In addition to its striking new exterior, the M4 Mac mini has undergone several internal upgrades. Early teardowns and user feedback indicate that the Mac mini is equipped with a removable SSD. However, this does not imply that you can purchase a new Mac mini and later upgrade the storage.
On the iFixit forums, a user named KianWee Lim shared an image depicting the internal layout of the M4 Mac mini, revealing that the SSD is not soldered to the logic board. This hints at a modular SSD design, which can be easily removed by users, reminiscent of the Mac Studio’s configuration.
As previously noted regarding the Mac Studio in 2022, the mere presence of a removable SSD does not guarantee that it can be upgraded. iFixit confirmed back then that the Mac Studio does not recognize SSD configurations different from the factory-installed ones, which is likely the case for the M4 Mac mini as well.
After the Mac Studio’s debut, there were speculations that Apple might offer authorized SSD storage upgrades in the future. Similar to how Apple sells an SSD Upgrade Kit for the Mac Pro, this anticipated option never materialized.
Enhanced SSD Performance
According to MacRumors, there is a silver lining for users of the M4 Mac mini. A recent teardown video circulating on social media reveals that the 256GB model utilizes two 128GB storage modules instead of a single 256GB module, as seen in the M2 Mac mini.
This adjustment means that the M4 Mac mini will provide notably faster read and write speeds, addressing one of the main criticisms of the previous model. Apple took similar measures with the M3 MacBook Air earlier this year as well.
The new M4 Mac mini is now available, in conjunction with the latest MacBook Pro and iMac models.
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