open up this computer? It is possible to do yourself with the right tools. It could be a challenge if you never normally work with a computers hardware but it is certainly possible doing the mac mini upgrade yourself. I was thinking about making a video to show you but I found videos already explaining this process really good. Check the video below if you want to know how to replace the Mac Mini RAM!

How To Replace the Mac Mini Hard Drive

The computer uses a standard 2.5 Inch SATA Hard Drive. Buy a drive in the size you prefer, most hard drives will work fine with this computer. Maybe chose an SSD drive if you want to walk down that path. For me SSD is not an option yet. I am still waiting for the prices to drop a bit more and increase of the storage capacity. Check the video below for instructions on how-to replace the hard drive. The video explains the process very well.

Summary

There you have it. You can save some money doing the mac mini upgrade yourself. The process could be difficult for someone not used to working with the hardware inside a computer. The Mac Mini is quite small, so that might be a problem too. However if you follow the videos, get the right tools and take your time not stressing it I think people will be able to do this themselves. Good luck :)