New Mac Mini's Storage Can Be Upgraded, But It's Not Easy

Quinn Nelson has shared a super informative teardown video for the new Mac mini on his YouTube channel Snazzy Labs, offering the most comprehensive look inside Apple's smallest computer ever that we have seen so far. Give it a watch below.

Yesterday, we reported that the new Mac mini features modular storage, and YouTube channel dosdude1 has already opened up the base model and upgraded its storage capacity from 256GB to 1TB. The steps included removing the original NAND storage chips from the board with a heat gun, preparing the new NAND chips by reballing them, soldering the new NAND chips to the board, and restoring the Mac mini in DFU Mode.

While those steps are impractical for the average customer, the video proves that storage in the new Mac mini can technically be upgraded without having to pay for Apple's overpriced storage upgrade options when ordering the computer.

Related Roundup: Mac mini
Buyer's Guide: Mac Mini (Neutral)
Related Forum: Mac mini

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island

iPhone 18 Pro Leak Adds New Evidence for Under-Display Face ID

Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker. According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds Second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found. Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
Johny Srouji

Apple's Chipmaking Chief Johny Srouji Responds to Report About Him Potentially Leaving

Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future. "I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
top stories 2025 12 04a

Top Stories: iOS 26.2 Coming Soon, Apple Execs Depart, and More

Saturday December 6, 2025 6:00 am PST by
You'd expect things to be starting to wind down for the holidays by now, but that doesn't seem to be the case yet in the world of Apple news, with Apple just about ready to release iOS 26.2 and other operating system updates to the public. There was also a flurry of news this week about Apple executive departures, some expected and some not so expected, while we also learned that Apple and...
maxresdefault

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Monday December 1, 2025 3:00 am PST by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that ...

Top Rated Comments

adamw Avatar
14 months ago
Best (and cutest) Mac ever! And now expandable too, even with a Thunderbolt 3, 4, or 5 external drive as your Startup Drive. I took my base M4 Mac mini, added a 4TB SanDisk PRO-G40 External Thunderbolt 3 SSD drive, and set it up as my Startup Disk with macOS on it, and now I boot up having a 4TB SSD M4 Mac Mini for less than $1,000. The External Thunderbolt 3 SSD speed (at up to 3,200 MB/second with both read and write) is even faster than the Apple internal 256GB SSD drive. Thunderbolt 5 External SSD drives (coming out soon from OWC) should be up to twice that speed on M4 Pro Mac Minis.

Note: I recommend a Thunderbolt 3, 4 or 5 External SSD drive, and not a USB 3 or USB 4 external SSD drive for your Startup Drive, as they usually can't maintain speeds as well as a Thunderbolt SSD drive. USB drives work great for data storage, but for use as a Swap Drive for full flash RAM memory and for your macOS and Program Applications, I recommend a Thunderbolt 3/4/5 SSD drive as your primary Startup Drive on your Mac. Just make sure that you set it up per the below Apple instructions which SSD drive (Internal or External) is your Startup Drive for your Mac to boot up with, and use for reading and writing to. You will have to change your Startup Drive back in the General Settings to boot up with the 256GB Internal SSD drive, if you ever need to use it, otherwise it is good for read only use. I had to use the macOS Recovery method (by holding the power button down on boot) outlined in Apple's link below to install macOS on my external Thunderbolt 3 SSD drive, before I could set it up to be my System Startup (Boot) Drive.

Here are Apple's Instructions on how to install macOS on an external storage device (like a Thunderbolt SSD drive) and use it as a startup disk: https://support.apple.com/en-us/111336

WARNING I was not aware of previously: If you boot off an external Startup Drive with your Mac, due to Apple's New Security, you can NOT run Apple Intelligence, and likely Apple Pay, and other security related things from your external Thunderbolt or SSD drive. See this video from a guy who just discovered this limitation:

Thanks to gargetfreak98 for this potential workaround of moving your home folder to the external SSD drive:
https://appleinsider.com/inside/macos-ventura/tips/how-to-move-your-home-directory-in-macos-ventura

Here are some videos to help you Install Your Home folder on an External Drive to make Apple Intelligence, macOS, and other Apple apps work properly. This goes along with the above linked instructions about how to move your Home folder to your external drive:



Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mac Fly (film) Avatar
14 months ago
Guy who did the storage upgrade made a good video. None of the typical YouTuber annoyances, just plainly spoken and does the job.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GraXXoR Avatar
14 months ago

Guy who did the storage upgrade made a good video. None of the typical YouTuber annoyances, just plainly spoken and does the job.
That’s not just a mere a guy. That’s a dude: dosdude… And he’s number one.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tomtad Avatar
14 months ago
All we need is a handle to easily open it now

Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rumoresque Avatar
14 months ago

That’s not just a mere a guy. That’s a dude: dosdude… And he’s number one.
So! you’d need hundreds of dollars of tools and equipment, 6-8 hours of your time, high risk of destroying your equipment, but you might save $200 over Apple’s storage upgrade? Where do sign? ??
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
14 months ago
The EU needs to look into this and their ESG sustainability rating should automatically receive a downgrade of X points each time they release another product with glued and other restrictive elements
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)