Mac Mini Late 2012 / Samsung 500GB 840 EVO - PIECE OF CAKE!

Mijn probleem

My original HD (Apple 500GB Standard HD) proved to be WAAAAYYYY too slow for my needs. Just purchased computer December, 2013 - but I am running Parallels and OSX Mavericks simultaneously, which bogs down the machine.

Mijn oplossing

This iFixit Kit was FANTASTIC. I purchased the tools as well even though I had most of them in some box "somewhere". Their spudger was a bit different than one I owned and worked very well. I found a 32 minute YouTube video which explained the entire process (using the iFixit kit), which I had playing on my iPad while performing the upgrade. I TOOK MY TIME. Researched a bit before starting. Cleaned my work area. Padded under mini to avoid scratches/slipping, AND, used a plastic container to segregate screws and parts as I removed them.

Mijn advies

Please note that I have experience in these types of repairs - but mostly PC's in the past. I was a bit apprehensive to open my mini, but it went very well. Approx. an hour to do work and 4+ hours to Carbon Copy Clone original internal factory HD to new SSD. I have not erased the original HD yet, but, AFTER CHECKING to make sure files were identical, I re-formatted my external Time Machine drive which is now backing up new SSD. I discovered that I needed to enable TRIM for the new non-Apple purchased SSD to function properly, and to extend it's usable life. There are on-line apps or terminal codes (NOT APP STORE) to enable this feature on the new SSD. I installed the app and enabled TRIM on SSD BEFORE I Cloned any data to it. ALSO, after installation of new SDD, it is important to use "Disk Utility" to "erase" the NEWLY INSTALLED SSD (format to Mac OS Extended) before copying any new data to it. NOTE: I read that TRIM may have to be "Disabled" before installing Mac OSX Yosemite when it is available ... so please be mindful of that issue if you have enabled TRIM on the new SSD in Mavericks... I am not an expert in this area, so please do your own research...

My mini (i5 2.3 16GB Ram) NOW BLAZES!!!! iFixit ROCKS!!!