Earlier today I wrote about my first impressions unpacking and using the Mac mini . But to do it Justice Department you need to see a few image that put its size in perspective . I also mentioned in the earlier clause that I ’d be taking my Mac mini apart to see how easygoing or difficult it is to upgrade the RAM . Read on for more on that , as well . But first , about the mini ’s size of it …
Size Matters
The first affair that impress you about the Mac mini is how little its loge is . Not let in a reminder and keyboard can do that to a corner , but even so , it ’s impressively compact :
Small , eh ? But the Mac miniskirt itself is even smaller . Take a feeling at it when posed next to a push-down stack of 5 compact disc in their cases :
But let ’s look at this from another angle :
That ’s the Mac minibehindthe push-down storage of standard candle . It ’s there . Really .
( The mini is n’t smaller than the stack of CDs ; it just seems that way . Nevertheless , I guess that trope show how truly tiny the mini is compared to most computers . )
Changing Memories
The big question on many prospective Mac mini buyers ’ minds is , “ How well-fixed is it to advance the RAM ? ” As I observe in my compare of the Mac miniskirt and Dell ’s tawdry Windows PC , the official word from Apple is that the Mac mini ’s RAMisuser - upgradeable , “ unless you bust something when you open up it . ” The fact that Apple is saying that explicitly might give you pause … and it probably should . I opened my mini today , and although it ’s not as hard to upgrade as some Macs I ’ve used ( can you say , “ Power Macintosh 8100 ? ” ) , it ’s nowhere near as easy as the iMac G5 .
First things first , you take Apple ’s prescribed Mac mini Upgrade Tool Kit ( otherwise know as “ two very thin putty knife ” ) .
There are no ass holding the Mac mini ’s atomic number 13 and charge card shell onto its body ; it ’s keep in billet by 15 small , formative clips — six on each side and three on the front . ( The back of the mini is “ loose . ” ) To give the casing , you want to turn the Mac mini upside - down and then somehow press the tabs on the left and ripe sides inward until they release ; you may then safely lift the back panel of the Mac miniskirt up , which will loose the tab in the front .
How do you do this ? For deficiency of a better peter , with the putty knives . I ’ve insure claims around the Web that you could carry out this job with a single putty knife — turn first on one side and then on the other — but I had much better fortune with two . After turning the Mac mini upside down , I first introduce one putty tongue on the left side , in the very slender crease between the aluminum shell and the white plastic groundwork , towards the back of the mini , and then put in the other putty knife in the same opening on the right side , also towards the back . ( take note that you needthinputty knives to do this without damage either control surface . ) I then slowly , but unwaveringly , pried the putty knives outward in lodge to press the white-hot connecting pill inward to secrete them . ( You ’ll listen a few gaudy pops as this happen successfully ; loud cracks , on the other handwriting , probably mean you ’ve split the pill . ) After the body of the Mac mini begin to lift out of the case , you may need to slide the putty knife towards the front and repeat this motion to release all of the tabs on each side .
Once you ’ve let go of all the tabs on the left and right-hand face , the body of the Mac miniskirt raise out moderately easily , and you ’re reward with an unobstructed persuasion of the marvel of miniaturization that it really is . There ’s little atrophied space here , just lots of little components — have you ever ensure how flimsy a slot - stretch laptop ocular drive really is?—crammed together in likely the only configuration that would really fit . ( apropos , those two shiny rectangular thing are the Bluetooth antenna [ top ] and AirPort transmitting aerial [ bottom ] . )
Along the left - mitt side of the mini ’s physical structure is the single RAM slot . If you do n’t have the internal Bluetooth mental faculty set up , upgrading your RAM is as mere as popping out the live DIMM ( unfortunately , you lose it in the upgrade ) and plopping a fresh one in its place . However , if you order your Mac mini with the optional internal Bluetooth module , the process is a number tricker .
That lustrous rectangular contraption sit just above the random-access memory chip is your Bluetooth antenna ; you ca n’t take away your current RAM , or set up a bigger DIMM , without first removing that firearm . But a closer look depict you that it ’s actually connect to the chassis for the ocular parkway .
See that little screw between the RAM microprocessor chip and the feeler ? tease it a bit , lift the antenna up and out of the way , andthenupgrade your RAM ; when you ’re finish up , reinstall the antenna by identify it back in position and tightening the screw .
Replacing the Mac mini ’s top is the easiest part : You merely run along everything up and press down until you hear all the dog of the tabs interlock into place . ( Although be careful — there are a few fragile metal shields at the back of the mini that you may require to press inwards so that they do n’t get catch on the concealment as you slide the two pieces together . )
Not Hard , But Not well-to-do
So how difficult was the process ? Once I picture out the trick to pop the top , so to talk , not bad at all . But discovering that prank was a snatch sketchy . At first I tried using thicker putty knives , which not only did n’t fit in the gap well , but would have likely damaged the Mac miniskirt ’s plastic and aluminum surfaces — cosmetically , that is — if I ’d squeeze them . And even when I find putty knives that set , I was at first quite flighty that I was going tobreakmy brand new computer judge to pry it open ; it took a bit of discipline to thrust myself to compress firmly enough to get the desired results . Now that I ’ve done it , it wo n’t be difficult to do it again , but I ’m not certain I ’d recommend the procedure to some of my less - gadgety - tend booster and relative . ( Read : I ’ll be doing most of the upgrade . )
That being enjoin , the process was n’t sorry , and it ’s surely skilful than paying Apple $ 425 for a 1 GB RAM rise when you could get a 1 GB DIMM online for $ 160 to $ 180 and establish it yourself ( or pay a service provider $ 50 or so to do it for you ) . Plus this way you could keep or sell the original 256 MB chip .
[ For more on the Mac miniskirt , shoot the breeze the Mac miniskirt page . ]
