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Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement

Introduction

Upgrade your hard drive for more storage capacity.

What you need

Video Overview

  1. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement, Top Housing: step 1, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement, Top Housing: step 1, image 2 of 2

    • Power down your Mac mini, disconnect all of the cables, and flip it over.

    • Insert the Jimmy into the crack between the aluminum top housing and the plastic lower housing.

    • The Jimmy should reach a stop about 3/8" down.

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  2. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 2, image 1 of 3 Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 2, image 2 of 3 Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 2, image 3 of 3

    • Gently bend the Jimmy outwards to pry the crack open a little larger and lift the lower housing up a small amount.

    • There are several plastic clips on the lower housing that fit into a channel in the aluminum top housing. Your goal is to use the Jimmy to push these clips inward enough to free them from the channel, while gently pulling up on the lower housing.

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  3. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 3, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 3, image 2 of 2

    • Once you have the first side free, rotate the Mac mini and start prying up on the front edge.

    • Use the same prying motion to both bend the clips inward and lift the lower housing up out of the top housing.

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  4. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 4, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 4, image 2 of 2

    • You may need to move the Jimmy along the edge to pry up all of the clips. Be patient and do a little bit at a time.

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  5. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 5, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 5, image 2 of 2

    • Keep working around the perimeter, freeing the clips along the final edge.

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  6. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 6, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 6, image 2 of 2

    • Flip the Mac mini back over and lift the top housing off of the lower housing.

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  7. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement, Internal Frame: step 7, image 1 of 3 Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement, Internal Frame: step 7, image 2 of 3 Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement, Internal Frame: step 7, image 3 of 3

    • Later in this guide you will remove several recessed Phillips screws. Bit drivers are generally too large to fit in the recesses, so be sure to have a thin shafted Phillips screwdriver on hand.

    • First remove the AirPort antenna (the larger of the two), located near the power button.

    • Slightly squeeze the two retaining arms toward each other and lift the AirPort antenna off its post.

    • Squeezing the two posts excessively will surely break them off the internal frame. Work delicately.

    • During reinstallation, you will have to slightly squeeze the two posts together so they fit into the openings on the AirPort antenna board.

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  9. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 8, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 8, image 2 of 2

    • Use the tip of a spudger to slightly lift the left side of the ZIF cable lock up from its socket.

    • The ZIF cable lock will lift about 1 mm and stop. Do not try to completely remove the ZIF cable lock.

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  10. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 9, image 1 of 1

    • Lift the audio board ribbon cable up out of its socket.

    • If it refuses to lift from its socket, the ZIF cable lock is not fully released. Make sure it is evenly lifted about 1 mm from the socket on the interconnect board.

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  11. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 10, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 10, image 2 of 2
    Tool used on this step:
    Tweezers
    $4.99
    Buy

    • Rotate the mini so that the SuperDrive slot loading mechanism is facing you.

    • Use a pair of tweezers to lift the hard drive thermal sensor cable connector up off its socket on the logic board.

    • Use tweezers to grab the connector (as seen in the picture), not the wires.

    • The connector is located under the optical drive opening, next to the PRAM battery.

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  12. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 11, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 11, image 2 of 2

    • In the next few steps, you will remove the four Phillips screws securing the internal frame to the bottom case. Included in each step is an overview picture showing the general location and a closeup showing the actual screw.

    • Remove the recessed Phillips screw near the power button securing the internal frame to the bottom housing.

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  13. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 12, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 12, image 2 of 2

    • Remove the recessed Phillips screw near the sleep light securing the internal frame to the bottom housing.

    • This screw is the longest of the four screws securing the internal frame to the bottom case.

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  14. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 13, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 13, image 2 of 2

    • Remove the Phillips screw from the internal frame near the Bluetooth antenna.

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  15. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 14, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 14, image 2 of 2

    • Remove the Phillips screw near the audio ports securing the internal frame to the bottom case.

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  16. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 15, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 15, image 2 of 2

    • Gently lift the internal frame up from the bottom housing, minding the AirPort antenna and any other cables that may get caught.

    • It may be necessary to pull up near the interconnect board to separate it from the logic board.

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  17. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement, Hard Drive: step 16, image 1 of 1

    • Remove the two Phillips screws securing the side of the hard drive to the internal frame.

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  18. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 17, image 1 of 1

    • Remove the two Phillips screws securing the bottom of the hard drive to the internal frame.

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  19. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 18, image 1 of 2 Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 18, image 2 of 2

    • Use your thumbs to slide the hard drive toward the speaker, disconnecting it from the interconnect board.

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  20. Mac mini Model A1176 Hard Drive Replacement: step 19, image 1 of 1

    • Maneuver the hard drive out of the internal frame.

    • During reinstallation, it may be helpful to move the cables away from the SATA connector and to hold the internal frame upside down (while supporting the hard drive) to help seat it in its connector.

    • Don't forget to transfer the foam padding to the new hard drive.

    • If you are installing a new hard drive, we have an OS X install guide to get you up and running.

    Edit
Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

545 other people completed this guide.

17 Comments

The foam on the harddrive is attached with an adhesive tape - be careful to peel up the tape from the harddrive, rather than the foam from the tape.

robert - Reply

I seemed to succeed - until I discovered my optical drive had broken. Disks do not mount, after some tries they eject. There was a LOT of dust inside my Mini, I think some got in the optical drive. A cleaning DVD and compressed gas didn't fix it. I wonder if it would be wise to seal the opening to the optical drive -- certainly before cleaning.

This was a failure for me, even though the memory and drive change went well.

John Faughnan - Reply

Can't fault this guide.

* if you don't have a putty knife & you don't mind some scratches, a thin butter knife will do the trick for getting the case off.

*if you plan to replace hdd with an ssd - you may need to rejig some of the internal wires that run around the edges of the hdd/ssd: after I installed the ssd, and returned the wires to the tight track around the side and socket port end of the ssd, and turned the machine back on, there was a high pitch interference noises coming out the internal speaker every time the drive was active.

The solution: make sure the speaker wire isn't where it's *supposed* to be! There are three sets of wires, include the speaker pair. I reversed the positioning of these with respect to the SSD, i.e. I moved the speaker pair to be furthest away from the SSD, and *didn't* tuck them back in under the plastic lip beside the ssd connector port. I turned it back on, and no more high frequency whining whenever the drive is active

Rodders - Reply

I upgraded my 2007 A1176 Mac Mini with a 2 TB M9T drive that I broke out of Seagate Backup Plus Ext. HD and increased my RAM from 2 GB to 3 GB! Success!

Toshi Tazawa - Reply

Be very careful with the audio cable removal the ZIF cable lock is VERY DELICATE!!!

Matt Canepa Jo Canales - Reply

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