iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit—Mac Mini Teardown

[BrandoJames]

I just picked up the iFixit Pro Tech tool kit for $65 via Amazon. I needed the kit to upgrade my Mac Mini with an SSD drive. I’ve already installed an NVMe SSD, which was quite simple—just pop the case and the PCIe slot was easily accessible. I use that drive to run my Mac OS 11 partition.

However, my Linux CentOS partition was running on the original SATA HDD, so I wanted to upgrade that drive to SSD. On the Mac Mini, replacing the SATA drive means a complete teardown/rebuild. I’m retired, with plenty of spare time and nowhere to go, so why not. I ordered the iFixit tool kit and went to work yesterday. Popped the lid, removed the fan, removed power supply, removed logic board (which meant disconnecting several tiny plastic connectors)—just to get to the SATA drive. Note: iFixit has excellent videos on computer repair.

The tool kit was pretty handy. I used a Torx 5, Torx 6 Security, Torx 7. Finally got the Mac stripped down to the bare case, installed my SSD Samsung SATA drive, then put it all back together. Powered it up and she booted fine into Mac OS, which recognized the new SSD drive. Then I recreated a bootable Linux CentOS partition on the new SSD and restored some user files from backup.

Last night, I noticed that my LED no longer works—the little green power light that flashes when the system is asleep (that’s one of those tiny plastic connectors that I obviously destroyed). But other than that snafu the Mac is total SSD now. And I’ve already upgraded my PS4 to SSD. One silver lining about the Covid lockdown: people are learning how to fix their own stuff. Or in my case, fix one thing & break another.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GF0KV6G/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[SteadyC]

Awesome. I just fixed 3 macbook pro's (2013). The 13's had cracked screens. Also upgraded the ram in both along with new 500gb SSD and the other with 1tb. Had to replace the drive cable in one. The 15" MBP I replaced the battery (the 13's got new batteries as well). Had to replace the battery in a Iphone 8 too!

This is the first time i've worked on any of these things. I ordered the same kit as you and purchased all the repair parts from Ifix it to support the right to repair.

I damaged a standard slotted bit in the I fix it kit and reported it after I ordered my repair parts. The replacement bit came in before the parts.

 

[Bubba Fett]

I have an older bit set from them. I ordered it from Amazon from a 3rd party seller, and it had two duplicate bits. I contacted them, and they replaced them with the correct ones, no hassle. Pretty awesome.

 

[Rabid Badger]

If you aren't working on something with deeply recessed fasteners (rare with electronics) the iFixit kits are the best deal going by a wide margin.

The bits and driver handles in particular are top-notch.

 

[BrandoJames]

Don't think I could go into business as a computer repair tech. There's a post on the iFixit website from a guy who did the same thing I did. When trying to remove the tiny LED/IR cable, he accidentally pulled the entire assembly off the board. Check the iFixit comments section for the reply from Dan (link below).

The only way I know of to fix my LED light now is to replace the logic board--which simply isn't worth it. I can imagine a customer complaining: "Yeah, my new SSD drive works but WHAT HAPPENED TO MY LITTLE GREEN LIGHT???"

https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/564706/Can't+find+where+to+plug+in+IR+sensor+cable

 

[acer66]

Are we talking about that light that shows if the comp is on, asleep or off?
If so what generation has a green light?

 

[BrandoJames]

Are we talking about that light that shows if the comp is on, asleep or off? If so what generation has a green light?

My system is a 2014 Mac Mini. There's only one LED: solid green when powered on; flashes green when in sleep mode. When I bought the Mini five years ago, I spent the extra $$$ and got the Intel Dual Core i5 with 8 gig of RAM. The base 2014 Mac Mini was the Intel Dual Core i3 with only 4 gig of RAM.

I tell people that when they buy a new system (either PC or Mac), spend a few extra dollars on a faster CPU and additional RAM. That adds a lot of life to your system. With my SSD upgrades, the 2014 Mac Mini runs well with the latest Mac OS 11 Big Sur as well as Linux CentOS 8.2

 

[FuzzyTiger]

Don't think I could go into business as a computer repair tech.[/url]

I used to do it professionally and its pretty miserable. You get a sense for how these things get put together over time and how much force to apply and where etc.

The worst is having to go in blind without any tear down procedure from iFixIt or the manufacturer or anywhere else. iFixIt uses xray machines and thermal imaging cameras to help them get into things and even then the devices don't always survive their discovery tear downs.

Of course most computers getting repaired are desktop computers that are dead simple to work on. After you do a few of them, you can practically do them blind folded.

 

[FuzzyTiger]

The only way I know of to fix my LED light now is to replace the logic board--which simply isn't worth it. I can imagine a customer complaining: "Yeah, my new SSD drive works but WHAT HAPPENED TO MY LITTLE GREEN LIGHT???"[/url]

I'm not familiar with the Mac Mini (its been a while since I've done this kind of work) but there are companies that do logic board repairs (Rossmann Group comes to mind). Unless the LED is critical to functioning, I wouldn't recommend it though. Its a 6 year old computer, its sadly not worth the investment.

If you want to try repairing it yourself, you can try to check on eBay for a replacement logic board. Apple products usually have a decent salvage market

 

[bushmechanic]

I use iFixit tools every day. They are high quality and thorough as hell.

It performs like it costs a ****-ton more money than it actually does, and the bits are tough as nails. It's not what people might think when looking at the picture.

Looks a bit like every other mini multi-driver you've seen, but get it in your hand and it's made of denser stuff, smooth as silk in operation, precise, and durable.

It's worth every penny and more, and will hold up to business use and abuse. I've never even damaged one of the products, and yes, they get used on cars and guns and stuff, as well because they're just plain convenient.

If they made a full-size set, I'd buy it immediately.

 

[username2]

Don't think I could go into business as a computer repair tech.

I'm surprised there's any money in it, I suppose a lot of it is people trying to retrieve data (the valuable part) from a bricked machine. Given the motion of the nonserviceable stuff up the food chain, eventually you'll just see a solid lump of 3D electronics with a power and a data port, I would guess it's a business that tends to disappear over time.

There's a special kind of OCD that looks to go with techs. Reworking BGAs looks like a hassle. In days of yore, I remember watching part of a lab given over to meticulous ladies putting together wire-wrapped ASIC prototypes. I'm always surprised how good humans are at dealing with detailed stuff given their recent history as plains-dwelling hunter gatherers.

 

[BrandoJames]

I'm not familiar with the Mac Mini (its been a while since I've done this kind of work) but there are companies that do logic board repairs (Rossmann Group comes to mind).

Isn't Rossman the YouTube repair tech who throws tantrums about Apple. Although I support right-to-repair, Rossman reminds me of Seinfeld's George Costanza, lol.

I prefer Northridge Fix YouTube channel. Alex from NF has no problem fixing Apple products (link below). Even an amateur like me can take a Mac apart, upgrade it, and put it back together again. Rossman would be more persuasive if he didn't have an axe to grind.

 

[bushmechanic]

Isn't Rossman the YouTube repair tech who throws tantrums about Apple. Although I support right-to-repair, Rossman reminds me of Seinfeld's George Costanza, lol.

I prefer Northridge Fix YouTube channel. Alex from NF has no problem fixing Apple products (link below). Even an amateur like me can take a Mac apart, upgrade it, and put it back together again. Rossman would be more persuasive if he didn't have an axe to grind.

Those "tantrums" have made him a hell of a lot more money than fixing computers ever will.

It's an act with publicity stunts; just with real data and a useful person behind it.

Any successful channel is carefully scripted to be exactly what the chosen demographic wants; and frustrated computer guys like to watch someone else beat their head against a wall and curse companies that get in the way.

It's like the automotive TV shows always ending up with a tight schedule or with delivery issues on parts they've already got stacked up in the back.

That is arranged ahead of time. No different than Rossman's rants.

AVE is the same. That man doesn't speak in such a manner in person; it's his "camera" personality; even if he's not on camera.

It's all an act in entertainment. I do it on my stuff, too. It's all carefully tailored, from music to microphone distance, and from script to attitude; and even catch-phrases for people to remember.

 

[Eric Essen]

Re: iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit—Mac Mini Teardown

Thank you!!! That's my product I developed because I'm a tool junkie too like all the GJ folks. I worked back and forth between computer and motorcycle repair at all my jobs before iFixit, and I HATE toolkits full of useless tools that have no application. That is a big part of the passion behind our sets. We've got almost 70k repair guides with the tool data to crunch for the popularity of each tool. Every bit we make has been researched in its applications and has current consumer demand. The first few kits we made 10 years ago were assembled using white label cases and bits put into our own assortments, but now we design everything from scratch, own our own molds, patents, develop our own standards for odd bits/improved on existing ones for our own use, etc.

We run really tight margins on our toolkits/get regular feedback that they should be 3x the price from professionals. Selling it at the lowest consumer-friendly price we can means we get them in the hands of millions (well a million so far!) of people. We're now in 1,000's of ACE hardware stores, Best Buy, and ongoing expansion with Home Depot, great distribution internationally, and more that would not be possible if we priced for Professional / GOV channels. More kits mean more fixed things!

Also - All our non-consumable tools are covered by our lifetime warranty should you ever have an issue, send a pic to our support@ email and we'll get you fixed up.

https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/Pro-Tech-Toolkit/IF145-307

I use iFixit tools every day. They are high quality and thorough as hell.

It performs like it costs a ****-ton more money than it actually does, and the bits are tough as nails. It's not what people might think when looking at the picture.

Looks a bit like every other mini multi-driver you've seen, but get it in your hand and it's made of denser stuff, smooth as silk in operation, precise, and durable.

It's worth every penny and more, and will hold up to business use and abuse. I've never even damaged one of the products, and yes, they get used on cars and guns and stuff, as well because they're just plain convenient.

If they made a full-size set, I'd buy it immediately.

 

[BrandoJames]

Re: iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit—Mac Mini Teardown

Thank you!!! That's my product I developed because I'm a tool junkie too like all the GJ folks. I worked back and forth between computer and motorcycle repair at all my jobs before iFixit, and I HATE toolkits full of useless tools that have no application. That is a big part of the passion behind our sets. We've got almost 70k repair guides with the tool data to crunch for the popularity of each tool...Also - All our non-consumable tools are covered by our lifetime warranty should you ever have an issue, send a pic to our support@ email and we'll get you fixed up.

https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/Pro-Tech-Toolkit/IF145-307

Thank you, Eric for the work you do. It felt good to upgrade my 2014 Mac Mini. Next project: upgrading my ancient 2007 Mac Mini. I'll install a faster CPU and replace the HDD with an SSD drive (I've already added RAM). That's another teardown/rebuild. Hopefully the patient will survive the operation, lol.

For those of you wondering about Eric's background, his iFixit page is here:
https://www.ifixit.com/User/About/238817/Eric+Essen

 

[FuzzyTiger]

Isn't Rossman the YouTube repair tech who throws tantrums about Apple. Although I support right-to-repair, Rossman reminds me of Seinfeld's George Costanza, lol.
/url]

He is. His personality/act just annoys me too.

 

[Bubba Fett]

Re: iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit—Mac Mini Teardown

Thank you!!! That's my product I developed because I'm a tool junkie too like all the GJ folks. I worked back and forth between computer and motorcycle repair at all my jobs before iFixit, and I HATE toolkits full of useless tools that have no application. That is a big part of the passion behind our sets. We've got almost 70k repair guides with the tool data to crunch for the popularity of each tool. Every bit we make has been researched in its applications and has current consumer demand. The first few kits we made 10 years ago were assembled using white label cases and bits put into our own assortments, but now we design everything from scratch, own our own molds, patents, develop our own standards for odd bits/improved on existing ones for our own use, etc.

We run really tight margins on our toolkits/get regular feedback that they should be 3x the price from professionals. Selling it at the lowest consumer-friendly price we can means we get them in the hands of millions (well a million so far!) of people. We're now in 1,000's of ACE hardware stores, Best Buy, and ongoing expansion with Home Depot, great distribution internationally, and more that would not be possible if we priced for Professional / GOV channels. More kits mean more fixed things!

Also - All our non-consumable tools are covered by our lifetime warranty should you ever have an issue, send a pic to our support@ email and we'll get you fixed up.

https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/Pro-Tech-Toolkit/IF145-307

I gotta say, ifixit sets punch above their weight in terms of price. There's a lot of copycat sets out there, but the quality isn't there. I'm thinking about ordering a new bit set to cover some newer styles, though honestly I don't get to do as much hardware repair as I used to. Thanks for all your hard work.

 

[928'er]

Re: iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit—Mac Mini Teardown

Hey Eric, good to see you back on here.

Got your 64 piece bit and driver set which gets frequent use.

Just ordered the Gerstner tool box - should be here tomorrow. Hopefully, it will be a solution for storage of my pocket knife and fountain pen collections.

James

 

[928'er]

I just picked up the iFixit Pro Tech tool kit for $65 via Amazon. I needed the kit to upgrade my Mac Mini with an SSD drive. I’ve already installed an NVMe SSD, which was quite simple—just pop the case and the PCIe slot was easily accessible. I use that drive to run my Mac OS 11 partition.

However, my Linux CentOS partition was running on the original SATA HDD, so I wanted to upgrade that drive to SSD. On the Mac Mini, replacing the SATA drive means a complete teardown/rebuild. I’m retired, with plenty of spare time and nowhere to go, so why not. I ordered the iFixit tool kit and went to work yesterday. Popped the lid, removed the fan, removed power supply, removed logic board (which meant disconnecting several tiny plastic connectors)—just to get to the SATA drive. Note: iFixit has excellent videos on computer repair.

The tool kit was pretty handy. I used a Torx 5, Torx 6 Security, Torx 7. Finally got the Mac stripped down to the bare case, installed my SSD Samsung SATA drive, then put it all back together. Powered it up and she booted fine into Mac OS, which recognized the new SSD drive. Then I recreated a bootable Linux CentOS partition on the new SSD and restored some user files from backup.

Last night, I noticed that my LED no longer works—the little green power light that flashes when the system is asleep (that’s one of those tiny plastic connectors that I obviously destroyed). But other than that snafu the Mac is total SSD now. And I’ve already upgraded my PS4 to SSD. One silver lining about the Covid lockdown: people are learning how to fix their own stuff. Or in my case, fix one thing & break another.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GF0KV6G/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Same thing happened when I upgraded my Toshiba Satellite to Samsung SDD - the drive LED's stopped working. So, I'm thinking it's more a function of SSD vs. HDD - rather than you having destroyed something.

However, on the other hand, the drive LED still flashes on the two Dell laptops I also updated to SDD's and the LED flashes on my Thinkpad Carbon that came with a SDD.

So, as Roseann RoseannaDanna used to say on SNL: Never-mind...

 

[RKA]

I use iFixit tools every day. They are high quality and thorough as hell.

It performs like it costs a ****-ton more money than it actually does, and the bits are tough as nails. It's not what people might think when looking at the picture.

That’s reassuring! I bought the big kit when I last replaced my iPhone battery. I always wondered whether those other kits on Amazon (half the price) were the same and whether one of these bits is going to snap in two the next time I put it to use. At the end of the day I felt better about supporting them for putting together the documentation to fix my sh!t. Getting a quality product I can use for years to come is a nice bonus!

 

[will335i]

Re: iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit—Mac Mini Teardown

Thank you!!! That's my product I developed because I'm a tool junkie too like all the GJ folks. I worked back and forth between computer and motorcycle repair at all my jobs before iFixit, and I HATE toolkits full of useless tools that have no application. That is a big part of the passion behind our sets. We've got almost 70k repair guides with the tool data to crunch for the popularity of each tool. Every bit we make has been researched in its applications and has current consumer demand. The first few kits we made 10 years ago were assembled using white label cases and bits put into our own assortments, but now we design everything from scratch, own our own molds, patents, develop our own standards for odd bits/improved on existing ones for our own use, etc.

We run really tight margins on our toolkits/get regular feedback that they should be 3x the price from professionals. Selling it at the lowest consumer-friendly price we can means we get them in the hands of millions (well a million so far!) of people. We're now in 1,000's of ACE hardware stores, Best Buy, and ongoing expansion with Home Depot, great distribution internationally, and more that would not be possible if we priced for Professional / GOV channels. More kits mean more fixed things!

Also - All our non-consumable tools are covered by our lifetime warranty should you ever have an issue, send a pic to our support@ email and we'll get you fixed up.

https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/Pro-Tech-Toolkit/IF145-307

Thank you sir. I have the Mako kit to work on my iPhones and Macs. I have replaced a couple screens with the use of the kits from iFixedit. It has been great. I just wish I could order a screen and adhesive without the screwdriver and get the cheap price. I don't need anymore drivers and bits.

 

[bushmechanic]

Re: iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit—Mac Mini Teardown

Thank you!!! That's my product I developed because I'm a tool junkie too like all the GJ folks. I worked back and forth between computer and motorcycle repair at all my jobs before iFixit, and I HATE toolkits full of useless tools that have no application. That is a big part of the passion behind our sets. We've got almost 70k repair guides with the tool data to crunch for the popularity of each tool. Every bit we make has been researched in its applications and has current consumer demand. The first few kits we made 10 years ago were assembled using white label cases and bits put into our own assortments, but now we design everything from scratch, own our own molds, patents, develop our own standards for odd bits/improved on existing ones for our own use, etc.

We run really tight margins on our toolkits/get regular feedback that they should be 3x the price from professionals. Selling it at the lowest consumer-friendly price we can means we get them in the hands of millions (well a million so far!) of people. We're now in 1,000's of ACE hardware stores, Best Buy, and ongoing expansion with Home Depot, great distribution internationally, and more that would not be possible if we priced for Professional / GOV channels. More kits mean more fixed things!

Also - All our non-consumable tools are covered by our lifetime warranty should you ever have an issue, send a pic to our support@ email and we'll get you fixed up.

https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/Pro-Tech-Toolkit/IF145-307

Sweet. That actually answers a bunch of questions I've had.

 

[gte718p]

I will necro a dead thread instead of starting a new on. I just did a screen repair on a Samsung A10 In the grand scheme of thing probably not worth it, but no the point of the thread. I had a cheap but highly rated chinese electronics repair tool kit that I bought for $20 bucks on Amazon. It has consistently worked ok. However disassembling a Samsung phone pushed it over it limits. I almost threw it across the room. I picked up the IFixit Pro kit on Amazon. I think is is almost $90 these day. Absolutely worth it. The quality is light years above the knock off. Proper tools saved me so much aggravation.

If you are in doubt at all, spend the money and go for the IFixIt. Tools.