Mac mini Late 2018 Disassembly

So here it is, exactly the same form factor as the previous Mac mini, but now in Space Gray

Once flipped over, a familiar black cover is revealed.

Pry open the lid to release it from the three large screws

The lid had a soft foam inside to dampen the vibrations of the beefed up fan

The lid is secured with the same TR6 screws as the 2014 model

The antenna cable is very short, so watch out; rotate the cover to reveal the internals

The antenna cable is held down with a little TX6 screw

It has a tiny washer to make sure no stress is applied to the cable

The fan has four identical TX6 screws holding it down

The screws go trough a rubber tube to reduce vibration

Underneath the fan the connector pops off easilly

The fan feels solid. Much better than previous models

Now, lets take out the motherboard

Massive (for the mini) TX10 screws secure the motherboard to the chassis

The power supply can be unplugged by as many wires as possible between your iFixit tweezers and pull upwards

Also take off the tiny power led connector

Slide the motherboard out by gently applying pressure to the heatsink

Some interesting design choices made here. A full size CMOS battery

The wifi wiring runs underneath the large speaker

The power button is attached to a ultra flat cable that runs in an arc along the heatsink

We flip over the motherboard to see a massive amount of tiny components

Also some familiar pieces of foam all over the place

But now what we are all here for. The RAM

Four TX5 screws holt it down

The memory cover slides off at an angle

These rubber parts will be a pain to put back on later.

There are tiny pieces of rubber in it that need to slide into the metal clips holding the memory in place

The memory itself sits upside down in its sockets

The springs are very strong and will shoot the memory in your face if you're not careful!

The power supply is secured in a similar way as with the previous models

A little clip has to be removed, and the connector can be rotated

The power supply is held down with three TX6 screws

They look just like the fan screws, but they appear just a little bit thicker and with longer thread

After taking out the power supply we are left with an empty shell

I really enjoyed taking this mini apart. My verdict is it's much easier than the 2014 model as cables are in a more logical place