Mac Mini Teardown Results: Repairs Are More Difficult

Following the iMac teardown late last week comes the folks at iFixit again, who have this time gotten down and dirty with the newest Mac Mini. You'd expect from the look of things that it would largely rate the same as the previous model, but sometimes appearances can be deceitful, as was apparently the case this time. Said iFixit, "Apple took one of their most-fixable, most-upgradable products and broke it." How, you ask? We've got all the details — and a few pictures — for you after the jump.

One of the bigger problems that knocked points off the new Mac Mini's repairability score is the use of T6 Torx Security screws, making it harder to dive into the machine's internals and requiring a special tool to proceed.

And as you'd likely expect, the soldered RAM also took it down a notch, and for no good reason, as iFixit says, "Internal space didn't change much, so it's not like Apple had to solder the RAM in order to save space." Some other, lesser, changes that affected the score was the removal of the thumb indents on the bottom cover that made it easier to remove.

The device does have its upsides, of course, among them being the lack of glue inside the Mac Mini, as well as a straight-forward assembly that makes taking it apart — for those with the right screwdriver to tackle the new screws — simple enough. Overall, the new Mac Mini was given a score of 6 out of 10, which is 2 points lower than the previous model.

SOURCE: iFixit