Installing a Second Hard Drive in Your 2011 Mac Mini - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Installing a Second Hard Drive in Your 2011 Mac Mini

by

Users can install a second hard drive in non-Server models of the new Mac Mini, according to MacRumors forum member Slyseekr. iFixit's teardown of the new Mac Mini released last month revealed enough room -- and an extra SATA port -- for a second hard drive to be installed, assuming one found the proper cable.

5988687535 2dc49ce541 z
Slyseekr found that cable for $49 shipped, disassembled his Mac Mini, and installed a second hard drive, saving himself hundreds of dollars off the Server model. Step-by-step instructions are available on the MacRumors Forums.

The standard disclaimers apply of course: this is not an Apple-approved upgrade and may void your warranty, but a number of our readers have reported successful upgrades.

Top Rated Comments

WiiDSmoker Avatar
WiiDSmoker
193 months ago
Kind of sad that being able to add a harddrive to your computer is somehow amazing...:confused:
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Prodo123 Avatar
Prodo123
193 months ago
Better yet:
Buy 2010 chassis. Buy cable. Gut your 2011 Mac Mini and reassemble it using the 2010 chassis. Install optical drive the same way. PROFIT.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
N
neech7
193 months ago
Kind of sad that being able to add a harddrive to your computer is somehow amazing...:confused:

Or is it worse that the cable alone cost $50.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
W
winston1236
193 months ago
nice! now lets get to the ram...
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
F
flipples
193 months ago
Video for adding 2nd hard drive to mini:
http://www.techdc.com/2011-mac-mini-hard-drive-upgrade-video
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ksgant Avatar
ksgant
193 months ago
A lot of people would probably go for the quad-core server model as a high-end mini if it didn't have such a terrible graphics card. I want to see someone retrofit the quad-core server with the better graphics card in the old mini enclosure since it would have more room to fit it all! Or maybe even the standard enclosure but with only one hard drive plus the graphics card. Now is that possible?

Well, we may have something soon that may fix that:

https://www.macrumors.com/2011/08/01/external-thunderbolt-pci-expansion-chassis-and-hub-in-development/
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments

Popular Stories

Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Apple Card Promo to Offer Free AirPods Pro 3

Friday May 15, 2026 8:59 am PDT by
Starting as early as next week, customers who sign up for an Apple Card at Apple's retail stores in the U.S. will receive $249 cash back when they purchase AirPods Pro 3, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The promotion has yet to be officially announced by Apple, so exact terms and conditions are not available at this time. AirPods Pro 3 are priced at $249 in the U.S., so customers who...
Read Full Article • 45 comments
Apple WWDC25 iOS 26 CarPlay Light mode 250609

Six Popular iPhone Apps Now Available on CarPlay

Thursday May 14, 2026 9:10 am PDT by
Apple's CarPlay system for accessing iPhone apps on a vehicle's dashboard screen has received six popular apps in recent weeks: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Grok, Google Meet, WhatsApp, and the indie artist streaming platform Audiomack. Make sure you have the latest version of each app and they will automatically appear on CarPlay. ChatGPT Starting with iOS 26.4, CarPlay supports voice-based...
Read Full Article • 29 comments
ipad mini 7 blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Thursday May 14, 2026 5:08 am PDT by
According to the latest rumors, Apple is close to launching its next-generation iPad mini. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to information found in code...
Read Full Article • 87 comments