Bought a Mac Mini 2.0 in 3/08 with OS X version 10.5.8. It has the 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (1 processor, 2 cores), 1GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, 5400 RPM serial ATA drive and 4MB L2 Cache. I want to upgrade the hardware so it runs faster, but my invoice says it can only support up to 2GB of RAM and that’s it. I’ve heard that won’t make much difference and that a 7200RPM hard drive will do more for me. Others have said you CAN upgrade to more and faster RAM. What’s the truth? What upgrades can I really do on this mini to max it out for speed (no soldering please, I need plug & play upgrades).
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Chris
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Hardware Upgrades To an Older ’08 Mac Mini 2.0?
Comments: 4 Responses to “Hardware Upgrades To an Older ’08 Mac Mini 2.0?”
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You can look up the specifications for that model (See http://macmost.com/looking-up-apple-tech-specs.html) and confirm as to whether 2GB is the max. Looks like it is (http://support.apple.com/kb/SP7). If so, there's not much you can do. Going from 1GB to 2GB will give you a performance boost most likely. I can't see going from 5400 RPM to 7200 RPM being too noticeable, though.
Memory will be cheaper, easier and probably more likely to make a difference.
No soldering required for memory upgrades, but it can be tricky on the Mac mini, especially if you haven't done this sort of thing before. So you might want to factor in the cost of tech shop labor.
Yes i can confirm what Gary is saying. I have the same one,and you can only upgrade it to 2GB. Gary mentions cost. I live in the UK and you are wasting your time getting an upgrade. I was quoted about £170 and that does not include the carriage and packing. My answer i bought an external hard drive. I am on an iMac now but the Mac Mini is just next to me,and i hardly use it.
I have just looked up my Mac Mini Specs are- Mac OS X Version 10.5.8
Processor 2GHz Intel core2 Duo Memory 1GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Start Up Disk Macintosh HD. My comment up above was not very informative but now you can confirm this info is the same as your Mac Mini and i can also verify that you can only upgrade it to 2 GB. The tech guy said you can upgrade it further using Airport,but i am going back to 2007,but as i said up above you can get an external hard drive.
Thanks for the advice! I already have an external hard drive, but I use it to store HD videos from my Cannon HF100. I could try getting another one and operating off of that. I guess I'm stuck with just 2GB of RAM though. Oh well. The reason I wanted a faster Mac was so I could use Final Cut Pro and edit some of those HD videos I have. My older Mini just isn't up to the task. Anyone have a killer fast Mac they want to sell?