Saturday, February 25, 2006
Mini Gets a Bigger Brain
This morning I gave myself a reward for a long week: I installed new RAM in my Mac Mini.
People in Mac-land know that this is not an upgrade taken lightly. The joy of the Mini's miniturization is tempered by the fact that everything fits together so tightly; opening the case is a real challenge.
I found a nice play-by-play on RussellBeattie.com, but ended up following a link on that site to the Macworld writeup by the clear and reliable Dan Frakes. I found two old putty knives and went at it; it was actually pretty easy. I won't bother to provide my own blow-for-blow take on the process; Beattie and Frakes have that covered.
Two things I'll add, though: First, one of the flippers that holds the RAM in place is impeded by metal fins at the back of the Mini. I couldn't just pop the old RAM out as advertised. And second, take Beattie and Frakes seriously when they say that getting the Mini back in its case is challeng. The problem lies in the back of the machine, where the connectors are. I had to put the case back on twice to get this right, and it's still ever-so-slightly out of alignment. Thank goodness it's on the back of the machine where I don't have to look at it. (Paragraph revised 28 February 2006.)
One other thing I'll share with the world, especially those who don't intend to open their Minis: the location of the Bluetooth and Airport antennas. They're on the top of the box; if you look at the Mini from directly above (with the Apple logo upright), the Bluetooth antenna is on the lower left and the Airport antenna is on the upper right. I've been wrestling with getting Bluetooth to work with my Palm Zire 72, so I'm hoping that this information might prove helpful.
But I'll close by saying, don't be afraid of this upgrade. It's not difficult mechanically if you have two broad, thin putty knives, and the performance bump was apparent from startup. Here's a picture of the new baby:
People in Mac-land know that this is not an upgrade taken lightly. The joy of the Mini's miniturization is tempered by the fact that everything fits together so tightly; opening the case is a real challenge.
I found a nice play-by-play on RussellBeattie.com, but ended up following a link on that site to the Macworld writeup by the clear and reliable Dan Frakes. I found two old putty knives and went at it; it was actually pretty easy. I won't bother to provide my own blow-for-blow take on the process; Beattie and Frakes have that covered.
Two things I'll add, though: First, one of the flippers that holds the RAM in place is impeded by metal fins at the back of the Mini. I couldn't just pop the old RAM out as advertised. And second, take Beattie and Frakes seriously when they say that getting the Mini back in its case is challeng. The problem lies in the back of the machine, where the connectors are. I had to put the case back on twice to get this right, and it's still ever-so-slightly out of alignment. Thank goodness it's on the back of the machine where I don't have to look at it. (Paragraph revised 28 February 2006.)
One other thing I'll share with the world, especially those who don't intend to open their Minis: the location of the Bluetooth and Airport antennas. They're on the top of the box; if you look at the Mini from directly above (with the Apple logo upright), the Bluetooth antenna is on the lower left and the Airport antenna is on the upper right. I've been wrestling with getting Bluetooth to work with my Palm Zire 72, so I'm hoping that this information might prove helpful.
But I'll close by saying, don't be afraid of this upgrade. It's not difficult mechanically if you have two broad, thin putty knives, and the performance bump was apparent from startup. Here's a picture of the new baby:
