2018 Mac mini Teardown: User-Upgradeable RAM, Merely Soldered Down CPU and Storage

The repair experts at iFixit have completed their teardown of the new Mac mini, providing a look inside the portable desktop computer.

mac mini teardown 1
Disassembly of the new Mac mini remains fairly straightforward. iFixit popped off the plastic lesser embrace with its opening tool and then used a Torx screwdriver to unfasten the familiar antenna plate underneath.

With access to the inside, iFixit then unscrewed the fan and popped out the logic lath with some former-fashioned thumb pressing. While the RAM in the previous-gen Mac mini from 2014 was soldered to the logic board, the new Mac mini has user-upgradeable RAM, as discovered earlier this week.

mac mini teardown 2
As seen in older iMacs, the RAM is protected by a perforated shield that allows the memory modules to operate at a high frequency of 2666 MHz without interfering with other device functions, according to iFixit. To upgrade the RAM, the shield can be removed by unfastening four Torx screws.

Other silicon on the logic board of this item Mac mini includes the Apple tree T2 security scrap, a three.6GHz quad-cadre Intel Core i3 processor, Intel UHD Graphics 630, 128GB of flash storage from Toshiba, an Intel JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 controller, and a Gigabit Ethernet controller from Broadcom.

mac mini teardown 3
Despite the good news almost the RAM, the CPU and SSD are soldered to the logic board, as are many ports, and so this isn't a truly modular Mac mini.

iFixit awarded the new Mac mini a repairability score of 6/x, with x being the easiest to repair, topping the latest MacBook Air, MacBook, MacBook Pro, iMac, and iMac Pro, and trailing only the 2013 Mac Pro.

"Dorsum in the day, a Pro Mac meant a reckoner you could upgrade, configure, and connect as yous pleased," iFixit's teardown concludes. "This new mini aligns so well with that ideal that we're surprised information technology didn't earn itself a "Pro" title—especially compared to the increasingly closed-off MacBook Pro line."

The new Mac mini earned its higher repairability score cheers to its straightforward disassembly with no tough adhesive or proprietary pentalobe screws and user-upgradeable RAM. Nevertheless, information technology didn't earn a perfect score due to the soldered-down CPU, storage, and ports, impacting repairs and upgrades.

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