Apple drops soldered storage for 2024 Mac Mini

Updated The iFixit team has pulled apart Apple’s new Mac Mini, revealing replaceable storage and a slightly more modular design – concessions to repairability that warrant an impressive provisional score.

Apple’s Mac Mini product line has been around for a while, and the latest model was launched this month, replete with M4 or M4 Pro chips. It is significantly smaller than its predecessors with Thunderbolt, HDMI, and Ethernet ports on the back and a pair of USB-C ports and a 3.5 mm headphone jack on the front.

iFixit had to resort to picks to remove the bottom plate of the device – home of the controversial power button. Once off, the CMOS battery was swiftly removed by undoing a pair of screws. Removing four outer screws released the inner plate from the chassis, while a further four removed the plate from the thermal assembly.

So far, so good. Other than the initial requirement to use picks to release the clips of the bottom plate, disassembly was relatively straightforward, meaning that the lithium battery could easily be changed out if and when the time comes.

SSD being removed from a 2024 Mac Mini (pic: iFixit)

Going further and removing the cooling system revealed the new Mac Mini’s party trick – the return of removable storage. A single screw needed to be undone to release the SSD, and that was it. Higher-capacity SSDs can be fitted and set up with the Apple Configurator or – and this is likely of more interest to enterprises – the existing SSD could be removed, replaced, and securely destroyed without having to junk the entire system.

The catch, according to iFixit, is that the SSD card is currently a proprietary Apple format, which will make aftermarket upgrades more complicated.

Still, it was a marked improvement on what has gone before, even if the RAM continues to be firmly soldered to the board. At least the front connectors are modular.

iFixit said: “It shouldn’t be a big story that a desktop computer has upgradeable internal storage,” yet here we are. Where once it was possible to buy a base-level Mac Mini and upgrade RAM and storage, in recent years Apple has taken to soldering more and more components in place, meaning that what a user buys is what they are stuck with.

For context, Apple is not the only company to do this, but that does not excuse the practice.

iFixit gave Apple’s new Mac Mini a provisional repairability score of 7 out of 10, which seems a little on the high side considering the RAM remains soldered to the board and the SSD is a proprietary Apple format. Still, making the storage upgradeable is a step in the right direction. Allowing RAM upgrades would be an even more significant step toward future-proofing. ®

Updated to add shortly after publication:

iFixit got in touch to explain a bit more about that provisional score and said it reflected Apple’s design improvements and its expected follow-through with parts and documentation.

A spokesperson said, “If future availability of replacement SSDs or software barriers fall short, the score will be adjusted.”

“We’re cautiously optimistic.”

And deep within our dark hearts, so are we.