Maybe one of those old "security" flat screw drivers with a little notch in the center of the blade; but you really risk stripping the screw driver and the screw as you only get two contact points instead of six. If the screws are torqued in pretty good, which happens quite frequently with power drivers, it could be a challenge to undo them without the right tool.

Alternatively, I'm considering the $699 Mac Mini with HDD only and replacing it with a SATA SSD 1TB. Samsung EVO and Crucial M550 are now in $400 range. I'll end up paying $200 more than a Fusion Drive but will have a full 1TB of SSD storage vs. 128GB and no spinning drive inside the Mini! I think this is a much better deal. What do you think?

The SATA cable is not present in an SSD-only configuration, but the cable in our Mac Mini Dual Hard Drive Kit is exactly what you need. We're not listing it as completely compatible yet, because of the addition of the TR6 Torx Security screws. Other than that, it's everything you need to do what you want.

This is only a teardown, a first look at the device, so we don't show every screw we unscrew. But you'll definitely need a T9 to remove the hard drive from the drive caddy. We'll have guides up fairly soon, check the device page for their appearance!

As stated above, please do not attempt to use this (or any other iFixit teardown) as instructions. We have extremely detailed guides for every step of this process, so there is no reason to risk breaking something by trying to use a teardown for something it was never intended to be.

I don’t see why not. Make sure it is upgraded to High Sierra and find the right adapter for NVME toApple PCIe.

that would probably the interface connector to the serial interface, for in production testing purposes

Next time just search on Google or Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Fo...

The third picture of step 8 shows a PCIe connector, which would take a custom cable to attach to the SSD. I fully expect iFixit to eventually sell an installation kit with this cable, along with mounting hardware and tools.

The 2014 Mac Mini has two drive connections, and the Fusion drive option takes up both. A 1 TB spinning SATA drive lives on the bottom, and a 128 GB PCIe SSD lives on top. Each connection has its own, different cable, and will only come in your configuration if it's necessary.

If you order an SSD-only configuration, you will not get a SATA cable to plug in a SATA drive later on (but our Mac Mini Dual Hard Drive Kit includes that cable, so you can always get it from us later).

In short, no matter what configuration, you can always eventually add a 1 TB SATA SSD, either by using an existing cable or buying ours. Adding a faster PCIe SSD is another question, that we hope to solve as well.

We've taken a look at the SSD-only Mac Mini, and it does not come with a SATA cable. Our Mac Mini Dual Hard Drive Kit does not yet officially support the Late 2014 Mac Mini, because of the inclusion of TR6 Torx Security screws. But, we have tested the kit's SATA cable and it is completely compatible. We'll have a complete solution soon, but if you're itching to get a SATA drive installed ASAP, I'd recommend getting the kit and a TR6 driver.

Any update on using a second hard drive in the 2014 model?

Only the T6 is a security bit, the T9 and the T5 screws don't have the central pin =)

There’s no conspiracy, I promise. A lot of Apple devices have screws where either a T8 or T9 bit will work, but T8 I believe is the “correct” size. (A T9 often feels more snug, but it won’t sit all the way down in the screw head.) The tools list at the top of the teardown is what you should go by. What you’re seeing in the photo is a teardown tech who grabbed a tool that worked, and went with it—I don’t think any of us expected that four years later someone would zoom in on the photo and try to make their tool selection based on the markings on the driver. ;)

@jmccain37 Here’s a link to the guide, which is what you should reference for repairs. You’ll note that T8 is the correct size. Teardowns like the one on the page you’re looking at are meant to be an informative first look at the hardware, but you should never use them as a basis for repairs.

@Jeff Suovanen

Larger Torx drivers won’t fit in smaller Torx fasteners, but smaller drivers will. I have done this with torx screws using power tools running out of T25 bits vs. wasting time getting more T25s. A T27 bit would not fit, but a T20 bit worked well getting damaged. I fail to see how a T9 driver would work in a T8 fastener unless the fastener is cheaply made. Is that Apple? No!

From what I see, the size is a T9, where the teardown tech had the correct size, but the write up grabbed a T8 which worked slightly loose, but didn’t have the expert knowledge, listing the size incorrectly as T8. The result would be slight damage to both the fastener and the driver. Unless of course the driver was from one of the German or Swiss tool companies - Wiha, Witte, Wera, PB Swiss, etc. Eventually an inferior tool (one made with a softer metal that is not hardened) would get damaged enough needing to be replaced - good for business aye? A true quality tool fits snug enough to hold the fastener without magnetism.

Hi Joey, I’m not sure how else to assure you that the T8 is our best recommendation for you. A Torx bit is conical, so the tip of a larger driver can sometimes fit in the upper portion of a smaller screw. The teardown is made in less than 8 hours, the guides take many weeks to create, and are the canonical source of repair information.

As for the rest, I’m not sure what implications are being made. Bad quality tools are bad for business, who would buy a driver from us if they kept breaking? Plus we offer lifetime warranties, replacements would only cost us money, not make it. We actually have drivers manufactured in Germany. Magnetism isn’t a seating mechanism, it’s purely to pick up screws after they’re removed. I hope that clears up some confusion! If you have additional concerns, please feel free to reach out to our Customer Service team.

yep, I just replaced one. More than enough room. The apple 1 TByte that came out was 9.5 mm.

Nobody warned me too. OS update made the Mac slower. A person from Apple wasn't really listen to me, when I told the specs and the trouble with my Mac under Sierra. He always suggested another OS update and when I asked “Will my Mac work better" he always said, that this OS is designed to be fast. But never that this is valid for my Mac.

At least, Garage Band and Video Editor doesn't run properly, Safari has interruption, Firefox less problems.

What do you mean by GarageBand and Video Editor doesn’t run properly?

The lack of RAM is starting to manifest itself in the 2014 Mac Mini’s value. Doing a quick sample on eBay, I can see 2012 Mac Minis for sale for around £200-250, with several 4GB 2014s failing to reach the £200 mark. Of course, a 2012 model with 4GB is easy to upgrade to 16GB while the 2014 is impossible. It’s also possible to swap the hard drive on a 2012 model for an SSD without disconnecting the fan (easy to break), which can’t be done on a 2014. All in all, it’s complete lemon and a silly design decision from Apple.