Mac mini Mid 2010 Hard Drive Cable Replacement

Passo 1

Place your thumbs in the depressions cut into the bottom cover.
Rotate the bottom cover counter-clockwise until the white dot painted on the bottom cover is aligned with the ring inscribed on the outer case.

Passo 2

Tilt the mini enough to allow the bottom cover to fall away from the outer case.
Remove the bottom cover and set it aside.

Passo 3

Remove the two 11.3 mm T6 Torx screws securing the fan to the logic board near the antenna plate.

There are actually 3 T6 screws securing the fan. The third screw is out of the screenshot, just below the RAM.

inferno10 -

Nope, that third screw is actually just a post that the rubber grommet attached to the fan body slips over. Step 4 shows how the fan comes off of it. When you go to remove the fan, you simply remove the two screws closest to the antenna plate and then lift the fan off this post. The screw you are talking about is removed in Step 14 and does not need to be removed until this point.

Andrew Bookholt -

Successful install completed, but I had some trouble getting the fan reinstalled. When I removed the fan from the "Step 14" post, the rubber piece stayed on the post. When attempting to reinstall the fan, it was impossible to get the loop to go back over that rubber piece. So, I had to remove the post (again), and with the help of the spudger and some patience, worked it through. Then installed the fan using the 2 screws and the post. I think it may have saved some time and trouble if I just removed all 3 in the first place, leaving the post in the fan.

meag -

On mine I needed to remove the 26 mm T6 Torx standoff during this step rather than step 12

philipashlock - 29/06/14

on my mid-2011 mac mini, that 3rd T6 post/screw had to be removed to get the fan out. It goes right through a hole in the fan housing. No way the grommet is slipping over anything without wreaking major havoc.

Derek Shaw - 11/11/15

On my mid-2010 mac mini, also removed the 26 mm T6 Torx standoff during this step instead of step 12. Having completed the steps, it appears my hard drive is from mid 2011, so maybe the production line for mine had changed.

jstraath - 14/12/17

Passo 4

Lift the ear of the fan nearest the RAM up off the standoff secured to the outer case.
If the fan doesn't separate from the standoff screw with a moderate amount of force, you can use a T6 Torx driver to simply remove this screw.

Pulling on the ear didn't do anything, so I removed the whole screw at this step. The screw stayed fixed on the fan and I didn't have to remove it at the step where you remove the logic board screws.

Probably I didn't want to use too much force .. but it worked

Alexander Kogler -

This is the approach I used. no way was the "ear" pulling over the head of the standoff without breaking something. The standoff simply unscrewed from whatever is under the logic board and stayed with the fan assembly. WAY safe

Derek Shaw - 15/11/15

Loosen the fan standoff from the motherboard using a T6 driver.

bobcloninger -

When I pulled the fan ear off the standoff the rubber grommet stayed on the standoff. That's fine, but it makes it difficult to put the fan ear back on during reassembly. So I just pulled the rubber grommet off the standoff and put it into the hole in the fan ear. Then I was able to push the fan ear onto the standoff with out trouble during reassembly.

Dave Hein - 18/10/14

Passo 5

Lift the fan out of the mini for enough clearance to access its connector.
Carefully pull the fan cables upward to lift the fan connector up out of its socket on the logic board.
Remove the fan.

Be careful here, this is not a simple action. Pulling on the wires risks them coming out of the sockets of the connector that attaches to the pins on the board. I had to use an Xacto knife to push on the end of the connector to push it off the pins rather than pull.

Brian - 19/04/19

Actually, just sliding a spudger under the wires and edging upwards is the easiest way to disconnect this connector - and most others, too.

Aleks Gekht - 10/11/19

Passo 6

Remove the single 3.5 mm T6 Torx screw securing the cowling to the heat sink.

This is a screw into the head of another screw below it that holds the main board. When I took out the fan, the top screw AND the longer 26 mm screw came out together so when I was putting my mini back together I thought for a moment I had lost a screw.

info -

Passo 7

Lift the cowling from the end nearest the antenna plate.
Rotate the cowling away from the outer case and remove it from the mini.

This is wrong step. If you need remove this out, it would be better to pull out logic board, and remember to remove cables attached on it before pull out.

Lin Adison - 15/09/17

Passo 8

Remove the following screws securing the antenna plate to the mini:
Two 6.6 mm T8 or T9 Torx screws
Two 5.0 mm T8 Torx or 2.0 mm Hex screws (either will work)

The red circled screws are T9 in my Mac mini (not T8).

Sven Harmstorf -

ditto here - the 6.6 mm screws that anchor to the HD (now SSD) are T9

Derek Shaw - 15/11/15

I have tried several times but I have been unable to get all four holes to line up when replacing the antenna plate. I can get the two closer to the center of the mini just fine but no matter how I align the plate, one of the screws closer to the edge of the mini will be so far out of alignment that I cannot get the screw to go in. I had to leave one screw uninstalled. The plate is not distorted in any way. It is installed the same way it was before I removed, as far as I can tell. I am baffled! Has anyone been through this?

GalvanicMacPro - 12/07/14

Galvanic, it pops in.

bkbkbk - 16/07/14

I had a really hard time with this. I was able to resolve it though: secure the other three screws first. Then I pushed my precision screwdriver into the hole and levered the wayward tab into position: it wedged in with an audible snap sound! Then I was able to fasten the final screw.

Aaron Vegh - 24/01/15

I have trouble with this step every time I repair one of these minis. Aaron, your tip worked perfectly for me, thanks. -Anne

DA IT Department - 10/09/15

The antenna plate assembly is a tongue and groove type. The plate has a "groove" and the rim of the outer case is the "lip". You have to slide it in and align the parts ant it fits perfectly .

jvilella - 14/01/16

To solve this, just pick on the plate on the semi circle side and with the tool "open" just slighter the space where the semicircle have to fit

Pedro - 10/04/16

Had the same problem - the reason was the replacement drive I used - it is thinner than the original one. So I could not get the far side of the drive correctly into the holes for the notches mounted on the drive; that is - the drive was always a little bit too far to the center of the mac case. Everything works fine until you try to install all four screws.

I found a simple solution: I attached some adhesive tape temporarily to the drive cover. By pulling on the tape while pushing the drive in its space the notches slipped into their holes. After this installing the antenna was no problem any more.

Erwin Sommerauer - 11/06/16

The key to this is to use needle-nose pliers to grasp the grate between the black plastic circle and the edge of the mini's case, and pull upwards (away from the hard drive beneath it). It will snap into place, and then the screw holes will line up.

Brian -

I had a similar problem with getting the antenna cover to fit back into place. I tried putting 3 screws back in and levering the 4th, but it did not work in my case. Finally, with three screws in place,, I carefully placed a thin pair of forceps into one of the holes in the cover and levered the entire cover upwards. That worked for me.

Don - 13/12/15

Pulling up on the cover worked for me too. I found that the best place to pull up on the cover is at about "true north" in the picture ... near the black dot used to indicate lid-is-closed. I did it before installing any screws and all four screws went in fine.

Fred Cat - 18/11/16

As others have noted, the hardest part of the whole process is getting the holes lined up in reassembly. I ended up stripping one of the short screws, but it fits well enough to engage the slots in the circular plastic cover. If you leave a short screw out, I don't know how the bottom cover would fit securely. I would carefully note how the antenna cover fits while you remove it. The longer screws go into the actual hard drive, so I think alignment of the hard drive is part of the problem.

Steve Dollar - 02/10/16

I had same problem..! U tried EVERTHING, and what worked PERFECT for me, and with very little effort is what "x10target" described here (scroll about half way down): Difficulty in re-installing Antenna Plate

Mikey Marvel - 11/10/16

To replace the antenna plate, you need to patiently align the sides of the antenna and slide it in. I had similar problems as described above but, instead of using force, I resorted to patience. The plate's fit is very snug, just a little bit off the straight line and it won't sit properly. And when it sits, it really sits tight, you don't even need to hold it in place while screwing the screws back in.

Eric Schneider - 22/02/17

In the “arch” of the plate is sort of a tongue & groove that fits over & under the lip of the body. I used Kelly Forceps to coax everything back together.

tom - 02/09/18

After replacing the HDD with an SSD, I found that one of the front locating screws didn’t fit back in (no corresponding screw hole on the new drive caddy). I also found it hard to fit the antenna plate back in the slot, but found that removing one of the rubber “feet” (where there was no longer a corresponding screw hole on the disk) helped a lot, as did gently folding back the edge of the antenna plate. Refitting this was definitely the hardest part of the process - excellent instructions!

Tim Cutting - 01/05/19

After completing the whole operation, impossible to screw the two T8 5mm (orange ones) screws back in place. The plate sit properly, but the screws just wobble, even with full force when trying. I can’t close the backplate. Anybody had the same issue?

Pierre Prézelin - 02/04/21

BEFORE putting any screws in, you have to get the antenna place to “snap” intot he Aluminum chassis first. Once that is snapped in, the screw holes all line up nicely.

I installed an SSD, which is thinner than the original HDD, so the two recessed screws don’t reach it… Going to just leave them taped into their holes. I’m hoping that will not affect antenna function too much (It will remove some potential grounding to the HDD).

Demis John -

Passo 9

Slightly lift the antenna plate from the end closest to the RAM.
Carefully pull the antenna plate straight away from the circular rim of the outer case.
Do not remove the antenna plate yet. It is still attached to the AirPort/ Bluetooth board.

When I tried to do step 9 and disconnect these connectors, I found that not only the cable/connector but the receptacle tore off the logic board -- momentary panic! This happened to both connectors.

Left on the logic board were two tiny fragile gold pins (per connector). Fortunately they were pretty straight, and upon re-assembly, I was able to gently slot the receptacles back into the tiny pins. Upon reassembly, everything's working fine (no crazy fan noise) so I guess I got lucky...maybe VERY lucky. :)

Thanks iFixIt for a fantastic guide. I've got a replacement drive in there and it's definitely going to extend the life of my Mini for another season.

David Das - 03/01/15

Passo 10

Use the tip of a spudger to carefully pry the antenna connector up off the AirPort/Bluetooth board.

I broke the connector on the bluetooth board when trying to remove the antenna when I tried to replace the hard drive. Currently, the exact replacement bluetooth board 607-6509A is very hard to find or otherwise, expensive. Instead, I was able to use a cheap replacement that can be found on eBay: Apple Macbook Unibody A1342 Airport Bluetooth Module 607-6771A. There is a black plastic sheath at the back of the 607-6771A. Just cut out the part that cover the 2 holes, you are good to go.

millicurie77 - 06/06/15

Good info, thanks

maccentric - 14/06/15

Hmmm just broke the port as well; it is tricky and sticky even after the port came off …

Choat - 20/12/17

Thanks for the info; my port just broke here as well :( It is sticky and port connector is so fragile!

Choat - 20/12/17

it’s so painful ! almost all the time is spend to try to put this ridiculous connector. my last mini mac is a server, and use ethernet not the wifi so i gave up after 1 hour .

admin - 25/06/18

It would be nice if there was a close up pic of the different connectors. Then, one would know how the connectors attach. In this case, this connector is kinda like an old “F” plug. Used Kelly Forceps to pull straight up. Came off and went back on. No sweat.

tom - 02/09/18

Tom, it was bear trying to put this “F” connector back on. There’s a torx screw right where the connector should lay down, and it appears to put it in a bind making it difficult to seat. I’ll try to post a picture of mine.,

Kirk Carver -

2nd time I did this step (due to breaking the HD heat sensor board the 1st time - see all the comments below!) I didn’t disconnect the airport antenna, since it was so difficult for me to re-plug back in (took ~5 minutes of trying); very hard to line up properly. Instead, I carefully flipped the cover over and to the side, pushing down on the connector to keep it from unplugging. (Since I already had put in a 7mm SSD the 1st time around, the antenna wire also wasn’t in the way when pulling it out.) I recommend trying this due to 3 comments above who broke theirs.

amiller770 - 17/01/20

I left it plugged in and flipped it over to tape it to the chassis.

chris warren - 03/04/21

Reconnecting the antenna connector to the Airport/Bluetooth board was the second most difficult step for me. It was not just the reverse step of using the spudger to disconnect the connector.

Marc -

Passo 11

Remove the antenna plate from the mini.

When you replace the antenna plate, it can be tricky. The curved edge of it actually slots both over and under the edge of the case. If it doesn’t seem to fit properly, the edges of the cut perforations may be slightly squashed. Tweak them with a small screwdriver and it will suddenly seat properly.

Ben G - 08/03/18

This is as far as I needed to go. The only connection I needed to remove was the fan (I probably could have left that connected and just moved it out of my way). I was able to set the antenna to the side without disconnecting it. I was able to pull the hard drive out after step 11. I did not disconnect the temp sensor from the board. I removed the tape holding the sensor wire to the side of the hard drive and then removed the sensor from the hard drive and moved it out of my way. It has to be pulled off the hard drive anyway, so better to do it this way then messing with connection on logic board. When replacing the hard drive, reapply the sensor to the end of the hard drive with a very small amount of clear silicone and a piece of black electrical tape to hold it into place while the silicone sets up. Not having to disconnect all the wires from the logic board is the way to go. Stop at step 11 and go straight to step 17.

Kevin Ginther - 06/09/19

Excellent advice, Kevin…I did the same and HDD came out no problem…Thank you for the pointer.

Jurgen - 06/03/21

If you look at the edge of the antenna plate near the Mac mini body, you'll see a groove where the metal from the unibody fits. I found that if you turn the mini around so the antenna plate is closest to you and us the pointy end of a spudger to lift and place the antenna plate, you can get this groove to fit properly and the screws pop into place.

rothgar -

Passo 12

Remove the following three screws:
One 5.0 mm T8 Torx or 2.0 mm Hex screw (either will work)
One 16.2 mm T6 Torx screw
One 26 mm T6 Torx standoff
Note: This standoff may have been removed with the fan.

On mine I needed to remove the 26 mm T6 Torx standoff during step 3

philipashlock - 29/06/14

Passo 13

Carefully pull the wires for both hard drive thermal sensors upward to lift their connectors up and out of their respective sockets on the logic board.

BEWARE! Gently pulling one thermal sensor wire up from its logic board connector caused wire to rip loose from connector, leaving connector still in logic board socket. Using spudger on other connector caused same result. Even after wires ripped lose, it was impossible to get connector out of logic board socket (using spudger and needle nose pliers the connector came away in pieces). Connectors almost seem glued/fused into sockets and the wires will apparently break lose before the connector will release. What a terrible design. Here's hoping the mini will run without HDD thermal sensors :( I am experienced with repairing laptops and am kind of ticked because I am sure this damage was not due to incorrect/rough handling during attempt to disassemble.

emcnally -

Followup Note: Ending up with disconnected HDD thermal sensors due to breakage apparently causes the main system fan to run at full speed all the time. This is extremely loud and pretty much defeats the purpose of the Mini form factor. Going to have to try to rig something up with actual solder or adhesive tape.

This is just stupid. A computer where logic board connections get broken while replacing a frickin HDD. All in an attempt to do something about the pathetic and feeble hard disk the vendor includes with their crap hardware (50MB/s transfer--what is this 1998?). Last Mac Mini I will ever buy. Slow, yet expensive and fragile.

emcnally -

Not sure what emcnally is talking about but mine came off fine. I have a 2010 mac mini and just upgraded to a 500 gig WD drive. Everything worked went great and was easier than I thought. My connectors pulled right off with no damage.

Dave -

tell the people to remove the superdrive’s thermal sensor as well! i just broke mine.

Simon Meisinger -

WARNING! Remove superdrive thermal sensor as well from the connector, or it will break in step 16.

Laszlo Nyirfa -

The plastic part broke for me. Barely putting any pressure on the connector and the thin plastic covering the metal connectors broke and the wires came out leaving the plastic connector in place. I was able to get the connector out without any more damage. Can I purchase a new thermal connector for this? I can't find the part listed anywhere.

In the meantime I'm going to try and get the wires rigged to the board some how. Super glue them to the connector maybe. But I'm not sure if there is a polarity concern. Can the wires go to either pin on the board?

Darrel Tenter -

I was able to get the plastic connector back in place, and fit the wires into it. Polarity is needed. First time I got the fan running full. Switched the wires and now I think the fan is running normally.

But I don't trust this connection over and time would like to find a replacement hard drive thermal sensor wire assembly.

Darrel Tenter -

Each of the hard drive temperature cable connectors have tiny little tabs on the sides. I found success using a small needle to carefully push under and pop the tab out.

Leon Roy -

Thanks, that's a nice way, works really well for me. Just try to stick a needle on the side and lift it up, if it has come up a little you can gently pull the cable and it will come off with very little force on the cable.

gertjan - 27/10/16

These connectors are fairly easy to unplug. You can pull up on the wires GENTLY to remove them. I used a wooden spudger to pry gently and the connectors popped right out. Putting them back in is easy just make sure they are right side up and they snap right back in.

info -

This is where I got in trouble too. No problems on the first of my Minis, but this time one of these sockets had poor soldering and just came off the board. Basically no solder connection to the posts that are there to hold the socket in place. I ended up using a pin to pry the rest of them off, in case the others were also poorly connected. The outside of the socket is U shaped, with 2 small tabs at the lower end of the U. I inserted a pin next to these tabs and it let me lever the connectors out easily. Now I get to practice my soldering!

moecastleton - 30/08/16

I used a pick (like a fine ice pick - available at Harbor Freight) to pry up the plastic clips while gently pulling at the wires with tweezers. They pull straight up. There are tiny tabs on the sides that kind of lock them in. I would not try just pulling on the wires. Everything is tiny and yrying to fix wires pulled out of the connectors would be very difficult.

Steve Dollar - 02/10/16

The pin method is definitely better. I used the pin to slightly spread the "wings" of the connector on the board. Then I levered out the part that is attached to the wires. All done with the aid of a magnifying loop.

Fred Cat - 18/11/16

I broke mine as well, did not replace the thermal sensor for the HDD, fan runs at full speed and is noisy. Went ahead and downloaded software fan control to reduce fan speed.

Harish Ananthakrishnan - 26/02/17

With all the good comments above, I was extra cautious, my two connectors have solid black covers and I couldn’t find the tabs for the needles. So I read ahead a few steps. I was able to skip this step 13 and steps 15 and 16 and take out the drive without force. Step 14 worked as described. I have a mid-2010 without an optical drive so there was only a hard drive connector.

jstraath - 14/12/17

Hi, i just used the flat end of ifixit’s plastic spudger to lift the tiny connectors without any tugging on the wires. First, i was a trained auto mechanic for 10 years then i got my electrical engineering degree! Started fixing macs in 1979 with an oscope, soldering iron and the ic circuit handbook plus chips from apple.

Apples construction methods have sure gotten more and more fragile over the years. Glad i still have great eyes! Rossmon

Ross Elkins - 19/01/18

Thanks for the wonderful story, incredibly helpful to anyone reading it. A definite must for those upgrading their Minis. Perhaps an autobiography is in store for the future? I can only hope… I'd die knowing my life was complete if Im lucky enough to read such an intriguing story. OMG, and if it was hard back, I'd pass it down to the generations succeeding me so they too will grace this life changing experience. BRAVO to you sir !??

AJ GREEN - 21/03/21

I broke the connector too, but was able to make a secure connection despite this. You will need a good magnifier glass/visor and fine tweezers. I added a drop of Crazy glue to secure it. Photo: https://ibb.co/ZcsnvNC

Gustavo Delfino - 15/03/20

After the plastic of the connector of the thermal sensor falls in tiny little parts after manipulating with pludger, tweezers and all I can find in my home I just let the connector in place on the logic board. Like written down in step 15 and 16 I pulled the whole logic board just a little bit out of the housing, so there’s just enough room for pulling the old HDD out of the housing. Put away the different adhesive tapes HDD (main connector and thermal sensor). Put away main connector and the thermal sensor from the HDD. Then I put everything in place to the new SSD and stick the thermal connector with the the old adhesive stribe at the SSD. I never would try to disconnect the thermal sensor again from the logic board!!!

Hanjo Lindenthal -

I highly recommend TG Pro to solve this absurd hard disk temperature problem. After replacing my HDD with an SSD, the fan ran nutso just like everyone else’s. Sensors are in place on the drive, but they don’t seem to work. I even tried thermal paste, but no luck. While I could try replacing the temperature sensors, what’s the point? Having a quality SSD should remain far cooler than any HDD, regardless of the conditions.

My Samsung EVO SSD has its own internal SMART temperature sensor built into it. TG Pro detects it fine. The reason I recommend TG Pro is that I tried others. TG Pro is top-of-the-line quality, imo. It even allows total override of system fan control, solving the runaway fan problem once and for all. While this is hypothetically a safety issue, since I began using the software 3 years ago, I’ve come to trust it more than whatever is built into my Macs. (I own three MacBooks in addition to my Mac Mini.)

My 2010 is considered out of date, but with an SSD, it’s still a great little music server.

AnnoniMoose -

Found a 4,1 for $20, and flew too close to the sun. Thermal connections falling off everywhere. Will TG Pro (or something similar) allow me to just ignore replacing the HD sensors and the OD sensor?

Clay Hummer -

I wanted to change the Superdrive on a 2010 Mac mini and when I took off the thermal connector from the hard drive, one of the two cables came off.

The hard drive has 2, it is the one on the other side of the SATA connector.

If you don't connect that cable, the fan always starts at 5000rpm. It is Apple Part Number: 076-1369

I was looking on Ebay/Ali and the cable is for €9, luckily you can insert the cable back into the connector and put a drop of thermal silicone to apply force and so far it works ok.

morrit -

Passo 14

Use the flat end of a spudger to pry both the hard drive and optical drive connectors up out of their sockets on the logic board.

I skipped this step as well as step 15 and 16.

What I did, was just wiggle the drive out of the pc. Just pull it a little bit up and towards. Might need a little bit of force. But it should come out. Then, just remove the tape from the sata connector and then remove the sata connector from the hdd. Then you can replace the hdd like mentioned in this tutorial.

And I removed only the left thermal sensor. The right one can stay on unless you need more room.

gertjan - 27/10/16

Passo 15

For enough clearance to remove the hard drive, the logic board must be slightly removed. To accomplish this, two cylindrical rods must be inserted into the holes highlighted in red.
Inserting instruments into any logic board holes other than the ones highlighted in red may severely damage the logic board.
Insert a Mac mini Logic Board Removal Tool into the two holes highlighted in red. Be sure it makes contact with the outer case below the logic board before proceeding.
If you don't have a Logic Board Removal Tool handy, you can use two tools having a maximum diameter of 2.5 mm instead. Just insert one into each of the highlighted holes.
Carefully pull the tool toward the I/O board. The logic board and I/O board assembly should slightly slide out of the outer case.
Cease prying when the I/O board is visibly separated from the outer case. Remove the Mac mini Logic Board Removal tool.

One MASSIVE hint to do this step: DON'T pull the tools towards you; rather, lever the top ends of the tools towards you, at and angle (so that the bottom of the tools don't move). Took me a while to figure this out!

jon jon -

Didn't have that special tool. Used iPhone repairset screwdriver. Worked fine with sticking it in to the holes verticaly and then push it towards me a bit, then changing holes and repeating that step.

Alexander Kogler -

I suggest to pull the wires for the cd drive thermal sensor and and the infrared sensor upward to lift their connectors up and out of their respective sockets on the logic board ((highlighted in red in the third picture of step 16).

Riccardo Zulian -

Two 3/32" drill bits work great at replacing the tool. Place the shaft of the bits into the holes.

iceman -

I had to watch a youtube video to see how this works. Then I realized you are just using the tools to pull the main board out toward the back of the mini.

info -

A couple of small screw drivers will do. Just make sure they go far enough into the hole to be able to lever against the bottom as you pull them towards you. Without this I started to damage the logic board slightly.

David Jackson - 04/10/14

How much pressure is necessary? Is it hard? Mine seams stuck.

douglaslondrina - 08/11/16

Sliding the motherboard forward is not really needed to remove the hard drive, but it sure makes it a bit smoother. Just need to persuade it to go over the memory bracket.

Lying Bastard - 01/10/18

NO NEED to slide the board out if there is already a 7mm thick SSD installed, as it comes out easily. Also don’t need to unplug the DVD SATA connector if not sliding the board out (Rt most SATA), or unplug the DVD heat thermal sensor, since you’re not moving the board. The less you unplug, the less chances of breaking a connector. However, with original or any 9mm HD, lifting it over the memory bracket would be very difficult IMO, w/o moving the board out ~5mm.

amiller770 - 17/01/20

I did NOT move the logic board. The original hard disk could be taken out with a little(!) force. The new replacement SSD was much thinner and was not problem to slide in.

Christof Dallermassl - 16/10/20

I used two thin screwdrivers. As they said, put them stright down the holes, and they seem to fit into something on the back side that holds the ends in place (eg. a shallow hole) in the top case or something).

Then lean them both towards the back of the Mac (towards the ports etc.), and you’ll push the logic board AND the black part of the case, finally popping the black ports/rear free from the aluminum. Only needs to slide ~5mm as they said to get the needed clearance.

Demis John -

I tried so hard to just pry it out a short way, but so much force was needed that I ended up bring it out almost 1cm (ie the clips of the black rear ports fascia popped out of their recesses). This yanked the wires out of the optical drive thermal sensor. I was able to reinsert them with tweezers and hopefully the contact will be good enough to carry the signal. Wish I’d spudged that thermal sensor off the board when I was doing the other two (Step 10). After reading the warnings in step 10, I thought I didn’t need to worry about that until step 16.

Andrew Boden -

Passo 16

Simultaneously push the two plastic clips on the far left and right sides of the I/O board toward the middle of the I/O board and pull the I/O board slightly away from the outer case.
Pull the I/O board/logic board assembly out of the outer case a maximum of 5 mm. Pulling the assembly out further may damage the IR sensor connector (highlighted in red in the third picture).

I found that when removing the logic board out a bit that the IR sensor was not so much of a problem as was the HDD temperature sensor located next to the IR sensor.

My logic board accidentally popped out rather quickly and pulled out the sensor for the HDD.

I don't know why it's not mentioned in the earlier step to just use the spudger to pop this cable off. Since it is mentioned in other guides for removal when replacing other parts.

This would have been really helpful and most likely I would not have been left with loose cables and now looking for a new sensor cable.

So fo any others out there replacing/upgrading your HDD and have some what of a hard time getting the logic board to budge just a bit, use the spudger to pop the cable off, it's not hard and pops back on as easily as the others. That's just an FYI and a preventative measure.

tdowse1 -

Ifixit note, Mac mini mid-2010 step 16

@tdowse1 I agree completely. I take issue with this guide because I believe it has an error. With just one of two changes I wouldn't have destroyed my ZIF sensor connectors:

1) Issue the warning BEFORE or even with the instruction. Following the instructions step by step and not reading a step ahead, you don't realize you can damage your cable irretrievably. Even if you read the entire guide first, you can't be expected to memorize all warnings BEFORE you act on the instructions.

2) Instruct the user to disconnect ALL of the ZIF cables first. This is truly the only safe thing to do.

LelandHendrix -

Passo 17

Lift the hard drive from the edge nearest the logic board and remove it from the mini, minding the RAM socket and any cables that may get caught.
When reinstalling the hard drive, be sure the two T8 Torx lugs on its far end are inserted into the two rubber grommets highlighted in red in the second picture before sliding the logic board back into place.

The new drive, being thinner than the old one, was a bit tricky to get seated into the rubber grommets. I found that temporarily screwing a couple of screws into the top mounting holes on the drive helped with getting a grip on it. This, and standing the unit up on its end so that the drive would "fall" into the rubber grommets, worked OK for me.

Fred Cat - 18/11/16

Great tip @ Fred Cat!!

Vevek Lochub - 23/01/18