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Why would anyone buy a Mac Mini and put Linux on it?! There are a million other small PCs that are far better for that. If I was going to buy a Mac Mini, it's

by zymhan 10y ago

Why would anyone buy a Mac Mini and put Linux on it?! There are a million other small PCs that are far better for that. If I was going to buy a Mac Mini, it's to have an affordable Mac that I can stick somewhere in my house to run occasional OS X software. I already have a few other computers, plenty of them running Linux. A Mac Mini is a great way to get a cheap OS X setup going. Also, it's not low margin, they charge $200-$400 for each upgrade you make. So if you only want a 1.8GHz box with 5400rpm spinning rust, then you're still paying $500 and Apple can't be out more than $300 in parts and costs. Especially given that they've been selling this model for 3 years, the cost of production is quite low.

rwmj 10y ago
Back when I had a Mac Mini (10 years ago), you could pull them apart and upgrade the RAM and hard disk, which I did. Is that not still the case?
- washadjeffmad 10y ago
  You still can, but they're a few hardware generations out of date. You'd have more fun with a raspi 3 or a less expensive mini-ITX build that you can upgrade with current gen components.
  - snuxoll 10y ago
    No you can't, the current Mac Mini has RAM soldered onto the board. I think the only machines Apple now sells with any internal expansion are the 27" iMac and the trashcan.
  - lultimouomo 10y ago
    Ram is soldered so you cannot upgrade it. You can swap the HD with a SATA SSD, iFixit has an easy 35 step tutorial to do that (plus 35 steps back to reassemble it) that involves a custom made tool to remove the motherboard and a pretty rare anti-tamper Torx TR6 screwdriver. (Once you get ahold of the screwdriver it's actually not as hard as it looks. You can DIY the motherboard removal tool from a wire coat hanger and in 40 minutes of focused work you'll be done.)
- bangonkeyboard 10y ago
  The last Mac mini "update" in 2014 soldered the RAM to the motherboard and sealed away access to the internals. [0][1] [0]: https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/IMG_0456.jpg https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/IMG_0... [1]: https://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/11/not-the-upgrade-we-were-hoping-for-the-2014-mac-mini-reviewed/2/ https://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/11/not-the-upgrade-we-wer...
- jdeibele 10y ago
  You can't upgrade the RAM anymore. "Mac mini (Late 2014) does not have user-installable RAM." https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205041 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205041
  - zymhan 10y ago
    I thought the author had an older Mac Mini that would be upgradeable, since they were looking at buying the 2014 model.
danieldk 10y ago
Also, it's not low margin, they charge $200-$400 for each upgrade you make. So if you only want a 1.8GHz box with 5400rpm spinning rust, then you're still paying $500 and Apple can't be out more than $300 in parts and costs. I still have a Late 2012 Mac Mini. The CPU is almost as fast as the 2014 and I put in 16 GB RAM when I bought it (you could just pop off the bottom without a screwdriver). Later I also added a 500GB SSD. It still runs great. Still selling the 2014 Mini is even a bigger offense than if they'd sell the upgradable late 2012 flavor.
deleted 10y ago
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by zymhan 10y ago

rwmj 10y ago

Back when I had a Mac Mini (10 years ago), you could pull them apart and upgrade the RAM and hard disk, which I did. Is that not still the case?

washadjeffmad 10y ago
You still can, but they're a few hardware generations out of date. You'd have more fun with a raspi 3 or a less expensive mini-ITX build that you can upgrade with current gen components.
- snuxoll 10y ago
  No you can't, the current Mac Mini has RAM soldered onto the board. I think the only machines Apple now sells with any internal expansion are the 27" iMac and the trashcan.
- lultimouomo 10y ago
  Ram is soldered so you cannot upgrade it. You can swap the HD with a SATA SSD, iFixit has an easy 35 step tutorial to do that (plus 35 steps back to reassemble it) that involves a custom made tool to remove the motherboard and a pretty rare anti-tamper Torx TR6 screwdriver. (Once you get ahold of the screwdriver it's actually not as hard as it looks. You can DIY the motherboard removal tool from a wire coat hanger and in 40 minutes of focused work you'll be done.)
bangonkeyboard 10y ago
The last Mac mini "update" in 2014 soldered the RAM to the motherboard and sealed away access to the internals. [0][1] [0]: https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/IMG_0456.jpg https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/IMG_0... [1]: https://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/11/not-the-upgrade-we-were-hoping-for-the-2014-mac-mini-reviewed/2/ https://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/11/not-the-upgrade-we-wer...
jdeibele 10y ago
You can't upgrade the RAM anymore. "Mac mini (Late 2014) does not have user-installable RAM." https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205041 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205041
- zymhan 10y ago
  I thought the author had an older Mac Mini that would be upgradeable, since they were looking at buying the 2014 model.

danieldk 10y ago

Also, it's not low margin, they charge $200-$400 for each upgrade you make. So if you only want a 1.8GHz box with 5400rpm spinning rust, then you're still paying $500 and Apple can't be out more than $300 in parts and costs. I still have a Late 2012 Mac Mini. The CPU is almost as fast as the 2014 and I put in 16 GB RAM when I bought it (you could just pop off the bottom without a screwdriver). Later I also added a 500GB SSD. It still runs great. Still selling the 2014 Mini is even a bigger offense than if they'd sell the upgradable late 2012 flavor.

deleted 10y ago

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