TESTING MAC MINI POWER SUPPLY DRIVER
TESTING MAC MINI POWER SUPPLY UPGRADE
TESTING MAC MINI POWER SUPPLY PC

Those Thunderbolt 3 ports offer a huge amount of connectivity, thanks to speeds of up to 40Gbps. On the back of the mini, you'll find four Thunderbolt 3 ports (using USB Type-C connections), two USB 3.0 ports, a single HDMI 2.0 port, a headphone jack for audio and a Gigabit Ethernet port. Similarly, while there's no configuration for the Mac mini that offers a discrete graphics card, you can also bump up the horsepower for gaming and other graphics-intensive uses by adding an external graphics card enclosure, also connected via Thunderbolt 3. The good news is that, thanks to the bandwidth offered by the Thunderbolt 3 ports found on the rear panel of the system, you can connect external storage вЂ“ even at jaw-dropping capacities вЂ“ and use it without taking a hit on performance. The PCIe-connected SSD is soldered to the logic board, making the flash storage modules all but impossible to remove and replace.ДЄpple has a well-deserved reputation for making its products hard to upgrade, and the Mac mini is no exception. In the 2014 model, you could remove the included Fusion drive (Apple's hybrid SSD and hard-disk storage solution) and replace it with an aftermarket SSD, boosting the performance of the machine and extending the life of the Mac mini вЂ“ which many people found necessary in the long wait for this year's update.

TESTING MAC MINI POWER SUPPLY DRIVER

Specifically, you'll need a driver for a TR6 Torx security screw.ДЄdditionally, while Apple has returned the upgradable RAM found on the 20 Mac mini, the upgradable storage is gone. So, even if you have a set of tiny Torx drivers, you'll probably need to get a different screwdriver, one with a hole in the center to accommodate that pin. It also means you'll be better able to keep the Mac mini up to date if Apple takes another four-year break before introducing the next model.

TESTING MAC MINI POWER SUPPLY UPGRADE

The 2018 model offers more traditional SO-DIMM slots, so you can swap out RAM, allowing you to upgrade the unit after purchase.

The Mac mini is being touted as more upgrade-friendly than the previous model, which had its RAM soldered directly to the motherboard. Unfortunately, the 2018 model still uses the less convenient design that requires a special tool. This access panel has taken different forms over the last few iterations of the mini, with the 2010 model offering a simple twist-to-open design and the 2014 model requiring a special prying tool (literally, a modified putty knife) to open. Around the edges of the panel are cleverly concealed vents for air flow, and the simple black surface has 'Mac mini' imprinted on it.

TESTING MAC MINI POWER SUPPLY PC

On the bottom of the Mac mini's aluminum chassis is a black plastic disk, which does double duty as both the foot for the compact PC as well as a cover that opens to provide internal access. The power supply has been enlarged to provide the necessary power to the new components. The design has larger vents and a bigger fan, doubling the airflow to better cool the processor. To accommodate the updated hardware inside, Apple had to change some of the internal design, as well. In fact, with up to 64GB memory onboard, it can still outperform the new M1-based Mac Mini in memory-intensive workloads, which ironically do not really require a lot of CPU horsepower at all times, and therefore its power draw in those workloads will not hit the ceiling demonstrated by AppleвЂ™s test.The littlest Mac has gotten a pretty stunning makeover, starting with the space-gray anodized finish. Yet it was a quite powerful machine for its time. In fact, as far as power efficiency is concerned, the 2018 Mac Mini is the most power-hungry Mac Mini ever. AppleвЂ™s measurements are significantly higher than those obtained by AnandTech, which means that Apple indeed uses a burn-in test that stresses all parts of the system, something that arguably happens in any real-world situation. Power consumption of the whole system counts in consumption of all of its components, including memory, storage, connectivity controllers (with the new Mac Mini, we're talking about a bunch of chips that includes Apple's own Wi-fi/Bluetooth (and GbE controller) as well as voltage regulation overhead (something we know from 80Plus badges in the non-Apple world).

Testing mac mini power supply