Mac mini Mid 2010 Hard Drive Replacement

Written By: Andrew Bookholt
  • Comments: 144
Mac mini Mid 2010 Hard Drive Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

23

Time Required

55 minutes

Introduction

Use this guide to completely replace your mini's hard drive. Completing this guide requires rubber cement to stick the old thermal sensors to your new hard drive.

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    • Place your thumbs in the depressions cut into the bottom cover.

    • Rotate the bottom cover counter-clockwise until the white dot painted on the bottom cover is aligned with the ring inscribed on the outer case.

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    • Tilt the mini enough to allow the bottom cover to fall away from the outer case.

    • Remove the bottom cover and set it aside.

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    • Remove the two 11.3 mm T6 Torx screws securing the fan to the logic board near the antenna plate.

    There are actually 3 T6 screws securing the fan. The third screw is out of the screenshot, just below the RAM.

    inferno10 -

    Nope, that third screw is actually just a post that the rubber grommet attached to the fan body slips over. Step 4 shows how the fan comes off of it. When you go to remove the fan, you simply remove the two screws closest to the antenna plate and then lift the fan off this post. The screw you are talking about is removed in Step 14 and does not need to be removed until this point.

    Andrew Bookholt -

    Successful install completed, but I had some trouble getting the fan reinstalled. When I removed the fan from the "Step 14" post, the rubber piece stayed on the post. When attempting to reinstall the fan, it was impossible to get the loop to go back over that rubber piece. So, I had to remove the post (again), and with the help of the spudger and some patience, worked it through. Then installed the fan using the 2 screws and the post. I think it may have saved some time and trouble if I just removed all 3 in the first place, leaving the post in the fan.

    meag -

    On mine I needed to remove the 26 mm T6 Torx standoff during this step rather than step 12

    philipashlock -

    on my mid-2011 mac mini, that 3rd T6 post/screw had to be removed to get the fan out. It goes right through a hole in the fan housing. No way the grommet is slipping over anything without wreaking major havoc.

    Derek Shaw -

    On my mid-2010 mac mini, also removed the 26 mm T6 Torx standoff during this step instead of step 12. Having completed the steps, it appears my hard drive is from mid 2011, so maybe the production line for mine had changed.

    jstraath -

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    • Lift the ear of the fan nearest the RAM up off the standoff secured to the outer case.

    • If the fan doesn't separate from the standoff screw with a moderate amount of force, you can use a T6 Torx driver to simply remove this screw.

    Pulling on the ear didn't do anything, so I removed the whole screw at this step. The screw stayed fixed on the fan and I didn't have to remove it at the step where you remove the logic board screws.

    Probably I didn't want to use too much force .. but it worked

    Alexander Kogler -

    This is the approach I used. no way was the "ear" pulling over the head of the standoff without breaking something. The standoff simply unscrewed from whatever is under the logic board and stayed with the fan assembly. WAY safe

    Derek Shaw -

    Loosen the fan standoff from the motherboard using a T6 driver.

    bobcloninger -

    When I pulled the fan ear off the standoff the rubber grommet stayed on the standoff. That's fine, but it makes it difficult to put the fan ear back on during reassembly. So I just pulled the rubber grommet off the standoff and put it into the hole in the fan ear. Then I was able to push the fan ear onto the standoff with out trouble during reassembly.

    Dave Hein -

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    • Lift the fan out of the mini for enough clearance to access its connector.

    • Carefully pull the fan cables upward to lift the fan connector up out of its socket on the logic board.

    • Remove the fan.

    Be careful here, this is not a simple action. Pulling on the wires risks them coming out of the sockets of the connector that attaches to the pins on the board. I had to use an Xacto knife to push on the end of the connector to push it off the pins rather than pull.

    Brian -

    Actually, just sliding a spudger under the wires and edging upwards is the easiest way to disconnect this connector - and most others, too.

    Aleks Gekht -

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    • Remove the single 3.5 mm T6 Torx screw securing the cowling to the heat sink.

    This is a screw into the head of another screw below it that holds the main board. When I took out the fan, the top screw AND the longer 26 mm screw came out together so when I was putting my mini back together I thought for a moment I had lost a screw.

    info -

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    • Lift the cowling from the end nearest the antenna plate.

    • Rotate the cowling away from the outer case and remove it from the mini.

    This is wrong step. If you need remove this out, it would be better to pull out logic board, and remember to remove cables attached on it before pull out.

    Lin Adison -

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    • Remove the following screws securing the antenna plate to the mini:

    • Two 6.6 mm T8 or T9 Torx screws

    • Two 5.0 mm T8 Torx or 2.0 mm Hex screws (either will work)

    The red circled screws are T9 in my Mac mini (not T8).

    Sven Harmstorf -

    ditto here - the 6.6 mm screws that anchor to the HD (now SSD) are T9

    Derek Shaw -

    I have tried several times but I have been unable to get all four holes to line up when replacing the antenna plate. I can get the two closer to the center of the mini just fine but no matter how I align the plate, one of the screws closer to the edge of the mini will be so far out of alignment that I cannot get the screw to go in. I had to leave one screw uninstalled. The plate is not distorted in any way. It is installed the same way it was before I removed, as far as I can tell. I am baffled! Has anyone been through this?

    GalvanicMacPro -

    Galvanic, it pops in.

    bkbkbk -

    I had a really hard time with this. I was able to resolve it though: secure the other three screws first. Then I pushed my precision screwdriver into the hole and levered the wayward tab into position: it wedged in with an audible snap sound! Then I was able to fasten the final screw.

    Aaron Vegh -

    I have trouble with this step every time I repair one of these minis. Aaron, your tip worked perfectly for me, thanks. -Anne

    DA IT Department -

    The antenna plate assembly is a tongue and groove type. The plate has a "groove" and the rim of the outer case is the "lip". You have to slide it in and align the parts ant it fits perfectly .

    jvilella -

    To solve this, just pick on the plate on the semi circle side and with the tool "open" just slighter the space where the semicircle have to fit

    Pedro -

    Had the same problem - the reason was the replacement drive I used - it is thinner than the original one. So I could not get the far side of the drive correctly into the holes for the notches mounted on the drive; that is - the drive was always a little bit too far to the center of the mac case. Everything works fine until you try to install all four screws.

    I found a simple solution: I attached some adhesive tape temporarily to the drive cover. By pulling on the tape while pushing the drive in its space the notches slipped into their holes. After this installing the antenna was no problem any more.

    Erwin Sommerauer -

    The key to this is to use needle-nose pliers to grasp the grate between the black plastic circle and the edge of the mini's case, and pull upwards (away from the hard drive beneath it). It will snap into place, and then the screw holes will line up.

    Brian -

    I had a similar problem with getting the antenna cover to fit back into place. I tried putting 3 screws back in and levering the 4th, but it did not work in my case. Finally, with three screws in place,, I carefully placed a thin pair of forceps into one of the holes in the cover and levered the entire cover upwards. That worked for me.

    Don -

    Pulling up on the cover worked for me too. I found that the best place to pull up on the cover is at about "true north" in the picture ... near the black dot used to indicate lid-is-closed. I did it before installing any screws and all four screws went in fine.

    Fred Cat -

    As others have noted, the hardest part of the whole process is getting the holes lined up in reassembly. I ended up stripping one of the short screws, but it fits well enough to engage the slots in the circular plastic cover. If you leave a short screw out, I don't know how the bottom cover would fit securely. I would carefully note how the antenna cover fits while you remove it. The longer screws go into the actual hard drive, so I think alignment of the hard drive is part of the problem.

    Steve Dollar -

    I had same problem..! U tried EVERTHING, and what worked PERFECT for me, and with very little effort is what "x10target" described here (scroll about half way down): Difficulty in re-installing Antenna Plate

    Mikey Marvel -

    To replace the antenna plate, you need to patiently align the sides of the antenna and slide it in. I had similar problems as described above but, instead of using force, I resorted to patience. The plate's fit is very snug, just a little bit off the straight line and it won't sit properly. And when it sits, it really sits tight, you don't even need to hold it in place while screwing the screws back in.

    Eric Schneider -

    In the “arch” of the plate is sort of a tongue & groove that fits over & under the lip of the body. I used Kelly Forceps to coax everything back together.

    tom -

    After replacing the HDD with an SSD, I found that one of the front locating screws didn’t fit back in (no corresponding screw hole on the new drive caddy). I also found it hard to fit the antenna plate back in the slot, but found that removing one of the rubber “feet” (where there was no longer a corresponding screw hole on the disk) helped a lot, as did gently folding back the edge of the antenna plate. Refitting this was definitely the hardest part of the process - excellent instructions!

    Tim Cutting -

    After completing the whole operation, impossible to screw the two T8 5mm (orange ones) screws back in place. The plate sit properly, but the screws just wobble, even with full force when trying. I can’t close the backplate. Anybody had the same issue?

    Pierre Prézelin -

    BEFORE putting any screws in, you have to get the antenna place to “snap” intot he Aluminum chassis first. Once that is snapped in, the screw holes all line up nicely.

    I installed an SSD, which is thinner than the original HDD, so the two recessed screws don’t reach it… Going to just leave them taped into their holes. I’m hoping that will not affect antenna function too much (It will remove some potential grounding to the HDD).

    Demis John -

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    • Slightly lift the antenna plate from the end closest to the RAM.

    • Carefully pull the antenna plate straight away from the circular rim of the outer case.

    • Do not remove the antenna plate yet. It is still attached to the AirPort/ Bluetooth board.

    When I tried to do step 9 and disconnect these connectors, I found that not only the cable/connector but the receptacle tore off the logic board -- momentary panic! This happened to both connectors.

    Left on the logic board were two tiny fragile gold pins (per connector). Fortunately they were pretty straight, and upon re-assembly, I was able to gently slot the receptacles back into the tiny pins. Upon reassembly, everything's working fine (no crazy fan noise) so I guess I got lucky...maybe VERY lucky. :)

    Thanks iFixIt for a fantastic guide. I've got a replacement drive in there and it's definitely going to extend the life of my Mini for another season.

    David Das -

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    • Use the tip of a spudger to carefully pry the antenna connector up off the AirPort/Bluetooth board.

    I broke the connector on the bluetooth board when trying to remove the antenna when I tried to replace the hard drive. Currently, the exact replacement bluetooth board 607-6509A is very hard to find or otherwise, expensive. Instead, I was able to use a cheap replacement that can be found on eBay: Apple Macbook Unibody A1342 Airport Bluetooth Module 607-6771A. There is a black plastic sheath at the back of the 607-6771A. Just cut out the part that cover the 2 holes, you are good to go.

    millicurie77 -

    Good info, thanks

    maccentric -

    Hmmm just broke the port as well; it is tricky and sticky even after the port came off …

    Choat -

    Thanks for the info; my port just broke here as well :( It is sticky and port connector is so fragile!

    Choat -

    it’s so painful ! almost all the time is spend to try to put this ridiculous connector. my last mini mac is a server, and use ethernet not the wifi so i gave up after 1 hour .

    admin -

    It would be nice if there was a close up pic of the different connectors. Then, one would know how the connectors attach. In this case, this connector is kinda like an old “F” plug. Used Kelly Forceps to pull straight up. Came off and went back on. No sweat.

    tom -

    Tom, it was bear trying to put this “F” connector back on. There’s a torx screw right where the connector should lay down, and it appears to put it in a bind making it difficult to seat. I’ll try to post a picture of mine.,

    Kirk Carver -

    2nd time I did this step (due to breaking the HD heat sensor board the 1st time - see all the comments below!) I didn’t disconnect the airport antenna, since it was so difficult for me to re-plug back in (took ~5 minutes of trying); very hard to line up properly. Instead, I carefully flipped the cover over and to the side, pushing down on the connector to keep it from unplugging. (Since I already had put in a 7mm SSD the 1st time around, the antenna wire also wasn’t in the way when pulling it out.) I recommend trying this due to 3 comments above who broke theirs.

    amiller770 -

    I left it plugged in and flipped it over to tape it to the chassis.

    chris warren -

    Reconnecting the antenna connector to the Airport/Bluetooth board was the second most difficult step for me. It was not just the reverse step of using the spudger to disconnect the connector.

    Marc -

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    • Remove the antenna plate from the mini.

    When you replace the antenna plate, it can be tricky. The curved edge of it actually slots both over and under the edge of the case. If it doesn’t seem to fit properly, the edges of the cut perforations may be slightly squashed. Tweak them with a small screwdriver and it will suddenly seat properly.

    Ben G -

    This is as far as I needed to go. The only connection I needed to remove was the fan (I probably could have left that connected and just moved it out of my way). I was able to set the antenna to the side without disconnecting it. I was able to pull the hard drive out after step 11. I did not disconnect the temp sensor from the board. I removed the tape holding the sensor wire to the side of the hard drive and then removed the sensor from the hard drive and moved it out of my way. It has to be pulled off the hard drive anyway, so better to do it this way then messing with connection on logic board. When replacing the hard drive, reapply the sensor to the end of the hard drive with a very small amount of clear silicone and a piece of black electrical tape to hold it into place while the silicone sets up. Not having to disconnect all the wires from the logic board is the way to go. Stop at step 11 and go straight to step 17.

    Kevin Ginther -

    Excellent advice, Kevin…I did the same and HDD came out no problem…Thank you for the pointer.

    Jurgen -

    If you look at the edge of the antenna plate near the Mac mini body, you'll see a groove where the metal from the unibody fits. I found that if you turn the mini around so the antenna plate is closest to you and us the pointy end of a spudger to lift and place the antenna plate, you can get this groove to fit properly and the screws pop into place.

    rothgar -

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    • Remove the following three screws:

    • One 5.0 mm T8 Torx or 2.0 mm Hex screw (either will work)

    • One 16.2 mm T6 Torx screw

    • One 26 mm T6 Torx standoff

    • Note: This standoff may have been removed with the fan.

    On mine I needed to remove the 26 mm T6 Torx standoff during step 3

    philipashlock -

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    • Carefully pull the wires for both hard drive thermal sensors upward to lift their connectors up and out of their respective sockets on the logic board.

    BEWARE! Gently pulling one thermal sensor wire up from its logic board connector caused wire to rip loose from connector, leaving connector still in logic board socket. Using spudger on other connector caused same result. Even after wires ripped lose, it was impossible to get connector out of logic board socket (using spudger and needle nose pliers the connector came away in pieces). Connectors almost seem glued/fused into sockets and the wires will apparently break lose before the connector will release. What a terrible design. Here's hoping the mini will run without HDD thermal sensors :( I am experienced with repairing laptops and am kind of ticked because I am sure this damage was not due to incorrect/rough handling during attempt to disassemble.

    emcnally -

    Followup Note: Ending up with disconnected HDD thermal sensors due to breakage apparently causes the main system fan to run at full speed all the time. This is extremely loud and pretty much defeats the purpose of the Mini form factor. Going to have to try to rig something up with actual solder or adhesive tape.

    This is just stupid. A computer where logic board connections get broken while replacing a frickin HDD. All in an attempt to do something about the pathetic and feeble hard disk the vendor includes with their crap hardware (50MB/s transfer--what is this 1998?). Last Mac Mini I will ever buy. Slow, yet expensive and fragile.

    emcnally -

    Not sure what emcnally is talking about but mine came off fine. I have a 2010 mac mini and just upgraded to a 500 gig WD drive. Everything worked went great and was easier than I thought. My connectors pulled right off with no damage.

    Dave -

    tell the people to remove the superdrive’s thermal sensor as well! i just broke mine.

    Simon Meisinger -

    WARNING! Remove superdrive thermal sensor as well from the connector, or it will break in step 16.

    Laszlo Nyirfa -

    The plastic part broke for me. Barely putting any pressure on the connector and the thin plastic covering the metal connectors broke and the wires came out leaving the plastic connector in place. I was able to get the connector out without any more damage. Can I purchase a new thermal connector for this? I can't find the part listed anywhere.

    In the meantime I'm going to try and get the wires rigged to the board some how. Super glue them to the connector maybe. But I'm not sure if there is a polarity concern. Can the wires go to either pin on the board?

    Darrel Tenter -

    I was able to get the plastic connector back in place, and fit the wires into it. Polarity is needed. First time I got the fan running full. Switched the wires and now I think the fan is running normally.

    But I don't trust this connection over and time would like to find a replacement hard drive thermal sensor wire assembly.

    Darrel Tenter -

    Each of the hard drive temperature cable connectors have tiny little tabs on the sides. I found success using a small needle to carefully push under and pop the tab out.

    Leon Roy -

    Thanks, that's a nice way, works really well for me. Just try to stick a needle on the side and lift it up, if it has come up a little you can gently pull the cable and it will come off with very little force on the cable.

    gertjan -

    These connectors are fairly easy to unplug. You can pull up on the wires GENTLY to remove them. I used a wooden spudger to pry gently and the connectors popped right out. Putting them back in is easy just make sure they are right side up and they snap right back in.

    info -

    This is where I got in trouble too. No problems on the first of my Minis, but this time one of these sockets had poor soldering and just came off the board. Basically no solder connection to the posts that are there to hold the socket in place. I ended up using a pin to pry the rest of them off, in case the others were also poorly connected. The outside of the socket is U shaped, with 2 small tabs at the lower end of the U. I inserted a pin next to these tabs and it let me lever the connectors out easily. Now I get to practice my soldering!

    moecastleton -

    I used a pick (like a fine ice pick - available at Harbor Freight) to pry up the plastic clips while gently pulling at the wires with tweezers. They pull straight up. There are tiny tabs on the sides that kind of lock them in. I would not try just pulling on the wires. Everything is tiny and yrying to fix wires pulled out of the connectors would be very difficult.

    Steve Dollar -

    The pin method is definitely better. I used the pin to slightly spread the "wings" of the connector on the board. Then I levered out the part that is attached to the wires. All done with the aid of a magnifying loop.

    Fred Cat -

    I broke mine as well, did not replace the thermal sensor for the HDD, fan runs at full speed and is noisy. Went ahead and downloaded software fan control to reduce fan speed.

    Harish Ananthakrishnan -

    With all the good comments above, I was extra cautious, my two connectors have solid black covers and I couldn’t find the tabs for the needles. So I read ahead a few steps. I was able to skip this step 13 and steps 15 and 16 and take out the drive without force. Step 14 worked as described. I have a mid-2010 without an optical drive so there was only a hard drive connector.

    jstraath -

    Hi, i just used the flat end of ifixit’s plastic spudger to lift the tiny connectors without any tugging on the wires. First, i was a trained auto mechanic for 10 years then i got my electrical engineering degree! Started fixing macs in 1979 with an oscope, soldering iron and the ic circuit handbook plus chips from apple.

    Apples construction methods have sure gotten more and more fragile over the years. Glad i still have great eyes! Rossmon

    Ross Elkins -

    Thanks for the wonderful story, incredibly helpful to anyone reading it. A definite must for those upgrading their Minis. Perhaps an autobiography is in store for the future? I can only hope… I'd die knowing my life was complete if Im lucky enough to read such an intriguing story. OMG, and if it was hard back, I'd pass it down to the generations succeeding me so they too will grace this life changing experience. BRAVO to you sir !??

    AJ GREEN -

    I broke the connector too, but was able to make a secure connection despite this. You will need a good magnifier glass/visor and fine tweezers. I added a drop of Crazy glue to secure it. Photo: https://ibb.co/ZcsnvNC

    Gustavo Delfino -

    After the plastic of the connector of the thermal sensor falls in tiny little parts after manipulating with pludger, tweezers and all I can find in my home I just let the connector in place on the logic board. Like written down in step 15 and 16 I pulled the whole logic board just a little bit out of the housing, so there’s just enough room for pulling the old HDD out of the housing. Put away the different adhesive tapes HDD (main connector and thermal sensor). Put away main connector and the thermal sensor from the HDD. Then I put everything in place to the new SSD and stick the thermal connector with the the old adhesive stribe at the SSD. I never would try to disconnect the thermal sensor again from the logic board!!!

    Hanjo Lindenthal -

    I highly recommend TG Pro to solve this absurd hard disk temperature problem. After replacing my HDD with an SSD, the fan ran nutso just like everyone else’s. Sensors are in place on the drive, but they don’t seem to work. I even tried thermal paste, but no luck. While I could try replacing the temperature sensors, what’s the point? Having a quality SSD should remain far cooler than any HDD, regardless of the conditions.

    My Samsung EVO SSD has its own internal SMART temperature sensor built into it. TG Pro detects it fine. The reason I recommend TG Pro is that I tried others. TG Pro is top-of-the-line quality, imo. It even allows total override of system fan control, solving the runaway fan problem once and for all. While this is hypothetically a safety issue, since I began using the software 3 years ago, I’ve come to trust it more than whatever is built into my Macs. (I own three MacBooks in addition to my Mac Mini.)

    My 2010 is considered out of date, but with an SSD, it’s still a great little music server.

    AnnoniMoose -

    Found a 4,1 for $20, and flew too close to the sun. Thermal connections falling off everywhere. Will TG Pro (or something similar) allow me to just ignore replacing the HD sensors and the OD sensor?

    Clay Hummer -

    I wanted to change the Superdrive on a 2010 Mac mini and when I took off the thermal connector from the hard drive, one of the two cables came off.

    The hard drive has 2, it is the one on the other side of the SATA connector.

    If you don't connect that cable, the fan always starts at 5000rpm. It is Apple Part Number: 076-1369

    I was looking on Ebay/Ali and the cable is for €9, luckily you can insert the cable back into the connector and put a drop of thermal silicone to apply force and so far it works ok.

    morrit -

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    • 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.

    I skipped this step as well as step 15 and 16.

    What I did, was just wiggle the drive out of the pc. Just pull it a little bit up and towards. Might need a little bit of force. But it should come out. Then, just remove the tape from the sata connector and then remove the sata connector from the hdd. Then you can replace the hdd like mentioned in this tutorial.

    And I removed only the left thermal sensor. The right one can stay on unless you need more room.

    gertjan -

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    • For enough clearance to remove the hard drive, the logic board must be slightly removed. To accomplish this, two cylindrical rods must be inserted into the holes highlighted in red.

    • Inserting instruments into any logic board holes other than the ones highlighted in red may severely damage the logic board.

    • Insert a Mac mini Logic Board Removal Tool into the two holes highlighted in red. Be sure it makes contact with the outer case below the logic board before proceeding.

    • If you don't have a Logic Board Removal Tool handy, you can use two tools having a maximum diameter of 2.5 mm instead. Just insert one into each of the highlighted holes.

    • Carefully pull the tool toward the I/O board. The logic board and I/O board assembly should slightly slide out of the outer case.

    • Cease prying when the I/O board is visibly separated from the outer case. Remove the Mac mini Logic Board Removal tool.

    One MASSIVE hint to do this step: DON'T pull the tools towards you; rather, lever the top ends of the tools towards you, at and angle (so that the bottom of the tools don't move). Took me a while to figure this out!

    jon jon -

    Didn't have that special tool. Used iPhone repairset screwdriver. Worked fine with sticking it in to the holes verticaly and then push it towards me a bit, then changing holes and repeating that step.

    Alexander Kogler -

    I suggest to pull the wires for the cd drive thermal sensor and and the infrared sensor upward to lift their connectors up and out of their respective sockets on the logic board ((highlighted in red in the third picture of step 16).

    Riccardo Zulian -

    Two 3/32" drill bits work great at replacing the tool. Place the shaft of the bits into the holes.

    iceman -

    I had to watch a youtube video to see how this works. Then I realized you are just using the tools to pull the main board out toward the back of the mini.

    info -

    A couple of small screw drivers will do. Just make sure they go far enough into the hole to be able to lever against the bottom as you pull them towards you. Without this I started to damage the logic board slightly.

    David Jackson -

    How much pressure is necessary? Is it hard? Mine seams stuck.

    douglaslondrina -

    Sliding the motherboard forward is not really needed to remove the hard drive, but it sure makes it a bit smoother. Just need to persuade it to go over the memory bracket.

    Lying Bastard -

    NO NEED to slide the board out if there is already a 7mm thick SSD installed, as it comes out easily. Also don’t need to unplug the DVD SATA connector if not sliding the board out (Rt most SATA), or unplug the DVD heat thermal sensor, since you’re not moving the board. The less you unplug, the less chances of breaking a connector. However, with original or any 9mm HD, lifting it over the memory bracket would be very difficult IMO, w/o moving the board out ~5mm.

    amiller770 -

    I did NOT move the logic board. The original hard disk could be taken out with a little(!) force. The new replacement SSD was much thinner and was not problem to slide in.

    Christof Dallermassl -

    I used two thin screwdrivers. As they said, put them stright down the holes, and they seem to fit into something on the back side that holds the ends in place (eg. a shallow hole) in the top case or something).

    Then lean them both towards the back of the Mac (towards the ports etc.), and you’ll push the logic board AND the black part of the case, finally popping the black ports/rear free from the aluminum. Only needs to slide ~5mm as they said to get the needed clearance.

    Demis John -

    I tried so hard to just pry it out a short way, but so much force was needed that I ended up bring it out almost 1cm (ie the clips of the black rear ports fascia popped out of their recesses). This yanked the wires out of the optical drive thermal sensor. I was able to reinsert them with tweezers and hopefully the contact will be good enough to carry the signal. Wish I’d spudged that thermal sensor off the board when I was doing the other two (Step 10). After reading the warnings in step 10, I thought I didn’t need to worry about that until step 16.

    Andrew Boden -

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    • Simultaneously push the two plastic clips on the far left and right sides of the I/O board toward the middle of the I/O board and pull the I/O board slightly away from the outer case.

    • Pull the I/O board/logic board assembly out of the outer case a maximum of 5 mm. Pulling the assembly out further may damage the IR sensor connector (highlighted in red in the third picture).

    I found that when removing the logic board out a bit that the IR sensor was not so much of a problem as was the HDD temperature sensor located next to the IR sensor.

    My logic board accidentally popped out rather quickly and pulled out the sensor for the HDD.

    I don't know why it's not mentioned in the earlier step to just use the spudger to pop this cable off. Since it is mentioned in other guides for removal when replacing other parts.

    This would have been really helpful and most likely I would not have been left with loose cables and now looking for a new sensor cable.

    So fo any others out there replacing/upgrading your HDD and have some what of a hard time getting the logic board to budge just a bit, use the spudger to pop the cable off, it's not hard and pops back on as easily as the others. That's just an FYI and a preventative measure.

    tdowse1 -

    Ifixit note, Mac mini mid-2010 step 16

    @tdowse1 I agree completely. I take issue with this guide because I believe it has an error. With just one of two changes I wouldn't have destroyed my ZIF sensor connectors:

    1) Issue the warning BEFORE or even with the instruction. Following the instructions step by step and not reading a step ahead, you don't realize you can damage your cable irretrievably. Even if you read the entire guide first, you can't be expected to memorize all warnings BEFORE you act on the instructions.

    2) Instruct the user to disconnect ALL of the ZIF cables first. This is truly the only safe thing to do.

    LelandHendrix -

  17. kPtTCiVHo3DilBeg
    kPtTCiVHo3DilBeg
    E3u5R4x5wZEmrdXb

    • Lift the hard drive from the edge nearest the logic board and remove it from the mini, minding the RAM socket and any cables that may get caught.

    • When reinstalling the hard drive, be sure the two T8 Torx lugs on its far end are inserted into the two rubber grommets highlighted in red in the second picture before sliding the logic board back into place.

    The new drive, being thinner than the old one, was a bit tricky to get seated into the rubber grommets. I found that temporarily screwing a couple of screws into the top mounting holes on the drive helped with getting a grip on it. This, and standing the unit up on its end so that the drive would "fall" into the rubber grommets, worked OK for me.

    Fred Cat -

    Great tip @ Fred Cat!!

    Vevek Lochub -

  18. SQrPGT6Kuu2SB5xG

    • Remove the strip of tape covering the hard drive connector.

  19. rWEUMCIaNB1O4g3b

    • Remove the hard drive cable by pulling its connector straight away from the hard drive.

  20. XnumPx2AhRZuGCEN

    • Remove the piece of tape covering the thermal sensor attached to the edge of the hard drive.

    The adhesive of the tape and cover after eight years wasn’t very sticky once removed. I reused the cover and kept it all in place with some polyamide tape. Including the sensor.

    tom -

  21. R3WcwaM6HDXPIQOF

    • Carefully peel the thermal sensor off the end of the hard drive.

    This mini circuit board for the thermal sensor is very delicate and stuck on quite firmly, so be very careful removing it. I ended up cracking mine in half. On re-assembly the system would run but the fans were on 100% until this sensor was replaced with a new part which was not easy to find.

    Steve Booth -

    @Steve Booth

    I am in the exact same situation now.

    My board assembly was snugly stuck (most are) and using only enough force to budge it at all also caused it to slip far enough as to crack apart my ZIF connector shells. ZIFs are not so difficult so I have NO idea why the author wouldn't recommend removing then all for safety. Or noting--INLINE WITH THE INSTRUCTION--that they all be disconnected before sliding the board assembly though not entirely necessary.

    If you know where I can find the temperature sensors, please let me know? I really don't want to have to take this back to the Genius Bar and they see what I've done. It's humiliating. I should have known better. And had I just been exploring on my own instead of mindlessly following this guide step-by-step, I would have removed all my cables first before trying to budge the logic board.

    Very disappointing.

    LelandHendrix -

    Top Tip! Dont bother trying to peal the sensor off. Instead start from the other end of the barcode sticker and peel that off and as you get closer to the sensor you will see that you will be able to safely remove the barcode sticker and thermal sensor at the same time.

    Anthony Christensen -

    Awesome idea, worked great!

    LTBAss01 -

    Do not peel. I think that peeling will lead to breakage.

    I was able to remove the sensor intact by twisting it back and forth rather than peeling it. The sensor is held on by something like rubber cement; you can just rotate the sensor, gently, keeping it flat against the drive, until it becomes free.

    Note: I did try removing the bar code sticker, but it just tore at the sensor as I peeled the bar code sticker away, so no help there.

    Dave Hein -

    Agree with dhein. Grab the sensor at its base by its wires (carefully) and rotate the sensor right/left or clockwise/counterclockwise several times until the glue is loosened and the sensor lifts off the hard drive. Works like a charm.

    When it's time to attach the sensor to the new HD, press it in place fairly firmly and hold it there for 20 seconds or so. Then reapply the tape.

    meklir -

    So, once I peeled the heat sensors, what should I use to stick them back to the new drive? Rubber cement is not available in Europe and I’d rather avoid product that would be hard to remove, would prevent proper reading by the sensors or contain inappropriate solvants for the machine and user.

    Zigzag -

    To make removing the sensor easier apply some alcohol to a cotton ball and wipe around the sensor. It should remove some of the adhesive to make it easier to gently slide off. Save the thermal tape from the hard drive and use a strip to secure the sensor back in place.

    miseryengine -

    Peeling the bar code sticker worked for me. The bar code sticker remained intact with the heat sensor still stuck to it. Be careful to keep the bar code sticker fairly low while peeling it because the heat sensor board is very thin and will flex along with it. I did not remove the heat sensor from the now unstuck bar code sticker. The bar code sticker had plenty of stickiness to it, which allowed me to just stick it to the new drive, heat sensor and all. I first peeled the bar code sticker off the new drive just in case having two layers of bar code stickers messes with the sensor's calibration.

    Fred Cat -

    Great idea, thanks for the tip!

    LTBAss01 -

    I tried to do this, and it seemed to work well but after reassembly the fan constantly runs at max rpm. Not sure which sensor is the culprit, but I bought Tuna Belly Software’s TG Pro fan control software as recommended by AnnoniMoose.

    Andrew Boden -

    I would recommend taking a sharp edge, e.g. the tip of a small flat screwdriver, and get underneath the sensor pad itself, and GENTLY prying it. grabbing the wires and twisting/rotating can cause the wires to pop off, these are thin wires, easy to break off!

    mukund21 -

    I broke the sensor as well. I found a replacement on ebay and also I found them at OWC, but their shipping to Australia was expensive.

    note to iFixit I think the guide should be updated to emphasise how delicate this part is. Just saying “Carefully peel the thermal sensor…” is not good enough for people like me. An indication of the consequences of not being extremely careful with this fragile component would be helpful.

    Rob Robinson -

    Iam installing the SSD drive noted below. It replaces the traditional electro—mechanical HDD that came with my Mac mini 2010 that I bought from OWC a few weeks ago.

    I noticed the temperature sensor was put in place over a gap in the HHD that the new SSD does not have. Where to I attach the temperature sensor on my new SSD?

    250GB Mercury Electra 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid-State Drive

    John Perkins -

  22. xMcVMylcZZmiEhmX

    • Remove the two 6.2 mm T8 Torx screws from the side of the hard drive.

  23. 1Acr1qAGMxsahw2U

    • Carefully peel the hard drive cover off the hard drive.

    • Hard drive remains.

    • If you are installing a new hard drive, we have an OS X install guide to get you up and running.

    Carefully note the orientation of the hard drive cover before you remove it. I was putting in an SSD with no label and no clearly identifiable "bottom" so I made note of the SATA connector position relative to the cover.

    info -

    Replacing the upper drive in a Mac Mini Server:

    1) disconnect the heat sensor from the motherboard as shown for the lower drive in step 13. This is the 2-wire socket adjacent to the fan socket disconnected in step 5

    2) remove motherboard (see the iFixit guide)

    3) remove power supply (see the iFixit guide)

    4) remove T6 screw holding the plastic retaining bracket to the aluminum shell. With the screw removed, slide the plastic bracket out the back. The lower drive will come along with the bracket

    5) remove the 4 T8 retaining screws in the sides of the drive unit.

    6) remove the black tape and carefully remove the heat sensor unit just like steps 18-21

    7) remove the SATA connecter

    8) if you're installing a thinner profile drive, like an SSD, you don't need to use a spacer because the 4 T8 retaining screws "suspend" the drive in the right position relative to the lower drive.

    9) reassemble everything in reverse order.

    If you're slow and careful, this isn't any harder than the lower drive procedure.

    mbleyle -

    correction to step #4: should say "upper" drive, not lower

    mbleyle -

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

Andrew Bookholt

592004 Reputation

38 comments

These instructions and a little common sense can also be used to replace the lower hard drive in the server version of the Mac Mini. Luckily that was the drive that had failed in my case. Replacing the upper drive looks like a tougher proposition.

Bozo Z Clown -

Fantastic guide, thank you very much Mr. Bookholt!

As with the above commenter, I accidentally mistook the fan's standoff for a screw and removed it while removing the fan. Also the top right fan screw's standoff came out along with it. I edited the guide with a note on this.

While replacing the antenna, it wasn't immediately clear why the screws weren't lining up, until I realized that two of the screws were in the (otherwise free-floating but for the back grommets) hard drive, I also added a note on that.

Jon Bailey -

STEP 15: If you don't have the time to purchase the Mac Mini Logic Board Removal Tool, the round stock on a large binder clip is PERFECT for the job. It requires a little bending and cutting but it worked perfectly!!

And as jon jon stated, it works like a lever - not a pull. You can feel it kind of click in to the lever points below.

Bravo to ifixit.com for the easy to follow instruction!!

blavin -

Hey, what about the 2nd harddrive? how does that come out?

This was a superb guide. Thank you very, very much.

Tyrone Steele -

Ok, just did here. 1 tera HD working fine. Thanks iFixit, for repacking my tools because the Brazilian mail lost them. So, for those who want to do the same, just have in mind that not ALL things happen just like the how-to. I have to figure out What to do with the logic board removal tool... And, no, I did not fuss with those initial thermal stuff, because they are impossible to unplug. I only fuss with the HD thermal.

giorio -

Excellent guide -- worked exactly as defined. I ordered the replacement kit (drive + tools) and its working great. Thank you!

DBHERTEL -

Followed the guide and it worked perfectly. One thing to note: when replacing the hard drive which is 9.5mm thick with a newer SSD that is only 7mm thick, it's useful to use a cushion of some double sided foam tape on the top of the SSD. This prevents the SSD from angling down towards the rear of the mini (assuming you have the lugs placed back in the grommets in Step 17), which makes replacing the 2 6.6 mm T8 Torx screws in Step 8 easier since they screw into the bottom of the hard drive or SSD.

brad -

Thank you for this guide - it was very helpful and well written. I highly recommend buying the mac mini logic board tool - it made a huge difference in the ease of that step. Now I have a 1TB HDD in my trusty mini and it took less than one hour to do - thank you.

boss302beav -

Excellent guide. Much less scary than it might look. Just take your time and read each steps comment before executing the step.

meklir -

I followed these instructions diligently. After re-assembly and booting the system, I am experiencing intermittent video, mostly black screen with flashing grey and brief appearance of the Apple logo. While I cannot say for sure, the boot process makes it as far as the filevault login screen. I have tried multiple boot drives with no change. It seems like the system has been bricked.

Has anyone seen this before? It does not matter if I tap into the HDMI or mini-display port.

Thanks in advance.

jyana -

It is extremely irritating to take the whole thing apart and replace the upper drive, only to find that it was the other drive I needed to replace. As far as I know there is know way of telling which drive was faulty!

Don -

I removed the drive without doing steps 15 and 16. I was able to pry it out with a little bit of force and then I installed an SSD. There is enough room for the hard to come out if you just nudge it out. Someone suggested using foam to make up for the 2.5mm difference in thickness. I used a piece of paper that I folded 3 or 4 times and then taped it to the SSD. The SSD slid in with no problem.

metope -

Thank you so much, this worked perfectly and helped me bring a mid-2010 mac mini back to life with a brand new Crucial MX200 500 GB SSD!

Jeff Olson -

Step 8 - The antenna has a lip on it (the half crescent side). After the other side is lined up and in the groove, use a pair of tweezers or two mini screw drivers and stick them in two holes near the side that won't fit. Gently lift the antenna grill into place as you push it towards the edge of the Mac mini.

Noel Pardo -

I was nervous about trying this, but making sure to read all comments, it worked! Reinstalling the antenna cover plate was the most difficult part as the tolerances are very tight.

Steve Dollar -

Brilliant! Took me longer than 55 minutes (90?) but no big problems thanks to the guide and the other user comments. I was able to reattach the thermal sensors with tape I had removed from the drive. My Mac mini is now twice as fast to start up (5 minutes to 2.20), cooler, totally silent (no fan in use because it's cooler) and much more productive. It had fallen into disuse due to the time it took to do ANYTHING, but now it's fine again. Many thanks.

Graham Crewe -

Hi where and how did you re-attach the thermal sensor onto the new SSD? Thanks

Dix Boncan -

Many thanks for not only documenting the steps but also for encouraging not to afraid to go for it... It took about half-an-hour to replace my HDD with SDD (i had to carefully use plyers twice instead of missing torx). My Mini 2010's performance was strongly impacted by going to Mavericks and later OS, but the new SSD has compensated some of this loss :)

vitalyrychkov -

HI What odd is there is only 3 connectors on motherboard and no 4th one for cable piece that just stuck on top of hard drive for thermal sensor cable.

Jennifer Henry -

I've started the disassembly for this repair before realizing that I had the dual-hard drive/no optical drive 2010 Mac Server. I don't see any instructions for removing the dual hard drive assembly (the factory dual-hard drive, not the aftermarket optical drive/hard drive swap out. I don't see any instructions for my model, or did I miss them somewhere? I've got everything out of the mini shell except for the power supply. I've got both hard drives on the table - one in the protective plastic sheath (with glued sensors, cables, etc.) and the other in a plastic frame that slides out of the mini shell from its deepest parts. Incredibly, both hard drives are failing at the same time. Everything's backed up and I'm ready to replace with two 1TB drives that I've removed from MacBook Pros.

subscriptions -

Does anyone know what the max height for a 2.5" SATA hard drive is when replacing either of the hard drives in the dual-hard drive systems?

subscriptions -

I swapped out the 320 gig disk in my 2010 mini not long ago, I replaced it with a 1 TB to hold audio imported into iTunes with the Apple lossless codec. I managed to do the swap without disconnecting anything other than the SATA cable. I tried disconnecting the thermal sensor wires, but due to the age of the hardware, I figured it would turn out badly trying to get those tiny brittle plastic connectors apart. So with some careful work I got the sensors unstuck from the old disk and placed on the new one, got it into place, tightened all fasteners, and reassembled. Now this box, which is dedicated to CD importing and streaming audio via iTunes, can hold all the CDs I have on hand to import and then some.

Randy -

On my Mini, the 26mm T6 screw and stand-off removed in step 12 goes through the fan and has to be removed in step 3. Not sure if that was a design change mid production.

eric -

When Disk Utility refers to the “upper” drive, is that the bottom drive when repairing because it’s upside down?

Ark -

Mid 2010 mac mini

I cocked mine up, one of the heat sensor connectors broke whilst trying to lift out with pry tool,

i got the new hard drive in and got it all back together but there is no sign of life, the light doesn’t even come on the front,

My external hard drive lights up so there is power going though, and the hdmi changes on my tv, but nothing else happens,

i should have just stuck to the memory upgrade as changing it from the 2x 1gb to 2x 8gb made it a lot smoother than it ever has been!!

alas I didn’t leave it there and I now have no working Mac mini :(

Paul

paulpenfold74 -

Worked perfectly. The photos make it incredibly easy. I opted for a Samsung 860EVO 500GB SSD (Amazon.com had on sale for $99 + free next day shipping with Prime). Prying the logic board to move was a little sticky … and the other comment about the thickness of the SSD vs the old HDD is correct. I saw that some kits come with a rubber grommet, which would be helpful, but not required. It probably took more time to get the OS back on compare to swapping the drive out. Thank again.

Will Casserly -

Excellent guide, thank you iFix it. It is the second time I follow this , the first one I upgraded to a larger drive (1Tb) and now I switched to a SSD.

I still need the now “legacy” DVD for some old movies :). At some point I may replace it with a second HDD (storage) .

crus -

sono riuscito-a-cambiarlo-saltando-passo-15

cristiano tofani -

Very nice instructional. Replaced a dead HD and am now installing Mint Linux. This will make a nice media server for the house. Thanks!

barryjaylevine -

Step 21 - Removing the thermal sensor needs to be updated to emphasise how delicate this part is. Just saying “Carefully peel the thermal sensor…” is not good enough for people like me. I am careful, but the gum holding the tiny circuit board is very sticky. An indication of the consequences of not being extremely careful with this fragile component would be helpful ie crazy fan noise until it is replaced.

Rob Robinson -

Mac Mini Server 2010

I just replaced the lower HD of our MacminiServer Mid 2010 with a SSD. The replacement worked very well, although one has to very carefully disassemble especially the various little contacts of the heat sensors from the mother board.

Before doing so in case of a Macmini with server software I strongly recommend to make a clone of the whole server hard disk with CarbonCopyCloner to an external Fire-Wire HD. Then this clone is bootable. After reassembling all parts of the macmini I copied the clone back to the new SSD and rebooted the server from the SSD. Everything works perfect now and missing speed is no matter at all any more.

Christian Schmutz -

Excellent guide and it still works. Bought the Logic Board Removal Tool from iFixit, which made the swap a breeze. Thanks!

bobvehorn -

i skip step 12-16, Great doc as always.

ben saul -

Alright, just went through the motions despite much trepidation after reading about the flimsy connectors. Here’s what worked for me, mostly based on the step-level comments.

- since I was upgrading the RAM as well I pulled it out, and was glad to have it out of the way;

- I removed the long 3rd fan screw at step 3 and was glad I did;

- I unplugged all the ZIF connectors, including the IR sensor (4-wire), peace of mind when pulling logic board

- I left the Airport connector in place, as per one comment; I placed a finger on it when pulling out the antenna plate; not an issue afterwards during the various operations;

- I used a 2mm Allen key to move the logic board. Think of it as pulling out a drawer from inside, the drawer’s face being the black plate with the outside connectors at the back; the Allen key found something to leverage on upon contacting the underside of the top of the case, it was then a matter of gently prying from both holes a bit at a time;

- more in following comment!

jfkazi -

- I somehow missed the step about disconnecting the drives. The HD connector simply popped out, though;

- unsticking the HD heat sensor: the trick about rotating it works (think DJ and turntable, just more gentle);

- standing the Mini on its CD-slot face to nudge a thinner SSD in place (pegs in holes) works; connected antenna plate not an issue); temporarily placing the T9 screws on the drive to help manoeuvre it is helpful, just don’t forget to remove them before trying to put the antenna plate back in place;

- putting the antenna plate back: its long lip goes under the case’s lip, but the “teeth” of the antenna’s surface plate go over it. Once almost in place but not entirely aligned, I placed the two T9 HD screws and one of the T8 at the lefthand side, all a bit loose to allow for wiggle. With a fine tool in the holes at the edge of the lip, careful not to touch circuitry below, I nudged some of the little teeth over the ledge. I ended up pushing firmly the antenna onto this ledge until the satisfying ‘snap!’

jfkazi -

Excellent - worked great, had the HDD replaced with an SSD in just under 1 hour (with an iFixIt tool kit of torx/spudgers etc, of course!).. Thanks everyone for posting helpful comments on the various steps (such as removing the 3rd screw on the Fan - made this much easier).

Demis John -

I ran into a snag at step 12. The t6 stand-off is completely stripped. Any tips on how to remove it without wrecking the computer?

MikeB -

+1 on these steps - I had to take my time, especially during the re-assembly - and when things are positioned right they tend to "snap" into place, which is great feedback that the part or cable was connected properly. I also did not let the lack of the logic board removal tool stop me - I used 2 small screwdrivers that fit nicely into the holes for the tool, and the leverage points inside the holes are easy to find. Used this guide to replace a hard drive with an SSD in my Mac Mini Mid-2010 pulled from a dumpster of a company that was moving - and it is a nice file server for my home network to this day.

lk19 -